My Name Is Nobody

S weet wine, unblended, served Odysseus well in the escape with his companions from the Cyclops' cave during his epic return to Ithaca. The wine, a gift from Maron, grandson of Dionysus, was exceptional. " When he drank it he mixed twenty parts of water to one of wine, and yet the fragrance from the mixing bowl was so exquisite that it was impossible to refrain from drinking. " Odysseus carried a large skin with this wine, in case on the way he had to deal with some unknown savage of great strength who " would respect neither right nor law. " Mixing wine with water before drinking was a mark of civilized behavior in ancient Athens and an essential feature of the symposium, a gathering in which drinking together was intertwined with conducting business. The practice spawned a line of equipment for transporting, mixing, and consuming wine. One such implement was the krater, a vessel in which wine was diluted to the right consistency for drinking. Kraters, often too large to be used for serving , were positioned in the center of a room and sometimes were decorated with images of symposium proceedings. Athenian pottery was common in the Mediterranean region as far back as 2,800 years ago. Clay vessels of different sizes, shapes, and uses were widely traded. And while little painting of that period has survived, even on stone, intact and fragmented painted vases from various locations abound because they were exceptionally durable, more so than metal. As a result, they became a repository, not only of painting but of religious and social norms and daily activities, from raising children to burying the dead. Historical and mythologic scenes, also used heavily, provided the opportunity to inject life scenes with life lessons. Pottery was difficult work half art, half magic. Clay pots were created in workshops, usually led by master potters , who knew how to manipulate kiln temperature by letting air in and out at different times, never knowing for certain how the final product would turn out. Many pots were clearly signed. Others are recognizable as products of a certain workshop or area known for a distinctive style. The potter was not necessarily the painter, although many times they were one and the same. The painter who created the krater on this month's cover was named after Sappho, the famous poet of antiquity, a popular subject …