Erotic depictions on a selection of fourteen Attic sixth-century black-figure vases found in Etruscan tombs.

The subject of this Thesis is "Erotica on a Selection of Fourteen Attic Sixth-Century Black-Figure Vases Found in Etruscan Tombs". The first chapter provides an introduction to the subject. It discusses the evidence to be examined in the thesis, and briefly reviews the secondary literature on the subject. It then outlines the method followed in researching the thesis. Finally, it gives a summary of the basic techniques of Attic black-figure pottery. The second chapter is a detailed descriptive catalogue of fourteen vases with human copulation scenes. Details are given of each figure painted on the vases, and all subsidiary decoration. Both homoerotic and heterosexual copulations are shown. The third chapter is a discussion of the data revealed by the detailed catalogue. It examines copulation positions, Dionysian iconography, the komos, symposion and banquet, homoerotic courting imagery and question of the status of the women shown. The thesis also contains an appendix which lists twenty-nine vases with copulation scenes. In addition, there are forty-five illustrations. The main contribution made by this thesis is the discovery of the close link between Dionysian imagery and the depiction of human copulation in Attic black-figure. This throws into question the distinction made by previous scholarship between erotica which is designed to titilate and religious expressions of fertility rites. Also of interest is the frequency of multiple copulation scenes and the relative paucity of single-couple heterosexual copulations