Image Details

Tarquinia Archaeological Museum

A bearded man gropes a muscled youth at right while being serenaded by another lad, on this 500 B.C. red-figure cup by the Hegesiboulos Painter. For whom were scenes such as this painted? Clearly, for the wealthy men who could afford to buy the vases. These vessels, then, are an early form of pornography, appealing to the variegated sexual tastes of adult Greek men.