wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected.
For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.

Log in Become a Member

Crater

A bellied wine vessel (also crater, kratér) used in ancient Greece in the shape of a bell or jug with a wide mouth at the top. These vessels were made of clay or bronze and decorated with reliefs and paintings. Most of them had a height of 30 to 45 centimetres and a volume of about 50 to 100 litres. The first of the many artefacts found date back to the 10th century BC. The vessel was used for mixing wine with water, which was common at the time. It was regularly used at the symposion, which is attested by drinking scenes on Greek vase paintings. It stood on the floor next to the guests who were camped out. The wine was then poured from the crater into the smaller oinochoes (chous, olpe) and from there into handy drinking vessels such as kantharos.

Psykter

In the 6th century BC, a vessel called psykter was developed and used together with the krater. One of the two vessels contained snow or ice water for cooling purposes, the other contained the wine. However, it is not certain what was actually in which vessel. Vase paintings usually show the psyker floating in the crater, which obviously contained the cooling mass, while the wine was scooped from the first container. However, it may also have been the other way round.

Krater - Attika 460 v. Chr., Korinth 550 v. Chr., Vix 6. Jhdt v. Chr., Psykter

The crater of Vix

A particularly large example is the famous "crater of Vix". Vix is a place in the Burgundian Côte d'Or near the Seine, where in 1952 a grave of a Celtic princess from the 6th century BC was found. Chr. was found. One of the grave goods was a bronze crater, which according to the design was made in a Greek workshop (Sparta?). It must have arrived here in trade between the Greeks and Celts. The crater, 164 cm high and weighing 208.6 kg, has a volume of 1,100 litres. The two handles on top each end in a Gorgon bust (winged figures). At the neck is a half-relief depicting heavily armed foot fighters and chariots with teams of four. See also under Ancient Wines, Kottabos, Satyricon, Drinking Culture and a list of drinking vessels from ancient times to the present under Wine V essels.

Crater Attica: By Leningrad Painter - Jastrow, Public domain, Link
Crater Corinth: By unknown - Bibi Saint-Pol, own work, Public domain, Link
Crater Vix: From unknown - Virginia.edu/Barbarians, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link
Psykter: By Jastrow, Public domain, Link

Voices of our members

Hans-Georg Schwarz

As honorary chairman of the Domäne Wachau, it is the easiest and quickest way for me to access the wein.plus encyclopaedia when I have questions. The certainty of receiving well-founded and up-to-date information here makes it an indispensable guide.

Hans-Georg Schwarz
Ehrenobmann der Domäne Wachau (Wachau)

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

26,379 Keywords · 46,983 Synonyms · 5,323 Translations · 31,713 Pronunciations · 202,075 Cross-references
made with by our author Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer. About the Lexicon

EVENTS NEAR YOU

PREMIUM PARTNERS