Vatican Museums

The three young actors are participating in a symposium following a theatrical performance. They appear semi-reclining on the same kline, engaged in playing kottabos, which consists of throwing wine sediments contained in a kylix to strike a saucer or cup placed at the top of a pole. The prize for the winner, which include three cakes in the form of a pyramid, are arranged on a low table. At the sides of the kline there are two small servants: a flautist with a tunic and a naked youth presented as a satyr holding a sympulum and a thymiaterion. A papposilenus is asleep under the kline, possibly an actor in costume. The reference to the theatrical world and to Dionysius is further underlined by the garland of ivy at the top, from which three scenic masks hang, and by the Dionysiac representation on the other side: a young Dionysius, seated with the thyrsus, hands a patera to a bearded Silenus while a woman places a garland on his head. At the top there are the busts of a bearded Silenus and a Maenad.
According to A.D. Trendall, this Vatican krater constitutes one of the best of Python's works, among those closest to the signed vases.