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These tiles could be made of metal (usually copper but also gold and silver as well) or even of ivory. These creatures originate from the Middle East, whereas the technique of casting followed by hammering also alludes to oriental workshops.Ī usual method for the decoration of furniture and wooden objects were the inlayed tiles with decorative or narrative character. On its lip there are developed heads of griffins and lions, as well as winged female figures, possibly sirens. In the Museum there is a distinctive specimen: on a fine, bronze tripod standing on cast legs, lied a large globular cauldron. We will recoup ourselves by the levy of a general rate for private individuals cannot be expected to bear the burden of such a handsome present.Īt the end of the Geometric period an innovation is introduced: the tripds are detached from the large bronze cauldron, which is now placed on them. Let us now, therefore, present him further, each one of us, with a large tripod and a cauldron. Our guest has already packed up the clothes, wrought gold, and other valuables which you have brought for his acceptance They appear to be precious gifts for the guests, as in the case of the Phaeakes, who offered a cauldron and tripod to Odysseus. In Homer’s poetry there are frequent mentions of these objects. In the Museum of Delphi there are fragments of such tripods, most distinctive of which is the one with a ring-shaped handle. In the Geometric period, the tripods were fastened to the cauldrons they supported. This tradition, however, inspired the iconographers, whereas the tripod emerged as a fundamental cultic object. Finally, Zeus had to intervene in order to end this quarrel. Apollo tried to prevent him and this resulted in a fight between the god and the hero. Then, the hero was enraged and he grabbed the tripod on which the Pythia sat in order to pronounce her oracles. The oracle did not want to give him an omen. According to the myth, Hercules went to the oracle of Delphi in order to ask what to do in order to be expiated from the murder of Iphitos. Tripods are very particular objects for the cult of Apollo.