ABSTRACT

The quotation that forms the heading for this chapter is taken from an article by Martin Robertson. 'Greek painted vases,' he wrote, 'looked at with detachment, are a very curious phenomenon' (Robertson 1951: 151). After a while students of Greek pottery maybe find it difficult to look at them 'with detachment'; certainly it is difficult, once you are used to them, to distance yourself from them and appreciate how curious they really are.