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Erich Lessing

Once filled with the richest olive oil, this sixth-century B.C. vase, now in Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, was presented to a champion athlete at a local festival in Athens. Whereas winners’ prizes at the four ancient panhellenic games (held at Olympia, Nemea, Delphi and Isthmia) were simply wreaths symbolizing victory, athletes at local festivals often received prizes of material value.