Problem
Includes a few examples of ancient Greek vase painting. Used for the storage and shipment of grains, wine, and other goods, as well as in the all-male Greek drinking party, known as the symposium, ancient Greek vases were decorated with a variety of subjects ranging from scenes of everyday life to the tales of heroes and gods. The two most popular techniques of vase decoration were the black-figure technique, so-named because the figures were painted black, and the red-figure technique, in which the figures were left the red color of the clay. The black-figure technique developed around 700 B.C. and remained the most popular Greek pottery style until about 530 B.C., when the red-figure technique was developed, eventually surpassing it in popularity. Examine the examples in the essay and choose two vases from each technique to discuss the differences between the black-figure style and the red-figure style. In your response, you need to pay special attention to common themes, decorative patterns, and functions, but also differences between the black-figure style and the red-figure style in rendering human figures and pictorial space.