This ornate volute-krater was designed to be a grave marker or to hold the ashes of a deceased male. Central to the elaborate decoration is the depiction of a young man as a military hero. The youth, in heroic pose, is wearing a cuirass, cloak and helmet, and holding a spear and the tether of the horse beside him. He is standing in a naiskos (shrine).
Beyond are four mourners with funerary offerings. The scene creates an idealised picture of the deceased as a young warrior hero. On the reverse is a community of mourners around astele(slab), in this case erected as a funerary monument.
In city-states such as Athens, young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty underwent military training before being admitted to full citizenship. Battle skills were essential for the elite classes, who were responsible for defending the populace, vanquishing enemies and increasing the status of their city-state. It is not surprising that real and mythical heroes were admired and respected for their military skills.
