Detail of an Amphora with a Combat Scene in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Storage Jar with a Combat Scene
Greek, made in Athens, about 540 BC
Terracotta
Black-figured "Tyrrhenian" amphora

Inventory # 96.AE.311

Two hoplites (foot soldiers) fight with spears on this storage jar. While the scene may be taken from life, the presence of witnesses flanking the warriors suggests that this is a mythological battle. The letters alongside the figures do not form recognizable Greek words, so they do not help identify the combatants or the myth alluded to here.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.