White-ground alabastron: Amazon,

ca. 480–470 BCE

Portrayals of Amazons, the legendarily fierce female warriors, are found throughout Greek art and myth. The swirling fuchsia skirts of the two brilliantly painted Amazon figurines, one of whom wields a now-missing axe against her opponent, emphasize the forward momentum of their attack. The warrior painted on the alabastron, a jar for perfumed oil, carries a shield while she brandishes an axe over a Greek soldier’s helmet. Because the Amazons were believed to have originally come from the east, they were frequently depicted in the traditional clothing of non-Greek peoples, such as the Scythians of central Asia or the Thracians of southeastern Europe. On the alabastron, the painter has borrowed from a variety of cultures to signal that the Amazon was not Greek. Her pants are patterned similarly to those worn by Scythians, and her shield is styled after Thracian examples.