Kept in the Archaeological Museum of Milan, the crater, a container where wine and water was mixed during the banquet, is a typical form of Greek and Magna Graecia pottery, in particular from the ancient province of Daunia in Apulia and Taranto. This specimen, 61 cm high, is exceptional for its rich figurative decoration, which illustrates a theatrical performance. The scene, which can be interpreted thanks to the presence of the names of some characters, takes place in the presence of the three divinities depicted above: Hermes, Apollo and Ares. Parthenopaios, the protagonist, sitting on a rich bed, receives a visit from an old man, in the presence of his mother Atalanta, behind him. The elder is perhaps the soothsayer Tiresias, who came to exhort him to participate in the expedition against Thebes led by Polynices, which will have a mortal outcome for him.

The oinochoe is part of the production of the Ilioupersis Painter and his followers, as evidenced by the refinement of the features of the figures and drapery. The figurative scene sees Hermes and Nike as protagonists at an altar in the act of making a sacrifice; the altar is rendered in perspective and partially painted in white. The ritual sees Hermes, with a fluttering cloak, petasus on his shoulders, caduceus staff and high sandals intent on pouring wine from an oinoche to extinguish the still burning flames of sacrifice; the Nike, dressed in a soft chiton, features hair gathered in a tail held in by a white lace, a crown radiated on the head, a pearl necklace, bracelets and armilla on the left ankle, as well as large wings with long feathers. In his left hand he holds a bunch of grapes with berries indicated in white. while offering first fruits from a phiale. The scene is probably a brilliant and original reworking where the sacrificers have become the deities to whom the sacrifice was addressed.

This ceramic crater (vase for mixing water and wine) of Apulian production comes from Ruvo di Puglia and is dated to 380-370 BC. The scenes depicted are pertinent to the world of Fliacian farce, a comic genre born in the Doric colonies of southern Italy; the italiot vases constitute the best iconographic documentation to better understand this genre. The topics of the Fliacesan farce were generally those represented by the contrast between masters and slaves, pedagogues and youngsters, cooks and scullery, as well as reworking of mythological topics in a comic key. The curious name of the crater is due to the scene represented on side A in which the gray-haired Philotimides (the "greedy") tastes sweets together with the old Charis ("the grace") while a servant leaves after having stolen other delicacies. On the side B, on the other hand, the parody of Heracles is represented: the young hero, beardless and with a lion's skin on his shoulders, holds the world in place of an atlas; while he is in this uncomfortable position, two Satyrs approach and take away his club, the other the quiver with arrows.

This crater (vessel for mixing wine with water), produced by a Campania workshop in the 4th century BC, illustrates on the main side one of the best known myths of Greek tragedy: the myth of Orestes. Stained with the terrible guilt of killing his mother Clytemnestra to avenge his father Agamemnon, Orestes is persecuted by the Erinyes, avengers of human injustices. The scene depicts Orestes, who still wields the sword with which he killed his mother, as he takes refuge at the tripod (vessel with three-footed support) of Apollo, symbol of the god's sanctuary in Delphi, chased by an Erinyes. On the opposite side are Apollo, who bending his bow threatens the female figure and Pyladas, a dear friend of Orestes.

The fragment has been attributed to one of the greatest Attic painters on ceramics, Euphronios, active in the last decades of the 6th century BC. and among the first to paint in the new red-figure technique, he is certainly among the most long-lived and talented potters and painters. He mainly painted large banquet vases, especially craters, with scenes from the Homeric myth or poems, but also inspired by the daily life of the Athenian elite. Well aware of the achievements of sculpture in the round, the painter masterfully tackles the rendering of human figures in torsion or foreshortening, with studied compositions and well-defined details. The fragment of the Archaeological Museum of Milan depicts the head of bearded Heracles with leontè on his head, through a firm and precise style, the skilful use of black and the detailed rendering of anatomical details and clothing, all characteristic elements of Euphronios.