The music of Orpheus was so magical that it cast a spell not only over human beings and animals, but even caused rivers to cease flowing and trees to follow him. Today he is probably most familiar as the husband of Eurydice. She however died young, killed by a snake as she fled the advances of Aristaios (the inventor of bee-keeping). Hades, the King of the Underworld, agreed exceptionally to allow Orpheus to take Eurydice back to the realm of the living, provided he did not look over his shoulder at her. On the threshold, Orpheus did look back, and Eurydice was therefore lost to him. For the rest of his life, a solitary Orpheus sought consolation in music.

Here, Orpheus is seated outside on a rocky outcrop as he accompanies his songs with a lyre. His audience of three is Thracian, as we can tell from their distinctive fox-skin caps (alopekis) and heavy patterned cloaks (zeira). One of them leads a horse, for which Thrace was famous. Orpheus himself was the son of a Thracian king, Oeagrus, but here he is shown not as a Thracian but as a Greek. When this vase was made, the agricultural and mineral wealth of Thrace attracted strong Athenian interest. By depicting Orpheus in Greek dress, Athenian artists were laying claim to the sovereignty of the region.

The wives of the Thracian men who were mesmerised by Orpheus’s songs became jealous, and killed him brutally. His severed head floated as far as the island of Lesbos, which would enjoy a distinguished tradition of lyric poets that included Sappho and Alcaeus. Such poetry, set to music, was often performed at the symposia for which this vessel (intended to mix water with wine) was created.