London Horcrux #7: Cawdor Olympic Vase

In Sir John Soane’s house he had a red-figure Cawdor Vase from the 4^th century BCE, depicting the start of the Olympics. For me, seeing the vase was wonderful. As someone who is very interested in Ancient Greece and Rome, I love seeing art from that time period and in that style. Especially since in the classes on that subject that I’ve taken, red-figure pottery is often brought up, so it was great getting to see it in person. 

The vase, image taken from Sir John Soane's website.

 This particular vase depicts the folkloric origins of the Olympics, which is of course relevant to the course. The story goes that it was time for King Oinomaos’ daughter to be married, but there was a prophesy that he would be killed by his son-in-law. Thus he started a chariot race competition to win the hand of his daughter, but ensured that each suitor would lose. Finally the suitor Pelops changed the axel pins of Oinomaos’ chariot with wax, which then melted during the race, causing Oinomaos’ death and Pelops’ victory. Thus the prophesy held true. Then Pelops, to atone for causing the death, started the Olympics, with the first event being chariot racing.

I feel like the ancient Greeks’ way of life had a lot of fantastic and folkloric elements. This story exhibits some of the ways in which they interspersed. The fantastic elements of prophesies holding true cause folkloric stories such as this one. Also, the portrayal on this vase was originally a poet’s written story, which helps exhibit the way that folklore can be portrayed in different mediums.