Latest / The History of Greece: Philosophy, Empire, and Endless Reinvention — Fexingo History / The Chigi Vase: Greek Art and the Birth of the Hoplite
Transcript
- Lucas: We've talked a lot about warfare on this show — the phalanx at Chaeronea, the hoplites at Marathon, even the Spartan scytale. But I want to go back further, to the moment when the hoplite first appears in our visual record. And it's all because of a tiny wine jug. Luna: A wine jug? Lucas: A very special one. It's called the Chigi Vase — technically a Corinthian olpe, just about 26 centimeters tall. It was found in 1881 in an Etruscan tomb at Veii, north of Rome. And painted around its belly, in fine black and brown lines, is the oldest surviving image of hoplites fighting in a phalanx. Luna: So it's like a snapshot of the hoplite revolution. Lucas: Exactly. But it's more than that. The vase has three registers — top, middle, bottom. The top shows a lion hunt — three men with spears attacking a lion. The middle is the hoplite battle: two lines of soldiers, shields overlapping, spears leveled. And the bottom shows a chariot race, with horses at full gallop. It's a microcosm of aristocratic life in the 7th century BC. Luna: Why Corinth? And why end up in an Etruscan tomb? Lucas: Corinth in the 7th century was a commercial powerhouse. They had colonies across the west — Syracuse on Sicily, Corfu, and they traded heavily with the Etruscans in Italy. The Etruscans loved Greek pottery, especially Corinthian, which was the finest at the time. So this vase was probably made in Corinth, shipped across the Ionian Sea, and eventually placed in a tomb at Veii as a luxury good. Lucas: The artist is unknown, but we call him the Chigi Painter, after the vase's first modern owner, Prince Chigi. He was working in the so-called 'Orientalizing' style — Greek art heavily influenced by Near Eastern motifs like lions, sphinxes, and plant patterns. But the hoplite scene is pure Greek innovation. Luna: What makes the hoplite scene so revolutionary? Lucas: It's the first time we see soldiers with round shields — the hoplon — and long spears, arranged in a tight formation. Earlier Geometric art from Athens, like the Dipylon vases, shows warriors fighting individually or in loose groups. Here, they're shoulder to shoulder. One scholar, Anthony Snodgrass, argued that this vase dates to around 650 BC, which would make it the earliest evidence of the phalanx. But others say it might be later, around 640 or 630. Either way, it's the start of a new way of war. Luna: And the lion hunt — is that a real hunt or a myth? Lucas: Hard to say. Lions existed in Greece then — there are records from Herodotus and later accounts — but they were rare by the 7th century. More likely, the scene is inspired by Near Eastern royal hunts, a symbol of aristocratic prowess. The chariot race below is another elite activity. So the whole vase is a statement: the man who owned it was a warrior, a hunter, a sportsman — a true aristocrat. Luna: But if it's in a tomb, it's about the dead person's status. Lucas: Exactly. The Etruscan elite buried their dead with goods that advertised their rank. And Greek vases, especially those with martial imagery, were perfect for that. The Chigi Vase may have been a symposium vessel — used for mixing wine and water — but it ended up as a funerary object. It's a reminder of the interconnected world of the Mediterranean in the 7th century: Greek artisans, Etruscan consumers, and shared ideals of heroism. Lucas: Now, there's a fascinating detail about the hoplite scene itself. The soldiers have two different shield devices — one a flying bird, the other a sort of spiral. That suggests they're from different units or even city-states, but they're fighting together in a single formation. It's a rare example of a coalition on the battlefield. Luna: So it's not just a generic battle — it might represent a specific conflict. Lucas: Possibly. But we don't know which one. The 7th century BC was a time of constant warfare in Greece — the Lelantine War between Chalcis and Eretria, the First Messenian War, conflicts among Corinth and its neighbors. But the vase doesn't give us names. It gives us the ideal: disciplined, collective fighting. Lucas: And that ideal had deep political implications. The phalanx required citizens to fight side by side, rich and poor alike. It democratized warfare. In later centuries, that contributed to the rise of democracy in Athens and elsewhere. But in the 7th century, it was still an aristocratic display. Luna: So the Chigi Vase is a precursor to everything we've covered — Marathon, Leuctra, Chaeronea. Lucas: It's the seed. And it's also a work of art. The level of detail is astonishing: the soldiers' helmets have crests, their greaves are visible, even the chariot horses have carefully drawn manes. The painter used a technique called 'black-figure' in its early form — dark silhouettes with incised lines for details. It's a masterpiece of miniature painting. Lucas: I think if you're listening and this show is part of your week, and if today felt worth a coffee to you, there's a link for that — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It keeps us ad-free and lets us dig into things like this. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that makes a big difference for independent history shows. Lucas: Anyway — back to the vase. There's one more register we haven't talked about. Below the chariot race, there's a narrow band with a line of animals: a dog chasing a hare. It's a hunting scene, but done in a simpler style. That kind of polysemy — multiple meanings on one object — was typical of Greek art. The vase tells many stories at once. Luna: It's like a comic strip from 2600 years ago. Lucas: Exactly. And it survives because the Etruscans valued it enough to bury it. So we have this window into a world that was already ancient when Alexander was born. The Chigi Vase is in the National Etruscan Museum in Rome now, but it started as a humble wine jug in Corinth. I love that. Luna: What happened to Corinth after the 7th century? Did they keep making this kind of pottery? Lucas: Corinth remained a major producer through the 6th century, but by 550 BC, Athenian black-figure and later red-figure pottery took over the market. The Chigi Painter's workshop faded. But the legacy of that hoplite image lived on — in vase paintings, in sculpture, and in the way Greeks thought about themselves as warriors. It's a reminder that even the smallest objects can change how we see the past. Luna: I'll never look at a wine jug the same way again. Lucas: That's the goal. Next time, we'll jump forward to the 5th century and talk about something completely different — but I promise, it'll be just as surprising.