Pygmies versus cranes / geranomachy
About the work
Imported from the workbook's Full reassessment sheet, revised 7 October 2026 (record ID 20). The assessment below is the workbook's comparative judgment under its stated criteria; source links and limits are retained.
Workbook assessment: Spread only
Date or witness: Long Greek tradition; representative Met vessel: 3rd century BCE
Region: Greek world; representative vessel from southern Italy
Workbook date-sort bounds: 300 BCE to 200 BCE; these bounds are not automatically invention or disappearance dates.
Description
Miniature warriors battle cranes as if in an epic war; the Met labels the recurring mythical combats as amusing subjects with a long tradition.
Evidence of adoption or transmission
The same mythic conflict is repeatedly represented in Greek visual culture.
What remains uncertain
The present evidence concerns iconographic continuity, without a demonstrated non-elite social pathway.
Workbook revision note: Reassessed using grassroots criteria