Two figures quietly engage on this neck-amphora. The woman offers to pour a libation from an oinochoe while the man presents a phiale (libation dish) and holds a sceptre. Using the objects to interpret the scene, the figures may be identified as the god Zeus and his daughter Hebe.
For the Greeks, Hebe was the goddess of youth and beauty; she was known to the Romans as Juventas. She was the daughter of Zeus and Hera and, according to Homer, acted as cupbearer to the gods. The phiale reflects the worship of Zeus and may refer to his cult. On the other side of the vase Zeus, without his sceptre, stretches out his hand as if declaiming his divine power.
