lekythos

American  

[lek-uh-thos] / ˈlɛk əˌθɒs /

noun

Greek and Roman Antiquity.

• lekythoi
  plural

1. an oil jar having an ellipsoidal body, narrow neck, flanged mouth, curved handle extending from below the lip to the shoulder, and a narrow base terminating in a foot: used chiefly for ointments.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lekythoi
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of lekythos

First recorded in 1850–55, lekythos is from the Greek word lḗkythos

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lekythos lekythoi

The painting on a tall lekythos, or oil jug, from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens shows two men transforming into pigs under the spell of the sorceress Circe.

From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2010

Its priceless collection of 1,450 Greek pots includes all the known shapes of Attic vases across three centuries, except for one, an elusive type of lekythos.

From Time Magazine Archive

Greek lekythos to a 1962 painting by Richard Lindner, an exquisite gilt bronze Standing Buddha to a Berlinghieri Madonna and Child.

From Time Magazine Archive

Fig. 29a.—Illustration on a small lekythos of an Athenian girl at work on a tapestry loom, together with a full size tracing of the tapestry loom.

From Ancient Egyptian and Greek Looms by H. Ling (Henry Ling) Roth

K. A companion lekythos has been discovered at Chasani, in Attica, and is now at Athens.

From A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, Volume I (of 2) by A. H. Smith

This style seems to have been popular about the middle of the 5th century b.c. and was employed for the funeral lekythoi which came into fashion at Athens about that time.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various

In the 5th century this practice was revived at Athens, chiefly in the class of lekythoi or oil-flasks devoted exclusively to sepulchral uses.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various

On others shrines or tombs are depicted—sometimes containing effigies of the deceased, at which the relatives make offerings—as on the Athenian lekythoi.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various

Those of the "white" room are painted in the style of the Attic lekythoi, or oil-jugs.

From Pagan and Christian Rome by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani

Painted vases did not then altogether cease to be made, as the Panathenaic prize vases and the funeral lekythoi testify, but at the same time a rapid decadence set in.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various

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