The Sails of Hellas

The display comprises 245 exhibits from the stocks of the State Hermitage and covers a span of time from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD. Works of art and artefacts of material culture show the development of navigation and trade, while also telling about sea deities in classical mythology.

“Ancient Greece is inconceivable without the sea. It was by sea that the Greeks reached the shores of the Black Sea and founded their colonies there. Excavations of those were the main source for the exhibits included in the display, so it is both about the Greeks and about the Hermitage,” Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, commented.

The sea provided food, served as the most rapid and convenient means of transport and furthered the conduct of active trade. At the same time, a great many dangers were lurking in its depths. Each shipwreck took the lives of dozens of men who ventured out to sea and whole fortunes from those who remained on shore. The remains of many ancient ships scattered across the bottom of the seas that they plied in Antiquity are clear confirmation of that.

Ancient shipwrights advanced an enormous way from the construction of the first primitive vessels to the creation of three-, four- and even five-decked ships. One of the symbols of Ancient Greece is the legendary trireme, rapid and manoeuvrable, which became a real wonder and indicator of the technical progress that the Hellenes achieved. The Romans became worthy successors to the Greeks, preserving their shipbuilding traditions that were subsequently taken up by the inhabitants of the states that emerged from the ruins of the Roman Empire. Depictions of ancient vessels can be found on pottery, intaglios, cameos and coins.

The sheer unpredictable power of the maritime element found intriguing reflection in ancient mythology. That is covered in the section of the exhibition devoted to the images of sea deities and fantastic monsters that can be found on amphoras and kraters, lamps and pieces of jewellery, as well as works of glyptic art. A whole world opens up to the visitors ruled over by the indomitable, amorous Poseidon (the Roman Neptune), who rushed through the waves in a chariot drawn by long-maned horses, escorted by ichthyocentaurs and tritons blowing exotic seashell trumpets, nymphs and dolphins. In the mythological maritime world one can come across the Symplegades or Clashing Rocks that would crush a ship that came between them to smithereens, the deadly whirlpool known as Charybdis, or perhaps a siren – a half-maiden, half-bird whose singing would entice sailors onto hidden reefs. One of the few goddesses who helped voyagers to return safe and sound to their home shores was Aphrodite, who had herself once emerged from the sea foam.

The section devoted to fishery in ancient times tells about the seafoods that Greeks and Romans consumed. Works of ancient art show the most diverse sea creatures, fish and molluscs which at one time filled the market stalls. The artists depicted the denizens of the sea so naturalistically that ichthyologists can identify the species of fish on Attic or Italic plates, even on coins. Particularly noteworthy is a red-figure fish plate dating from the 4th century BC. This piece of high artistic quality was conceivably created by the Pieredes Painter specially for export to an overseas market.

While the place for fish was the kitchen or the dining table, more precious trophies from the bottom of the sea – pearls, corals and seashells – quite rightly found a place in women’s jewellery boxes. The maritime theme was popular in applied art. The image of cockles, for example, was employed by craftsmen who produced figured vessels from clay, glass and stone. There were even little cosmetic boxes made from the halves of those shells.

An important part of the display consists of Greek amphoras, vessels considered to have one of the most perfect and elegant shapes ever devised by humankind. Nevertheless, their function was a prosaic one – amphoras served as containers for transporting liquids, notably wine and olive oil, and bulk goods such as grain or fish. Different cities produced amphoras with their own particular traditional shapes that remained unchanged for centuries and conformed to a volume established by special legislation. Such amphoras became the “trademark” of their place of origin. Data obtained from studying these containers, as well as the marks and inscriptions left on the handles of the vessels, make it possible to reconstruct the trade routes of the Ancient World.

The curator of the exhibition is Olga Vitalyevna Gorskaya, a researcher in the State Hermitage’s Department of Classical Antiquity.

A scholarly catalogue has been produced for the exhibition (Slavia publishing house, 2023) and a film created that explores in detail the themes of the sea and seafaring in the Ancient World.