Greek (Life) Drinking Cup & Drinking Cup (Kylix) depicting satyr chasing unwilling maenad

Greek (Life) Drinking Cup, 2022

Emma Golden

plastic cup

Greek (Life) Drinking Cup is a comment on the satirization and belittling of sexual violence and sexual harassment that has persisted from Ancient Greece to today. In Ancient Greece, this could be seen through material objects such as the Drinking Cup (Kylix). Depicting a satyr attempting to assault an unwilling maenad, the drinking cup serves not as a harrowing story of fear, pain, and trauma for the maenad, but as a joke told in a male-dominated space. This joke represents the same humor of subjugation and stigma that survivors of sexual violence continue to face. In my piece, I attempted to depict this stigma on the drinking cup of today: the infamous Red Solo Cup.

To me, the Red Solo Cup serves as the perfect embodiment of the current trivialization of sexual violence. As a college student who identifies as a woman, it is difficult to ignore the prevalence of sexual violence on college campuses, which often involves a Red Solo Cup. On the cup, I included some of the many narratives and sayings that are currently used to diminish the role of assaulters and to subjugate and gaslight survivors of sexual violence, serving as modern-day stories of satyrs and maenads.

---

Warning: This image depicts a scene of sexual violence.

Drinking Cup (Kylix) depicting satyr chasing unwilling maenad, ca. 550 - 525 BCE

Greek, Attica

Terracotta, Black-Figure

RISD Museum, Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 22.214

Originating from the Attica region in Ancient Greece, the drinking cup (kylix) is a short and wide vessel with long, dark handles resting on a small circular base. The vessel was crafted out of terracotta around the sixth century BCE by an unknown artist. Dark black-figure paintings surround the cup, including a pair of large, black eyes on both of the long sides. The eyes demonstrate the dual use of the cup as a mask; as the drinker lifts the cup, the eyes of the cup become the eyes of the mask, the handles become the ears, and the base becomes the mouth.

Traditionally, drinking cups such as this one would be displayed and used in symposia, a male-dominated social space in Ancient Greece for drinking, conversation, and entertainment. Between both of the pairs of eyes on the vessel is a scene depicting a satyr and a maenad. Satyrs and maenads are mythological followers of Dionysis, the god of wine. Satyrs are half-man and half-beast creatures of playfulness and violence, while maenads are wild women believed to be possessed by Dionysis. Their presence signifies the use of the cup as a vessel for drinking wine diluted with water, as was traditional in the period. Specifically, the scene portrays a satyr grabbing a maenad while the maenad attempts to turn away and escape, raising her staff to hit her attacker. This violent scene was popular in the Ancient Greek symposia space. Many other vases within the period depicted similar scenes, such as satyrs attempting to abduct maenads or assault sleeping maenads. As the satyr is a symbol of deviance, drunkenness, and lust, scholars believe that the satyr’s attempt to assault the beautiful maenad served as a humorous image to male observers. Whether or not the assault was successful, the sexual violence within the scene represents a deviation from traditional customs used to entertain and amuse in a male space.