Resultados

The essence of this chapter is communication; communication between the vase and society, between society and the divine, between the divine and the vase. Like an animated being, the vase took part in this communication as an animated object. The function of the vase within the ritualised context caused an event, and facilitated experience. We began with dining; on the

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surface an event which drew only upon the function or practical use of the vase. The form of the vase determined the method of food production, but it also determined the perception and experience of dining. Moving on to ritual practice, the form of particular vessels made them suitable as performers of rituals, however, the form and surface of the vase came to epitomise domestic and polis-wide religious experiences. The boundaries between function and functionality became blurred. A vessel such as the plemochoe functioned as a provider for libations, but it could also become an offering itself. The two are interchangeable and interconnected. Our final component of ritual functionality – the votive offering – drew upon the symbolised and embedded meaning of the vessel when left behind for the god, and to become the god. However, even when left as a purely symbolic object, the traces of its functional self are essential to its being there. The activation of functionality requires function. These events took place within ritualised contexts, or contexts ritualised by the events. The ritualised context determined the experience of ritual, and the vase was dependent upon the context for its ritual activation.

The progression towards functionality has been expanded over the three chapters within this Section, as well as independently within this chapter. We began by exploring the experience of the vase within the domestic context and other private or unofficial contexts. It became apparent that the meaning the vase accumulated as it circulated in society had an impact upon its performance within the domestic sphere. For example, the simple chytra used on a daily basis came to personify the household when placed inside a pyre. In other words, the particular meaning of the vase was context dependent. The functionality of the vase was expressed through size in this case, as miniatures were common components of the pyres. In Chapter Two, we explored the function of the vase in the public dining halls of Athens. The power and impact of the surface of the vessel was prominent here. Images connected the vase and the dining experience to worlds outside the immediate contexts. Image and surface accumulated meaning. Finally, through the ritualisation of the vase in this final chapter, we encountered the function of the vase, as informed by its form. The form of the vase supposes an intended function, but the reality of its use could end up being more symbolic than functional. At this point, we can draw together these three components of functionality – size, surface and function – and conclude that functionality was possible only when one or all of these

components were drawn upon beyond intentionality and predetermined function.

The method of approach underlying this first section, and this study as a whole, is to an extent anthropological, as outlined in the Introduction. Through these three contexts, separated into three chapters, we have explored what the performance and experience of the vase meant to society, and what impact society had upon the vase. Crucially, we have considered what the vase did, and what this doing meant. This meaning has been assessed only through the movement of the vase in society, rather than in isolation from it. In other words, our understanding of the vase has been contextually dependent.

We have achieved an increased distance from art-historical approaches to the vase, and succeeded in intertwining the physical essence of the vase, and its place in Athenian society. However, a component of the functionality of the vase needs further exploration – the surface. As we have discussed in detail in the Introduction, studies tend to focus upon the information the image on the vase can give regarding Athenian society. Images are used as illustrations of particular events and experiences. Our approach is radically different, and is in fact, the reverse. However, it has become increasingly apparent, particularly in Chapter Three, that the surface or image on the vase can be incorporated into the function of the vase. For example, the iconography of the loutrophoroi dedicated at the Shrine of Nymphe connected to the function of the vase as a receptacle for water for a bride’s bath, and its place in nuptial rituals. We engaged with this ritualised iconography as an expression of an event, but we have not considered how an image came to function, alongside practical function, to construct a perception of self and wider society. Here, at this juncture between function and image, and image and society, we begin our second phase of exploration; the world on the vase.