Revisiting a plate in the Ashmolean Museum: a new interpretation

Set prominently on display in the ‘Heroes and Myths’ case in the Ashmolean Museum’s Greece gallery, plate AN1934.333 has been published numerous times but almost only ever in passing. Previously, there was some disagreement regarding the subject matter. Is the scene depicting the Capture of the Keryneian Deer or is it a Struggle for the Hind? The caption in the display case prefers the former interpretation but the general consensus seems to favour the latter. The different narrative composition used for scenes of the Capture is different from that for the plate. Yet, the composition on the Oxford plate is equally different from that of the Struggles.This present paper will examine the conventional compositions and cast of characters used for scenes related to the Hind and Tripod Struggles and compare them with the ambiguous scene and cast members on the plate. This paper will also take a closer look at Attic black-figure plates and examine their uses based on the contexts in which they were found. My aim is to determine whether the scene on the plate may not more appropriately be classified as a scene of everyday life, perhaps one related to cult activity and initiation rites