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Kylix
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Detail from the Brygos Cup by the Brygos Painter, showing ancient Greek warriors in battle during the Sack of Troy, with figures in armor and shields on a black and red pottery surface. Kylix, a drinking cup used in ancient Greece. Aesop The Judgment of Paris, Hermes leading Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite to Paris, detail of a red-figure kylix by Hieron, 6th century BC; in the Staatliche Museen Antikenabteilung, Berlin “Dionysus Crossing the Sea,” interior of a kylix (shallow drinking cup) by Exekias, c. 535 bc; in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich
Quick Facts
Also spelled:
cylix
Key People:
Exekias
Euphronios
Brygos Painter
Related Topics:
Greek pottery
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Detail from the Brygos Cup by the Brygos Painter, showing ancient Greek warriors in battle during the Sack of Troy, with figures in armor and shields on a black and red pottery surface.
Greek kylix depicting the sack of Troy Sack of Troy, detail of the Brygos Cup, a kylix decorated by the Brygos Painter, c. 490 bce; in the Louvre, Paris.

Kylix

pottery
Also known as: cylix
Written and fact-checked by
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Last updated
•History
Kylix, a drinking cup used in ancient Greece.
Kylix, a drinking cup used in ancient Greece.

Kylix, in ancient Greek pottery, wide-bowled drinking cup with horizontal handles, one of the most popular pottery forms from Mycenaean times through the classical Athenian period. There was usually a painted frieze around the outer surface, depicting a subject from mythology or everyday life, and on the bottom of the inside a painting often depicting a dancing or drinking scene. Kylikes were often produced in sets to accompany a wine serving vessel, or krater.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.