A muscular youth strides across this column-krater, glancing back over his shoulder. He carries a staff and has a cloak draped over his left arm and shoulders. There is evidence of a wreath about his head, but otherwise he is naked. On the other side an old man, singing, carries a barbitos (lyre-like instrument) and has a food basket slung over his shoulder. A dog trots by his side.
The two images are connected and can be interpreted in different ways. Both figures may be going to, or have attended, a symposium or gymnasium. In Greek society the gymnasium and the symposium were important places for building bonds of friendship in service of the individual and the wider community. At the gymnasium athletes would train in the nude, which could explain this youth’s nakedness.
The activities the young men undertook there included reading and writing, athletics, musical training, philosophical debate and supervised military schooling – usually under the watchful eye of older men. A practical reason for athletic training was that the mind and body would be ready for war. The Greeks believed that the pursuit of excellence in athletics was worthy of praise and could earn mere mortals everlasting fame.
