home / visit / room 3 






















 

Room 3 – Gifts from the olives
The utilisation of olives and the products deriving from them is a sure testimony to man’s industriousness and not only to the extraordinary characteristics of this plant. Evidence of rare and surprising finds from various countries and eras, descriptions and biblical quotations, from the time of Homer to the poets and great writers of the past all illustrate the importance given to this tree by man. The olive contributed and became an indispensable element in the daily well-being and it refined a way of living. Illumination, healing, creams and perfumes, lubrificants, food, condiments, warmth and fuel are the precious gifts from the olive tree.

- Zoom 45 Kb -

Wooden objects for daily use, olives and olive oil collected from the whole Med. Area throughout the arc of 3000 years. Glass oil lamps, vases for perfumes, containers for healing and balsamic oils, instruments used by athletes in gymnasiums and the thermal baths, the colours and transparencies of the oils, the various forms of olives, braziers, warming pans, and wooden objects and furniture all carved from olive wood are included in this section.
 

Lekythos
This scene represents a male running figure and other male figures assisting in the exercises. This is frequent evidence of the use of this vascular form, that was greatly diffused under the Grecian influence. The first mention of a Lekythos can be traced back to the Odyssey: Nausica received in donation from her mother, a gold Lekythos filled with oil, necessary for the bathing and restoration of Ulisse, who landed on the island of the Feaci before his return to Ithaca.

Material: ceramics
Dimensions: height 19cm. Diameter 10cm.
Manufacturing technique: use of spinning lathe and decorated with black painted figures
Origin: Attica, Greece
Dated: end of VI - to beginning of V centuryB.C.
Use: vase to contain perfumed oil