The κάνθαρος was a cup so called because of a fancied resemblance to an inverted beetle.[669] It was specially associated with Dionysos,[670] and from this fact its form has been identified with certainty from the two-handled drinking-cup which he is so often depicted holding, especially on B.F. vases. It is a very beautiful though for some reason never a very popular shape in pottery, and is found at all periods.[671] In form it may be described as a deep straight-sided cup on a high stem, with loop-shaped handles starting from the rim each side and coming down to the lower edge of the body (Fig. 50). Probably it was considered a difficult shape to produce in pottery, and was commoner in metal examples. At all events the καρχήσιον, a similar kind of cup, seems to have been consistently made of metal. Athenaeus[672] describes it with more than usual detail as tall, moderately contracted in the middle, with handles reaching to the bottom (_i.e._ of the bowl). The form is to be recognised on the monuments (if not in actual examples[673]) as a variation of the κάνθαρος in which the body has a sort of “waist,” bulging out again below. Virgil mentions _carchesia_,[674] and silver specimens were among the dedications in the Parthenon at Athens.[675] [Illustration: FIG. 50. KANTHAROS.] Of all the ancient forms of drinking-cup, the most celebrated and in some respects also the most beautiful, was the =Kylix= κύλιξ, Lat. _calix_),[676] a two-handled cup of varying size, with large bowl on a high stem. The shape of this vase shows a continuous development, as does also its decorative treatment, from the most primitive times down to the end of Greek vase-painting. It was moreover the form which the great artists of the early part of the fifth century selected as the medium of their finest efforts. The kylix played an important part at the banquet, being not only one of the commonest forms of drinking-cup in use, but as being also used in the game of kottabos (see Chapter XV.). In the banqueting-scenes which are so popular a subject on the R.F. kylikes of the best period, the guests are often represented twirling vases of this shape on one finger crooked through the handle; this being the manner in which they discharged the drops of wine at the mark. Hence the kylix was also known as ἀγκύλη or κοτταβίς. When not in use the kylix was hung on a peg on the wall, as it is sometimes depicted on R.F. vases.[677]