“Certain potters, while they were busied in baking their ware, seeing Homer at a small distance, and having heard much said of his wisdom, called to him, and promised him a present of their commodity--and of such other things as they could afford--if he would sing to them, when he sang as follows: “‘Pay me my price, potters! and I will sing. Attend, O Pallas! and with lifted arm Protect their oven: let the cups and all The sacred vessels blacken well, and, baked With good success, yield them both fair renown And profit, whether in the market sold Or streets, and let no strife ensue between us. But, O ye potters! if with shameless front Ye falsify your promise, then I leave No mischief uninvoked to avenge the wrong. Come, Syntrips, Smaragdus, Sabactes, come, And Asbestus; nor let your direst dread Omodamus delay! Fire seize your house! May neither house nor vestibule escape! May ye lament to see confusion mar And mingle the whole labor of your hands! And may a sound fill all your oven, such As of a horse grinding his provender, While all your pots and flagons bounce within. Come hither also daughter of the Sun, Circe, the sorceress, and with thy drugs Poison themselves, and all that they have made! Come also Chiron, with thy numerous troop Of Centaurs, as well those who died beneath The club of Hercules, as who escaped, And stamp their crockery to dust! Down fall Their chimney! Let them see it with their eyes, And howl to see the ruin of their art, While I rejoice: and if a potter stoop To peep into his furnace, may the fire Flash in his face and scorch it, that all men Observe thenceforth equity and good faith.’” The scene on the kylix at Munich is supposed to represent Homer among the potters. The furnace is on the extreme right, and has a tall chimney. The fire is seen below. In front of it is a man who has apparently been placing a vase in the oven, and behind him comes another carrying what may be a large jar on his shoulder. The next figure is that of Homer, holding a staff; behind him is a vase, and a youth carrying another vessel toward the furnace. The next group shows the operation of “throwing,” a boy turning the wheel while an old man shapes the vessel. On the left is a young man sitting and holding on his knees a vase to which he seems to be attaching the handle. The entire composition is interesting, since--assuming the old man with the crook to be Homer, and not the proprietor of the pottery--it illustrates a poem which shows how widely, even at the early age in which the poet lived, the various operations in making vases were understood. For our present purpose, however, attention is chiefly directed to the furnace.