The Ancient Greeks: Pots, Power and the Birth of a Civilisation

Emerging from the turmoil of the Bronze Age collapse, ancient Greece would become one of the most influential cultures in history – and ceramics were at the heart of its story.

Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh trace the extraordinary rise of Greek pottery, from the bold patterns of the Geometric period to the great workshops of Athens and Corinth and the exquisite black-figure vessels of the Golden Age. Against a backdrop of warring city-states, expanding trade and the looming threat of the Persian Empire, they discover how these pots became vessels for myth, storytelling and everyday life – and an extraordinary record of a civilisation taking shape.

To view the ceramics being discussed in this episode, please switch to video in your podcasting app.

Featured Artworks:

Images featured in this episode:Terracotta volute-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water), Etruscan, c. 340–300 BCE

Terracotta hydria (water jar), Greek, Euboean, mid-6th century BCE

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask), Attributed to the Painter of Athens 1943, c. 450–440 BCE

Map of Peloponnesian War 431 BC

Map of Athens

Proto-geometric pottery, c. 950-800, made at Kerameikos
© The Trustees of the British Museum.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Plan of Kerameikos, Athens
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
(CC 4.0)

Kerameikos Photo, Athens
Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Terracotta amphora (jar), Signed by Andokides, Attributed to the Andokides Painter, Attributed to the Lysippides Painter, c. 530 BCE

Terracotta neck-amphora, Greek, Attic, c. 710 BCE

Dipylon Amphora, 760-750 BCE, National Archaeological Museum of Greece, Athens , Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Dipylon krater, Attributed to the Trachones Workshop, c. 725 BCE

Hellenistic Amphorae

Marble funerary stele, c. 4th century BCE,
National Archaeological Museum of Greece, Athens
Courtesy of Paul Greenhalgh

Terracotta oinochoe (wine jug), Attributed to the Chigi Group, c. 625 BC
Vase, first half of 6th century BC (made)

Black Figure amphora, Exekias, Greek, c.530-525 BCE, Vatican Museum.

Terracotta lekythos (oil flask) (2), Attributed to the Amasis Painter, c. 550–530 BCE

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) (2) with lid and knob (27.16), Attributed to Exekias, c. 540 BCE

Signature Exekias Louvre

Death of Penthesileia, by Exekias, c. 550-543 BC, CC 4.0

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction: The Ancient Greeks - Pots, Power and the Birth of a Civilisation
• 00:00:59 Historical Baggage: Reinventing the Greeks
• 00:04:35 The Greek Polis: City-States and Cosmopolitan Culture
• 00:07:06 The Bronze Age Collapse: Sea Peoples and Dark Ages
• 00:10:18 Geometric Pottery: The Ceramic Renaissance
• 00:23:02 Corinthian Innovation: New Visual Languages
• 00:26:31 The Persian Threat: Marathon and Military Culture
• 00:33:22 Black Figure Revolution: Exekias and Master Potters
• 00:43:15 Terra Sigillata: The Technology Behind the Beauty
• 00:46:20 Rebuilding Athens: Setting the Stage for Red Figure

Credits:
Hosts: Paul Greenhalgh & Stephanie Rozene
Editor: Sam Bond

Sound Mix and Engineering: Joe Little
Executive Producer: Emma Cahusac