Attic Red Figure Kylix
ca. 490-480 BC
By the Antiphon Painter and the potter Euphronios
Perhaps Chiusi, Italy
MS 2448
A youth walks along with a piglet and a sacrificial basket. The piglet was the favorite animal to sacrifice to Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, but could also be offered to other deities. In the autumn Demeter's Eleusinian initiates walked to the Saronic Gulf, each carrying a piglet. The animals were purified in the sea before being sacrificed. It may be a moment from this familiar annual event that is pictured here.
H. 10.0; L. 31.0; Dia. 24.0 cm. Photo by Maria Daniels for the Perseus Project.

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