Homer uses the word in two senses: (1) as equivalent to a λέβης, as if used for boiling water[691]; (2) as a cinerary urn.[692] Obviously in both these cases the significance of this particular word must not be pressed. Later, however, we find very frequent mention of the phiale in classical authors, such as Herodotos, Pindar, and Plato, in all cases with the same restricted significance, that of a vessel used in making libations. On the R.F. vases it appears in countless examples, used in this manner, especially by Nike. Aristotle, by way of illustrating the inversion of a simile, says “You may call the shield the phiale of Ares, or the phiale the shield of Dionysos,” no doubt with reference to its buckler-like shape.[693] Athenaeus (xi. 462 D) quotes a passage from Xenophanes which implies its use for holding perfumes at banquets. Many words occur as synonyms of φιάλη, such as the αιακις, ἄροτρον, λυκιουργεῖς, ῥυσίς, φθοίς, βάτιακιον, and λεπάστη.[694] The last-named word has been suggested above (p. 165) for a kind of large covered dish or bowl, but we can only ascertain that it was a drinking-vessel of some kind, resembling a large kylix.[695] [Illustration: FIG. 54. Rhyton.] The ῥυτόν, or drinking-horn (from ῥέω, “flow”), is a familiar shape in the R.F. and later styles, but as a vase-form does not occur before the middle of the fifth century.[696] Its peculiarities were: firstly, that it could not be set down without drinking the contents; secondly, that the narrow end was almost always modelled in the form of the head of some animal, or of a woman or Satyr. Some examples are known in the form of two heads back to back, usually a Satyr and a Maenad, but these having a flat circular base are an exception to the first rule noted above, and partake more of the nature of a cup than of a drinking-horn. Although no archaic examples have been preserved, the rhyton, or κέρας,[697] as it is also called, frequently appears on B.F. vases, being generally held by Satyrs or revellers, or by Dionysos.[698] Athenaeus says it was a form reserved for the use of heroes, and that κέρας was the older name for it.[699] Among the South Italian vases, it is found almost exclusively in Apulia, and these belong to the decadence of the Apulian style, the paintings being limited to a figure of Eros, or a woman, and little more. These rhyta have one handle, and the cup-part is generally cylindrical in form, tapering slightly towards the lower part, where the head is attached (Fig. 54.). In some instances the form is narrower and more elongated, with fluted body. The animals’ heads are usually left unvarnished, and coloured in detail like the terracotta figures; the mouth often forms a spout from which the liquid could be allowed to run out.[700] The heads, which occur in great variety, include the panther, fox, wolf, horse, goat, mule, deer, and dog[701]; also Gryphons and Pegasi (see below). Athenaeus mentions