Eracle, Eurito e gli archi di Apollo

The classic-period necropolis of Passo Marinaro at Camarina (Sicily) has yelded some magnificent Attic red-figure vases. In this article the authors examine the red-figure krater from tomb 68 foundduring the excavation campaign conducted by Paola Pelagatti in 1972. Attributable to Orpheus Painter and datable tothe years 450-425 BC, the krater bears on its main side aa scene of an arrow-shooting contest between Eurytos, king of Oechalia, and Herakles, a scene that seems to have no immediate parallel in Athenian pottery production. The Orpheus painter has chosen to represent a competition that must have been as celebrated in antiquity as the arrow-shhoting contest won by Odysseus at Ithaca. The two contests are indeed linked by many aspects in common. The two bows portrayed on the krater have in fact a parallel history with a common origin, since both Eurytos and Herakles had reveived them as gift from Apollo, and a common destination, the hands of Odysseus. The examination of the iconography of the krater is complemented by other evidence from Camarina suggesting that the bow had a particularlysignificant role in the life of the city.