Fatiche erculee nella ceramica corinzia di età romana: coppe abbinate per un ciclo figurativo incompiuto

Archaeology is about reconstructing patterns and models in order to understand past ways of life. Using material evidence, archaeologists have managed to reconstruct chronological frameworks, understand the impact of man on the natural environment he choose to live in and vice versa, approach how man intended to exploit natural and mineral resources to his own benefit and develop technologies to do so, and how he mobilized his potential to construct social relationships and communities. However, the ultimate challenge of archaeology might be the understanding of how our ancestors thought, what mental concepts they constructed to develop and accept the world in which they were living, and how they behaved in the face of the unescapable and perennial facts of life. As the archaeological record is by definition a residue of human behaviour, the reconstruction of archaeological patterns helps to define past human behaviour, and as intention, thinking, believing and other cognitive concepts are actively implicated in behaviour, it follows that understanding behaviour may lead us understanding past cognitive concepts, such as religion. The paper explores the role of the images on a prolific class of relief ware of Roman period produced in Corinth, using literary and archaeological evidence, analyzing, in particular the presence of the Hercules labours.