n - Historia Antigua

2 T.n AT',",€" PYXlS s...u Y RLTHEJlFUIlD RO.EJlTS J
"nd Plain Pottf'r)' by Brian Sparkes and LuC)' Talcott may .....dl be
the most important of the series. A study of the de\"clopment of
these ""ares based on mort" th~n thirty yurs of ucavation in the
Athenian Agora adds greatly to the knOVo'Ied~ of shapes in
general. of names. and of the correspondence: or lack of
correspondence bet.....een the potters of plain and figured wares.
The pyxis as a shape has received little attention. I One should
perhaps commence with the problem of the name used for small
round boxes in antiquity. nJ,toc; means boxwood and from this
comes the Latin Buxus and English box.
The generic term used by writers in the Roman period is pyxis. 1
Ho.....ever it seems highly probable that the Attic word in the
Classical period was kylicbnis on the basis of the evidence
gathered by Miss Milne. J In brier. Athcnaios recounted that the
Athenians called the physician's pyxis a kylichnis.· The frequent
appearance of this word in inventories of the temple of Asklepios
al Athens confirms the evidence given by Athenaios. s Sometimes a
kylichnis is dedicated togelher with a 1001 kno.....n to be used by a
physician such as a probe.'
The "'ord kylichnis also appears in inventory !iSlS otllcr than
those of Asklepios as a container for rings and gems. A painted box
dedicaled by Kleito contained je.....c1ry and among the contents a
gold ring with a seal stone kept in a kylichnis dedicatcd by
Dexilla.' With this reference .....e enter the woman's .... orld and
.....oman·s uses for small boxes. As a parallel Miss Milne cited an
alabaster pyxis found in a fourth-century .....oman·s gra\"e in
Kamiros which contained two gold spools and a gem.-
The kylichnides in the inventory lists are made of various
materials: bronze. ivory. stone. marble. sih'er and wood.' Extant
pyxides may be found in these materials. An Attic grave preserved
a black glaze pyxis of type 0 together with four bronze pyxides of
similar type. III
There are numerous marble pyxides some corresponding to
pallery types and others having a type of their own. Of those
without parallel in pottery is an elegant class of tall·stemmed
marble pyxides. ll More numerous are low broad marble pyxides
with affinities to pottery eJl3mples of type e.U Marble pyxides
C'OfT'CS"p,mding to those of type B in pottery must also OCC'asionally
ba\"e been made. 1J Small concave pyllides have also been found
both 1\ith fttl and 1\·ithout. 14
Siher pyxides are not kno.... n from the fifth «ntury. The
ell.mplcs which remain are of a later period. a
Wooden pyxides have been found in Grette. the Taman and
Kerch peninsulas and Etruria. I ' Scholars have noted resemblances
of certain pottery pyxides to those in woodY Temple inventory
lists do not mention terracotta vases,
The kylichnis also functioned as a container for incense as is
known from Hesychios' and Photios' description of it as a
AI/JavwT((.u Both round and rectangular boxes are represented in
use. 1t It seems significant that there are a number of fifth-century
representations of pyxides being used as incense boxes and in
them the pyxides are of clearly defined and recognizable types.
A stele in Berlin" depicts a young girl dispensing incense. She
holds in the palm of her hand a cylindrical box with a slightly
projecting rim at its base. The cover is placed on the ground
before her. The lid is about as tall as the ball and Io\'ould cover the
whole wall. This factor alone identifies the pyxis as one of
type B.n
In COntrasl, the proportions of the box held in the hand of the
heavily draped .....oman strewing incense on a thymlateriun un the
Lud " Th
OVISI roneU are low and broad. The cover has been
removed: ~e box has an inset nange for the IKl. cylindrical .....alls
and pro~lng Io.....er nange. The pyxis is one of type e.
A PYlllS. type A. sen'es to contain the incense dispensed b)' a
woman depicted on a k
YIX
'"
10
"
t
h
e British
" "
Museum.u A somewhat
hasty depitlion of .
o· h a PYllIS. type A. may be seen on a red-figure
.. ~nocd ne by the Eucharides Painter of ca, 490.480 B.e. A Nike
U'Cn s Over spr' kl' .
hand .,' .In lflg Incense on an altar. The pyxis. in her left
• Stl I retains it I'd
knob SI. contrary to logic--one may make out the
atop the lid.h
Delian Temple' .
Word ltvA. ' ,"ventol')' 1,ISts of the fourth century preserve the
disap 'XVI(. Howc\'er, In the Hellenistic period this .....ord
pears and is repla d bAn '
emplOYed "cc y l,..avwTI(. After 166 B.C. the .....ords
are 1TlJtl( and 1TlJtldiov.u 1 he generic term pyxis. being