Chapter VI: Preface (3)

“If you will give me a reward I will sing to you, O potters.
Come hither, Athena, and stretch thy hand over the kiln, and
may the kotyloi blacken well and all the ... and may they be
well baked, and receive the price due to their value, many
being sold in the market, and many in the streets. May they
gain much.... But if you turn to shamelessness, and choose
falsehood, then I summon the destroyers to fall upon the kiln,
Crasher and Smasher and Unquenchable and Shatterer and Fierce
Conquerer, who would bring many evils upon this craft ... and
may the whole kiln be thrown into confusion, while the potters
lament loudly. As a horse’s jaw eats greedily, so may the kiln
devour all the pottery within it, making it brittle. Come
hither, Circe, daughter of the sun, skilled in drugs; bring
malignant poisons, afflict the men and ruin their work. Let
Cheiron bring hither many Centaurs, both those who escaped the
hands of Herakles, and those who perished. Let them harshly
smite the work and smite the kiln, and may the men themselves
see these grievous deeds with lamentations. But I shall be
happy when I see their unlucky craft. And the man who peeps
over, may his whole face burn on account of this, so that all
may know how to do what is right.”

Tῇ δὲ εἰσαύριον ἀποπορευόμενον ἰδόντες κεραμέες τινες κάμινον
ἐγκαίοντες κεράμου λεπτοῦ, προσεκαλέσαντο αὐτόν, πεπυσμένοι ὅτι
σοφὸς εἴη· καὶ ἐκέλευόν σφιν ἀεῖσαι, φάμενοι δώσειν αὐτῷ τοῦ
κεράμου καὶ ὅ τι ἂν ἄλλο ἔχωσιν. ὁ δὲ Ὅμηρος ἀείδει αὐτοῖς τὰ
ἔπεα τάδε ἃ καλέεται Κάμινος·

Εἰ μὲν δώσετε μισθὸν ἀείσω, ὦ κεραμῆες·
δεῦρ’ ἄγ’ Ἀθηναίη καὶ ὑπείρεχε χεῖρα καμίνου,
εὖ δὲ μελανθεῖεν κότυλοι καὶ πάντα μάλευρα,
φρυχθῆναί τε καλῶς καὶ τιμῆς ὦνον ἀρέσθαι,
πολλὰ μέν εἰν ἀγορῇ πωλεύμενα, πολλὰ δ’ ἀγυιᾶς,
πολλὰ δὲ κερδῆναι, ἡμῖν δὲ δὴ ὥς σφι νοῆσαι.
ἢν δ’ ἐπ’ ἀναιδείην τρεφθέντες ψεύδε’ ἄρησθε,
συγκαλέω δ’ ἤπειτα καμίνῳ δηλητῆρας,
Σύντριβ’ ὁμῶς Σμάραγόν τε καὶ Ἄσβετον ἠδέ γ’ Ἄβακτον,
Ὠμόδαμόν θ’ ὃς τῇδε τέχνῃ κακὰ πολλὰ πορίζοι.
πεῖθε πυραίθουσαν καὶ δώματα, σὺν δὲ κάμινος
πᾶσα κυκηθείη κεραμέων μέγα κωκυσάντων.
ὡς γνάθος ἱππείη βρύκει, βρύκοι δὲ κάμινος
πάντ’ ἐντοσθ’ αὐτῆς κεραμήϊα λεπτὰ ποιοῦσα.
δεῦρο καὶ ἠελίου θύγατερ πολυφάρμακε Κίρκη.
ἄγρια φάρμακα βάλλε, κάκου δ’ αὐτούς τε καὶ ἔργα.
δεῦρο δὲ καὶ Χείρων ἀγέτω πολέας Κενταύρους,
οἵ θ’ Ἡρακλείους χεῖρας φύγον, οἵ τ’ ἀπόλοντο·
τύπτοιεν τάδε ἔργα κακῶς, τύπτοι δὲ κάμινον,
αὐτοὶ δ’ οἰμῴζοντες ὁρῷατο ἔργα πονηρά.
γηθήσω δ’ ὁρόων αὐτῶν κακοδαίμονα τέχνην.
ὃς δὲ χ’ ὑπερκύψῃ, περὶ τούτου πᾶν τὸ πρόσωπον
φλεχθείη, ὡς πάντες ἐπίσταιντ’ αἴσιμα ῥέζειν.

This is a good picture of the havoc that may happen in a kiln.

_Hippokrates_, _Epidemia_, IV, 20; _Littré_, V, p. 160.

The man who fell down from the potter’s oven, since a
cupping-glass was not applied immediately, suffered from an
internal inflammation and on the twentieth day grew worse.

Ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ κεραμέου ἴπνου καταπεσὼν, ᾧ οὐ προσβλήθη αὐτίκα
σικύη, ἐκαύθη ἔσω, καὶ εἰκοστῇ ἐπαλιγκότησεν.

This reminds us of the men we see climbing on the kilns in the representations on Corinthian pinakes (p. 76).

_Pollux_, _Onomasticon_, VII, 108.

It was the custom for bronze casters to hang something
ridiculous in front of their furnaces, or to mould something
upon them, in order to avert envy. These were called βασκάνια.

Πρὸ δὲ τῶν καμίνων τοῖς χαλκεῦσιν ἔθος ἦν γελοῖά τινα καταρτᾶν,
ἢ ἐπιπλάττειν, ἐπὶ φθόνου ἀποτροπῇ. ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ βασκάνια.

Such devices to avert the evil eye would apply equally to pottery kilns, as we know from actual representations (cf. pp. 64 f.). It is natural that the vagaries of a kiln should be ascribed by the superstitious ancients to supernatural forces.

RED OCHRE WASH

_Inscriptiones Graecae_, II, 1, 546.

Be it decreed by the senate and people of the Ioulietai
concerning the representations of the envoys from Athens, that
the export of miltos shall be to Athens, and to no other place
from this day forward; if anyone exports it to any other place,
his ship and its cargo shall be confiscated and a half shall be
given to the informer; ... If the Athenians decree any other
regulations for the guarding of the miltos they shall be valid.

(Ἔδ)οξεν τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἰουλιητῶν, περὶ (ὧν οἱ παρ’
Ἀθηναίων λέγουσι, δεδόχθα)ι τῇ βούλῃ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἰουλιητῶν,
εἶναι τὴ(ν ἐξαγωγὴν τῆς μίλτου Ἀθήναζε), ἄλλοσε δὲ μηδαμῇ ἀπὸ
τῆσδε τῆς ἡμέρας. ἐὰν δέ τι(ς ἄλλοσε ἐξάγῃ, δημόσια εἶναι
τ)ὸ πλοῖον καὶ τὰ χρήματα τὰ ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ. τῷ δὲ φήν(αντι ἢ
ἐνδείξαντι εἶναι τὰ ἡμίσεα) ... (ἐὰν δέ τι ἄλ)λο ψηφίζωνται
Ἀθηναῖοι περὶ φυλακῆς τῆς μίλ(του ... κύρια εἶ)ναι ἃ ἂν
Ἀθηναῖοι ψηφίζωνται.

_Inscriptiones Graecae_, II, 1, 546.

Theogenes moved: be it decreed by the senate and people of the
Koresians, concerning the representations of the envoys from
Athens, the export of miltos shall be to Athens ... as it was
before; and in order that the decrees of the Athenians and
Koresians concerning miltos may be valid, it shall be exported
in a ship which they shall designate and in no other ship ...
the tax of two per cent shall be paid to the collectors by
those engaged in the trade.

(Θεογ)ένης εἶπεν. δεδόχθαι (τ)ῇ βο(υλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ τῷ
Κορησίων. περὶ ὧν λέγουσι οἱ παρ’ Ἀθη)ναίων, εἶναι τῆς μίλτου
τὴν ἐξ(αγωγὴν Ἀθήναζε ... κ)αθάπερ πρότερον ἦν. ὅπως δ’ ἂν
κύρια ἦ(ι τ)ὰ ψηφίσματα (... Ἀθηναίων κ)αὶ Κορησίων τὰ
περὶ τῆς μίλτου, ἐξάγειν ἐμπλοίῳ ὧ(ι ἂν ... ἀποδείξωσιν, ἐν
ἄλλῳ) δὲ πλοῖῳ μηδενί ... (τελ)εῖν δὲ τὴν πεντηκοστὴν τοῖς
πεντηκοστολόγοις τοὺς ἐργαζομένους.

It is interesting to learn how important miltos (red ochre) was to the Athenians. We know that it was used in building for the dressing of stones[64]; and if the appearance of one of the chief articles of commerce of Athens, viz. the pottery, was dependent on it (cf. pp. 53 ff.), it is natural that stringent provisions should be made for its acquisition and monopoly.

_Pliny_, _Natural History_, XXXV, 12 (43), 152.

The addition of red ochre or moulding in red clay is the
invention of Butades.

Butades inventum est rubricam addere aut ex rubra creta fingere.

_Suidas_, _Lexicon_, _s. v._ Κωλιάδος κεραμῆες.

Potters of Kolias: Kolias, a place in Attica where vases are
moulded. It is said that of all the kinds of clay that are
brought to the wheel (and the wheel on which vessels are shaped
is meant), that is, of all the clay fit for making vases, the
clay of Kolias is the best, so that it is also dyed with miltos.

Κωλιάς, τόπος τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ἔνθα σκεύη πλάττονται, λέγει οὖν ὅτι
ὅσοι ἐπὶ τροχοὺς φέρονται (τροχὸν δὲ τὸν σκευοπλαστικὸν λέγει)
τουτέστιν, ὅσαι πρὸς σκευοπλασίαν ἐπιτήδειαι, πασῶν ἡ Κωλιάδος
κρείσσων· ὥστε καὶ βάπτεσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς μίλτου.

_Isidorus_, _Etymologiae_, XX, iv, 3.

It is said that pottery vases were first invented in the island
of Samos, being made of clay and hardened by fire, whence comes
the term Samian vases. A later invention was to add red ochre
and to make pottery of red clay.

Fictilia vasa in Samo insula prius inventa traduntur, facta ex
creta et indurata igni; unde et Samia vasa: postea inventum et
rubricam addere et ex rubra creta fingere.

The significance of these passages has already been discussed on pp. 53-59.

POROSITY OF GREEK POTTERY

_Pollux_, _Onomasticon_, VII, 161 ff.

162. Aristophanes says that a clay vinegar jar has leprosy,
instead of saying that it is moist (sweats?).

Λεπρᾶν δὲ κεράμειον ὀξηρόν, ἀντὶ τοῦ μυδᾶν, Ἀριστοφάνης λέγει.

This appears to refer to the fact that unglazed ware (and even painted Athenian pottery is unglazed in parts) becomes moist when filled with liquid, on account of its porosity.

THE STATUS OF POTTERS

_Isokrates_, _De Permutatione_, 2.

As if one should have the insolence to call Pheidias, who made
the statue of Athena, a statuette maker, or to say that Zeuxis
and Parrhasius had plied the same trade as that of the painters
of pinakes.

Ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις Φειδίαν τὸν τὸ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ἕδος ἐργασάμενον
τολμῷη καλεῖν κοροπλάθον, ἢ Ζεῦξιν καὶ Παρράσιον τὴν αὐτὴν
ἔχειν φαίη τέχνην τοῖς τὰ πινάκια γράφουσιν.

_Aristophanes_, _Ekklesiazousai_, 995 f.

Old Woman. Who is this?

Young Man. The man who paints lekythoi for the dead.

Γρ. οὗτος δ’ ἔστι τίς;

Νεανίας. ὃς τοῖς νεκροῖσι ζωγραφεῖ τὰς ληκύθους.

_Plutarch_, _Life of Numa_, 17.

So, distinguishing the whole people by the several arts and
trades, he formed the companies of musicians, goldsmiths,
carpenters, dyers, shoemakers, skinners, braziers, and potters
(A. H. Clough).

Ἦν δὲ ἡ διανομὴ κατὰ τὰς τέχνας, αὐλητῶν, χρυσοχόων, τεκτόνων,
βαφέων, σκυτοτόμων, σκυτοδέψων, χαλκέων, κεραμέων.

_Plato_, _Euthydemos_, 301, c, d.

What, said he, is the business of a good workman? Tell me, in
the first place, whose business is hammering?

The smith’s.

And whose the making of pots?

The potter’s.

And who has to kill and skin and mince and boil and roast?

The cook, I said.

And if a man does his business, he does rightly?

Certainly.

And the business of the cook is to cut up and skin, you have
admitted that?

Yes, I have, but you must not be too hard upon me.

Then if some one were to kill, mince, boil, roast the cook, he
would do his business, and if he were to hammer the smith, and
make a pot of the potter, he would do their business (Jowett).

Οἶσθα οὖν, ἔφη, ὅτι προσήκει ἑκάστοις τῶν δημιουργῶν; πρῶτον
τίνα χαλκεύειν προσήκει, οἶσθα;—Ἔγωγε· ὅτι χαλκέα.—τί δέ,
κεραμεῦειν; κεραμέα.—τί δέ, σφάττειν τε καὶ ἐκδέρειν καὶ
τὰ μικρὰ κρέα κατακόψαντα ἕψειν καὶ ὀπτᾶν;—Μάγειρον, ἦν δ’
ἐγώ.—Οὐκοῦν ἐάν τις, ἔφη, τὰ προσήκοντα πράττῃ, ὀρθῶς πράξει;
Μάλιστα.—Προσήκει δέ γε, ὡς φῄς, τὸν μάγειρον κατακόπτειν
καὶ ἐκδέρειν; ὡμολόγησας ταῦτα ἢ οὔ;—Ὡμολόγησα, ἔφην, ἀλλὰ
συγγνώμην μοι ἔχε—Δῆλον τοίνυν, ἦ δ’ ὅς, ὅτι ἄν τις σφάξας τὸν
μάγειρον καὶ κατακόψας ἑψήσῃ καὶ ὀπτήσῃ, τὰ προσήκοντα ποιήσει.
καὶ ἐὰν τὸν χαλκέα τις αὐτὸν χαλκεύῃ καὶ τὸν κεραμέα κεραμεύῃ,
καὶ οὗτος τὰ προσήκοντα πράξει.

_Justinus_, _Historiae Philippicae_, XXII, 1, 1 and 2.

Agathocles, the tyrant of Sicily, who succeeded to the great
power of the elder Dionysius, came into the splendor of a
kingdom from a humble and base family. And too, being born in
Sicily of a potter, he had a boyhood not more honorable than
his origin.

Agathocles, Siciliae tyrannus, qui magnitudini prioris Dionysii
successit, ad regni maiestatem ex humili et sordido genere
pervenit. Quippe in Sicilia patre figulo natus non honestiorem
pueritiam quam principia originis habuit.

Much has been written about the lowly status of Greek potters,[65] and the above references bear out this general idea. The craft of pottery was evidently placed on a par with other trades, and all such manual work was not considered a worthy occupation of free-born citizens, and left mostly to the metics, or non-citizens. We know this not only from texts and inscriptions on stone, but also from the non-Attic forms of the names of the potters, as well as the inscriptions on the vases which frequently show non-Attic spellings. It would be absurd, however, to infer that all pottery was as contemptuously regarded as the rough little tomb lekythoi[66] and the pinakes referred to by Aristophanes and Isokrates. And this is borne out by the following references.

_Plato_, _Hippias Maior_, p. 288 d.

If a skilful potter had made the vessel smooth and rounded and
well baked, like some of the fine two-handled jars which hold
six choai—if he should ask us about such a vessel as this, we
should be obliged to agree that it was beautiful.

Εἴπερ ἡ χύτρα κεκεραμευμένη εἴη ὑπὸ ἀγαθοῦ κεραμέως λεία καὶ
στρογγύλη καὶ καλῶς ὠπτημένη, οἷαι τῶν καλῶν χυτρῶν εἰσί τινες
δίωτοι, τῶν ἓξ χοᾶς χωρουσῶν, πάγκαλαι, εἰ τοιαύτην ἐρωτῴη
χύτραν, καλὴν ὁμολογητέον εἶναι.

_Pliny_, _Natural History_, XXXV, 161.

At Erythrae in the temple there are shown today two amphorai
consecrated on account of their thinness, a pupil and a teacher
having contested as to which of them could draw the clay
thinner.

Erythris in templo hodieque ostenduntur amphorae duae propter
tenuitatem consecratae discipuli magistrique certamine, uter
tenuiorem humum duceret.

_Amphis_, _Ampelourgos_, I.

_Meineke_, _Fragmenta Comicorum Graecorum_, III, p. 302.

There is no sweeter solace in life for human ills than
craftsmanship; for the mind, absorbed in its study, sails past
all troubles and forgets them.

Οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲν ἀτυχίας ἀνθρωπίνης
παραμύθιον γλυκύτερον ἐν βίῳ τέχνης·
ἐπὶ τοῦ μαθήματος γὰρ ἐστηκὼς ὁ νοῦς
αὐτοῦ λέληθε παραπλέων τὰς συμφοράς.

_Pindar_, _Nemean Odes_, X, 35, 36.

And in earthenware baked in the fire, within the closure of
figured urns, there came among the goodly folk of Hera the
prize of the olive-fruit (Myers).

γαίᾳ δὲ καυθείσᾳ πυρὶ καρπὸς ἐλαίας ἔμολεν Ἥρας τὸν εὐάνορα
λαὸν ἐν ἀγγέων ἕρκεσιν παμποικίλοις.

_Simonides_, _Fragments_, 155 (213) (Bergk).

And he won five garlands in succession at the Panathenaic
games, amphorai full of oil.

Καὶ Παναθηναίοις στεφάνους λάβε πέντ’ ἐπ’ αἔθλοις
ἑξῆς ἀμφιφορεῖς ἐλαίου.

That finely executed pottery was held in high esteem is evident from the remarks of Plato, Pliny, and Pindar; and there certainly could be no more enthusiastic eulogy of craftsmanship than Amphis’ beautiful lines. Moreover, the fact that clay vases were used as prizes at the most important games at Athens certainly points to considerable and wide-spread appreciation of them.

_Ktesias ap. Athenaeus_, p. 464 a.

And Ktesias says, “Among Persians he whom the king wishes to
insult uses pottery vessels.”

Καὶ γὰρ Κτησίας “παρὰ Πέρσαις” φησίν, “ὃν ἂν βασιλεὺς ἀτιμάσῃ,
κεραμέοις χρῆται”.

_Plutarch_, _Life of Galba_, 12.

When he was dining with Claudius Caesar he stole a silver cup,
and Caesar, finding it out, invited him to dinner again on the
next day, but ordered his servants to bring out and put before
the guest nothing silver, but everything of pottery.

Δειπνῶν δὲ παρὰ Κλαυδίῳ Καίσαρι ποτήριον ἀργυροῦν ὑφείλετο.
πυθόμενος δὲ ὁ Καῖσαρ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ πάλιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ δεῖπνον
ἐκάλεσεν, ἐλθόντι δὲ ἐκέλευσεν ἐκείνῳ μηδὲν ἀργυροῦν, ἀλλὰ
κεράμεα πάντα προσφέρειν καὶ παρατιθέναι τοὺς ὑπηρέτας.

_Tibullus_, _Elegies_, I, 1, 37 f.

Come, ye gods, nor scorn the gifts from a poor man’s table,
from clean pottery vessels.

Adsitis, divi, neu vos e paupere mensa
dona nec e puris spernite fictilibus.

_Juvenal_, _Satires_, III, 168.

[Even a poor man] is ashamed to dine off pottery dishes.

fictilibus cenare pudet—

_Martial_, _Epigrams_, XIV, 98.

We advise you not overmuch to despise Arretian vases: Tuscan
earthenware was luxury to Porsena (W. E. Ker).

Arretina nimis ne spernas vasa monemus.
lautus erat Tuscis Porsena fictilibus.

_Lucian_, _Prometheus_, 1.

Then you say I am Prometheus? If, Sir, it is because I too work
in clay, I recognize the similarity and acknowledge that I am
like him, nor do I refuse to be called a potter.

Οὐκ οὖν Προμηθέα με εἶναι φῄς; εἰ μὲν κατὰ τοῦτο, ὦ ἄριστε,
ὡς πηλίνων κἀμοὶ τῶν ἔργων ὄντων, γνωρίζω τὴν εἰκόνα καί φημι
ὅμοιος εἶναι αὐτῷ, οὐδ’ ἀναίνομαι πηλοπλάθος ἀκούειν.

_Athenaeus_, XI, p. 482 b.

(_Repeated by Macrobius_, _Satires_, V, 21, 10.)

They placed a krater for the gods, not of silver nor set with
stones, but of clay from Kolias.

Κρατῆρα γὰρ ἵστασαν τοῖς θεοῖς, οὐκ ἀργυροῦν οὐδὲ λιθοκόλλητον,
ἀλλὰ γῆς Κωλιάδος.

Though the Persians and the Romans set great store by metal vases and regarded clay vases as fit only for a poor man’s table, the Greeks had no such feelings, as we learn from Athenaeus and from innumerable vase paintings of banquets.

_Inscriptiones Graecae_, I, _Suppl._, 362, p. 79.

Euphronios the potter offered ... in supplication to (Athena)
Hygieia.

(Ε)ὐφρόνιος (ἀνέθηκεν ὁ) κεραμεύς (... ἱκεσί)αν Ὑγιεία(ι).

_Inscriptiones Graecae_, I, _Suppl._ 373²¹⁵, p. 101.

Mnesiades the potter and Andokides dedicated me.

(Μν)ησιάδης κεραμεύς με καὶ Ἀνδοκίδης ἀνέθηκεν.

_Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum_, 3485.

The lord of the land and sea, Imperator Caesar M. Aurelius
Severus Antoninus, Pius, Augustus, the potters have erected
from their own property.

Τὸν γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης δεσπότην Αὐτοκράτορα Καίσαρα Μ. Αὐρ(ήλιον)
Σευῆρον Ἀντωνῖνον, Εὐσεβῆ, Σεβαστόν, (ἐκ τῶν) ἰδίων ἵδ(ρυσαν)
οἱ κεραμεῖς.

_Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum_, 9188.

Sarcophagus of Theophilos and his son Tyrannos, a potter by
trade.

Σωματωτήκη Θεωφίλου (καὶ τοῦ) (α)ὐ(τ)οῦ (ὑ)οῦ Τυράννου τὴν
τέχνην κερα(μέως).

_Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum_, addenda 4212.

I, Sesames the potter, have bought through the board of
magistrates this burial vault for myself and my wife Elpis and
my mother-in-law Euphrosyne and for Ianoarios and our children,
and for Soterichos my father-in-law. No one else shall be
buried here, since (the violator) shall pay to the sacred
treasurer 1500 denarii.

Σ)ησάμας κεραμεὺς ὠνησάμην διὰ τῶν ἀρχείων τὸν πυργίσκον ἑαυτῷ
καὶ γυναικί μου Ἐλπίδι καὶ (τῇ) πενθερ(ίδι μου) Εὐφροσύνῃ κ(αὶ)
Ἰανοαρίῳ καὶ τ(έ)κνοις ἡ(μῶν) καὶ Σωτηρίχῳ τῷ πενθε(ρῷ). ἑτέρῳ
δὲ οὐδενὶ ἐξέσται (τεθ)ῆναι. ἐπεὶ ἀ(πο)(τ)είσει τῷ (ἱερωτάτῳ
ταμε(ί)ῳ δηναρία α̅φ̅ .

These inscriptions of dedications show that potters sometimes became people of means and influence.

_Plato_, _Republic_, p. 467 a.

Did you never observe in the arts how the potters’ boys look on
and help, long before they touch the wheel? (Jowett).

Ἢ οὐκ ᾔσθησαι τὰ περὶ τὰς τέχνας, οἷον τοὺς τῶν κεραμέων παῖδας,
ὡς πολὺν χρόνον διακονοῦντες θεωροῦσι πρὶν ἅπτεσθαι τοῦ
κεραμεύειν;

_Quintilian_, _Institutio Oratoria_, II, 17, 3.

... For what man is there so bereft, I will not say of
learning, but of sense, that he thinks that there is an art of
constructing and of weaving, and of making vases from clay, but
that rhetoric, that greatest and noblest work, as I said above,
has risen to such sublime heights without art?

... nam quis est adeo non ab eruditione modo, sed a sensu
remotus hominis, ut fabricandi quidem et texendi et e luto vasa
ducendi artem putet, rhetoricen autem, maximum ac pulcherrimum,
ut supra diximus, opus, in tam sublime fastigium existimet sine
arte venisse?

_Suidas_, _Lexicon_, _s. v._ Κεραμεύειν.

To make pottery: commonly said instead of “to work hard.”

Κεραμεύειν. κοινῶς ἀντὶ τοῦ κατεργάζεσθαι.

_Hesiod_, _Works and Days_, 25 f.

Potter bears a grudge against potter, and carpenter against
carpenter, and beggar envies beggar, and minstrel is jealous of
minstrel.

Καὶ κεραμεὺς κεραμεῖ κοτέει καὶ τέκτονι τέκτων
καὶ πτωχὸς πτωχῷ φθονέει καὶ ἀοιδὸς ἀοιδῷ.

_Aristotle_, _Rhetoric_, 2, 4, 21, 22.

[We are friendly towards] our equals, and towards those who
have the same interests, if they do not clash with us, and if
their livelihood does not come from the same source, for thus
arises the proverb “Potter hates potter.”

Καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους καὶ ταὐτὰ ἐπιτηδεύοντας, ἐὰν μὴ παρενοχλῶσι μὴ
δ’ ἀπὸ ταὐτοῦ ὁ βίος. γίγνεται γὰρ οὕτω τὸ κεραμεὺς κεραμεῖ.

_Aristotle_, _Nicomachaean Ethics_, 8, 1, 6.

For some define [friendship] as a kind of resemblance, and
claim that those who resemble each other are friends, whence
is the saying “Like to like,” and “Jackdaw to Jackdaw,” and so
on. Others, on the contrary, say that all such people are like
potters to each other.

Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὁμοιότητα τινὰ τιθέασιν αὐτὴν καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους
φίλους, ὅθεν τὸν ὅμοιόν φασιν ὡς τὸν ὅμοιον. καὶ κολοιὸν ποτὶ
κολοιόν, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. οἱ δ’ ἐξ ἐναντίας κεραμεῖς πάντας τοὺς
τοιούτους ἀλλήλοις φασὶν εἶναι.

Evidently it was fully recognized that pottery was a craft which needed a long apprenticeship, and in such a highly specialized art we are not surprised to read of the keen rivalry existing among potters. The inscription by Euthymides on one of his vases, “Never has Euphronios painted the like of this” (cf. Hoppin, Handbook of Attic Red-Figured Vases, p. 432), is evidence of the same spirit.

Judging from the evidence collected above it is fair to assume that though the estimate of potters and pottery varied at different times, in the period of Athenian vase painting it was distinctly high. Potters had, it is true, no social status; but they were respected members of the community, and the keen appreciation of their work had as its natural result eager rivalry among the potters and the setting of high standards. That their craft was regarded as a “trade” is of course nothing new. Artists as a class have only lately been promoted to the higher social ranks. We need only recall Albrecht Dürer’s description of the great Procession from the Church of Our Lady at Antwerp, in which he lists the painters and sculptors and goldsmiths with “the masons, the joiners, the carpenters, the sailors, the fishermen, the butchers, the leatherers, the clothmakers, the bakers, the tailors, the cordwainers,” and refers to the group as “workmen of all kinds and many craftsmen and dealers who work for their livelihood.” This is not so much an indignity to art as a wholesome appreciation of all manual labor.