A donkey as an askos
This chubby little donkey, perhaps a pregnant female, carries two transport amphorae on its back. The contours of a
halter can be seen on its head. The animal is decorated with dots and lines, as are the transport containers. The spout is indicated on the rear part of its back, in front of the handle. The little donkey is thus designed as an askos, a vessel. In this particular case, as an askos in animal form.
An askos (Greek ἀσκός askós ‘tube’, plural ἀσκοί askoí) is a flat, bulbous vessel from ancient times with a narrow spout, to which the handle is attached on the back. It takes its name from its visual similarity to a wineskin, although this term was not yet used for this type of vessel in ancient times. Askoi were made of clay from at least the 11th century BC and, like vases, were usually painted with figurative decorations in the style of their time. Among other things, they were used to store oil for filling lamps. The small versions with narrow necks were used to store liquids that were used in smaller quantities, such as perfumes, honey or vinegar. They were also used for libations at funeral ceremonies.
The Donkey Comedy - Asinaria
The Roman writer and comedy playwright Titus Maccius Plautus, 250–184 BC, achieved great popularity with his plays. His crude humour, his witty caricatures of characters, their natural roughness, turbulent fight scenes and folksy language appealed to the tastes of his audience.
One of Plautus' favourite characters is the clever slave who is loyal to his master but superior to him in intelligence, and whose refreshing audacity gives rise to comical situations. In the donkey comedy Asinaria, a slave embezzles the money used to buy a donkey, which his master's son can now use to ransom his beloved. The suspicious merchant had long hesitated to entrust him with the money: lupus est homo homini. In the well-known saying, the words were rearranged:
Homo homini lupus
Man is a wolf to man
Characterising the primitive state of human society.
Plautus' comedies influenced European comedy writing in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, for example Molière.
This extraordinary exhibit was made of terracotta in Cyprus between 925 and 800 BC.
