Apulian pottery Red-figured pelike depicting Eros Thanatos, Circa 4th Century BC

This is a pelike, a type of amphora with a globular body and a wide base. It is made of ochre-coloured terracotta, coated with a glossy black glaze that serves as a background for the red-figure technique. In scene A, the central figure is a young, winged Eros Thanatos, depicted seated on a rocky outcrop. The anatomy is defined by fine lines of diluted glaze. He holds an open box or chest and has a tambourine (tympanum) resting on the rock. The wings display detailed feather work using white strokes, creating an effect of relief and volume.

Scene B features a female head in profile facing left. The sakkos (headdress) stands out, decorated with bands of waves and white dots simulating embroidered textiles. A necklace and earrings are depicted with dots of white paint. Next to the neck is a second tympanum, unifying the iconographic theme with the other side of the vessel.

Beneath the handles are large symmetrical palmettes that connect the two scenes. The neck is decorated with a band of ovals, whilst the base of the scenes rests on a continuous meander, a classical device used to provide visual stability to the composition.

Eros Thanatos is not a single god, but the fusion of two fundamental concepts: Eros (love, desire and creation) and Thanatos (death and the end). In the art of Magna Graecia, depicting Eros with melancholic attributes or in funerary contexts symbolises that love is the only thing that transcends death. The presence of the tambourine (tympanum) alongside Eros Thanatos links the scene to the rites of Dionysus. These cults promised a better life after death through ecstasy and music. Thus, Eros Thanatos acts as a bridge between the pleasures of life and the peace of eternal rest.