Sale: CNG 72, Lot: 2818. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2006.  Sold For $250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

[Oil lamps] ROMAN. Asia Minor. Pottery oil lamp. Circa 2nd-3rd century AD. Length 12cm. Mold-formed with central motif of Meleager killing the Calydonian boar as it rushes from a thicket, ovolo frame around discus. Two vent/fill holes on discus, tab handle. Reddish-orange colored clay. Choice condition, molded design rather weak.

From the Dr. Robert B. Beckett Collection.

The hero Meleager led the hunt to kill the Calydonian boar, a huge beast sent by Artemis to ravage the land for a perceived slight. Meleager included the great huntress Atalanta in the group, which caused some resentment among the band of heros and kin, increasingly after Atalanta drew first blood, following which Meleager killed the animal and presented the prize skin to her. The dispute escalated into open warfare, in which Meleager killed his uncles and was in turn pursued by the Erinyes and killed by them, his mother Cleopatra having burned the brand that she had kept safe since his birth. This tale, with its tragic themes of honor, jealousy, love, fratricidal strife and copious bloodshed appealed greatly to the classical mind.