Le raffigurazioni delle ceramiche attiche delle necropoli di Agrigento: L'iconografia musicale per la comprensione dell'ideologia funeraria, del culto dei morti e delle credenze religiose

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between musical iconography and funerary ideology in ancient Akragas, focusing on the grave goods from the Contrada Pezzino necropolis. By analyzing a red-figure column-crater attributed to the Kleophon Painter (late 5th century BCE), the author explores how the depiction of musical instruments—specifically the lyra and the aulos—served as symbolic markers of the deceased’s status and the ritual process. The lyra acts as a retrospective emblem of the youth's paideia and socio-political identity, while the aulos evokes the actual acoustic reality of the threnos, facilitating the transition between the world of the living and the afterlife. Through this iconographic lens, the research highlights how musical representations in Sicilian Greek colonies were deliberate choices reflecting deep-seated religious beliefs and the heroization of the deceased.