Double-Handled Goblet

Collective (students from the Moudros High School and the Vocational School of Repanidi participated) 

Acrylics on OSB surface, 125 cm. x 250 cm, 2025

“So he said, and laid in his dear mother's hands a two-handled cup and said these words to her - ”Be patient now, mother, be strong, though you have bitterness."

The term “two-handled cup” was used by Homer in The Iliad to describe the luxurious wine cup used for both drinking and libations by the upper class of the Mycenaean period. Many centuries later it was adopted by Schliemann to name certain goblets characterized by a tall cylindrical body with two vertical curved or heart-shaped handles, first found in Troy in 2400-2200 BC.

In Poliochni of Limnos, archaeological excavations in 1935 unearthed exactly the same type of cups dating to about two centuries later (2200-2000 BC), belonging to the yellow building phase and are now on display at the Archaeological Museum of Athens. The goblets of Poliochni were classified into two categories: the first category includes the most delicate and ornate vessels, while the vessels of the second category are almost always more durable and heavy, more suitable for everyday use.

These finds provide excellent evidence of communication networks and cultural exchanges from mainland Greece and the Cyclades to Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Cilicia, and testify to a culture of high aesthetics and luxury.