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Announcer: This is
a Getty Podcast.

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Host: What covers over
seventy one percent of the

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earth’s surface, but is a
huge challenge to carry home?

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It’s water!

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Welcome to If Objects Could
Talk, a podcast where art

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and artifacts get to leave
the museum vault and tell

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their side of the story.

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Thanks for joining us as we
bring objects into the light!

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How long does it take you
to get a sip of water?

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Maybe it’s the time it
takes to walk to the kitchen

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and turn on the sink.

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Or the time it takes to go
from the classroom to the

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hallway water fountain.

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Or maybe you’ve already got a
water bottle in arm’s reach.

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We all need water to survive,
so as people built towns and

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cities, we had to find ways
to bring water along with us.

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Today’s object was one
tool people used for that.

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It’s a special type of Greek
water jug called a hydria.

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Like many others from this
period, this water jug was

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painted with a beautiful scene.

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This time, with three women,
wearing a kind of draped

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tunic called a “chiton.”
[women laugh] They’re getting

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ready, holding jewelry,
mirrors, and other objects.

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Lucky for us, one of these
ladies is dying to spill.

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Woman on the Hydria: Rumor
has it, you’re interested

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in some ancient gossip.

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[women laugh]

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Well, get yourself a glass and
come on over, Sugar, because

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we might be on a water jug, but
we’re here to spill the tea.

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First up, get a good look at us!

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We’re on a type of vase called
a “hydria” which ancient Greeks

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used to carry water around.

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Back before indoor
plumbing, it was the only

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way to stay “hydria-ated.”

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Alright—tough crowd.

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Look, if you’re gonna
be rude, you can go.

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We’ve got plenty to gossip
about amongst ourselves.

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There are three of us
ladies painted on this

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hydria, after all.

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I’m the one who has had the
luxury of sitting for the past

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two thousand, four hundred
years, ever since we were

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made back in Athens, Greece.

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The women on either side of me?

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They had to stand
this entire time.

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[aside] Do you ladies
need a water break?

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Other Woman: Nah, we’re good.

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Thanks, Doll.

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Woman on the Hydria: Our hydria
was probably used for special

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occasions, such as festivals
or when company came over.

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Sort of like having special
plates for Thanksgiving instead

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of using your everyday set.

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Our hydria is a little
smaller than a volleyball.

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That's smaller than your
regular, everyday hydrias, which

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had to be large to make sure
you weren't running to the water

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fountain a hundred times a day.

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Some hydrias are twice our size!

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We're also more decorated
than everyday Hydrias, which

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were usually just plain clay.

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Our hydria is mostly
painted black, except for

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us, the three figures, that
are a gorgeous red color.

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How did the Greeks
make us so striking?

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Honey, it’s all
about terracotta.

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Terracotta means “baked earth”
and the earth around Athens

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had a lot of iron oxide in it.

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The iron gives our vase
a distinctive red color.

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To add decoration, pottery
workers painted with a mixture

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of clay and water called “slip.”
The slip was barely visible

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when it was first added on.

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But never underestimate the
power of turning up the heat!

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As potters carefully heated
and cooled their creations,

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trapping and releasing oxygen
and smoke, the slip would

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react differently from the
unpainted areas of the pottery.

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As a result, the unpainted
areas would stay red, while

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the painted areas would turn
a stunning shade of black.

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For generations, Athenian
potters would leave the

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backgrounds red and use slip
to paint figures in black.

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But one day, about two thousand,
five hundred years ago, some

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unknown artisan had an idea!

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Instead of painting the
figures and leaving the

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background red, this potter
decided to reverse it.

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Soon, the new style took
over, and terracotta

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was decorated with the
background in black, while

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the figures remained in red.

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[applause]

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And that’s how we’re
styled, Darling.

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Like the look?

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You can try it yourself.

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What would it be like to
draw a picture only by

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coloring the background?

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And what would you
choose to depict?

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Greek potters painted everything
from epic mythological heroes

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to mundane scenes of daily life.

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Now, the picture might be
the first thing that catches

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your eye about our vase, but
keep looking and you’ll also

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notice three distinct handles.

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Two stick out on the sides and
one sticks out on the back.

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The two side handles were
used to hold the Hydria while

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filling or carrying water,
while the back handle made it

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easier to pour the water out.

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Now, where might
that water come from?

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Some people might journey
to a nearby river.

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Others might find a
natural spring that

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came up from the ground.

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Over time, Greeks developed
basic plumbing, and were able

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to transport the water from
the countryside to a communal

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fountain in a town or city!

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To protect these fountains
from the weather, they

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would sometimes build
covered pavilions—think

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big stone columns
holding up a simple roof.

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These buildings were called
“fountain houses.” And,

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Honey, it was very important
work, carrying water from

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a fountain house back home.

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It’s easy to forget these
days, when you can just turn

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on a tap in the kitchen,
just how often we use water.

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Not to mention, how
much water we all use!

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Up for a little experiment?

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Do you think you can calculate
how much water you use in a day?

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I sure hope you’ve
flushed the toilet.

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That’s about 2 gallons of
water right there—each time!

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Taken a shower?

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That might be between
15–20 gallons.

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And then of course there’s
all the water that’s used

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by drinking or cooking
or cleaning dishes!

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Now, can you imagine
having to carry every

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gallon of water you used?

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Honey, my arms are tired
just thinking about it.

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But it wasn’t all bad news.

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For some women, getting
water had a silver lining.

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Society expected Greek women and
girls to stick close to home.

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So while getting water
from a fountain house was

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a daily chore...it was
also a social occasion!

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In the days before podcasts,
FaceTime, and social media,

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if you wanted to know what
was what, you had to get it

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straight from the source.

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In fact that reminds me—did
you hear what happened

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between Helene and Anastassia?

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No?

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Oh my goddess, well...

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Helene and Anastassia
were daughters of two

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rival potters in Athens.

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Groups of craftsmen usually
worked in the same area of town.

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In Athens, potters were
in the Kerameikos district

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near the edge of the city.

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You’d think that two families
living in the same part of

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town, working in the industry
might have enough in common

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that they would become
friends, but no such luck.

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Whether it was fear
over losing customers or

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professional jealousy,
feuds popped up constantly.

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In fact, a Greek proverb
about rivalries used

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potters as its metaphor!

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Even the philosopher Aristotle
wrote about “Potter against

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Potter.” And I assure you, he
was not talking about wizards...

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All this to say, while potters
were known to be competitive,

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Helene and Anastassia did not
share their fathers’ spite.

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They had met as children
while their mothers gathered

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water, and were now just
old enough to go themselves.

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They tried to time their
trips so they could play and

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talk together while walking
back from the fountain house.

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But then, a whole week went
by without Helene seeing

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Anastassia even once!

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Hey, look, life gets
busy; you know how it is.

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It was the week of the
festival, after all!

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At least, that’s what Helene
told herself the first time

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Anastassia didn’t show.

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But after a few days, Helene
started to get worried that

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Anastassia was avoiding her.

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That day, Helene went to the
fountain house twice: once for

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the day’s regular water with her
large hydria, and then a second

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time with us to pick up extra
water for celebrating with.

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There was still no
sign of Anastassia.

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As Helene waited in line for
water from the fountain house

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with other girls and women, she
looked down sadly at the hydria

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in her hand...and she saw us!

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Yes, that’s right.

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The three of us,
red-figures on black, all

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chatting with each other.

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And Helene realized that she
shouldn’t make assumptions,

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when she could just ask.

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Okay, she couldn’t ask
about Anastassia outright.

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Word might get back to her
father about the friendship

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with his rival’s daughter,
and then where would they be?

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But the power of gossip is
real—and really important.

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Helene squared her shoulders
and charged into the fountain

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house to make small talk.

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To get the hot goss she needed,
Helene first needed to lend

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a sympathetic ear...or hand.

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She joined with two
young women discussing

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a new play by Sophocles.

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She held a toddler as the
mother filled her water jug and

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chatted about the cost of wool.

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She listened to a servant
complain about how many

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parties her employers
wanted to have that winter.

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And then, as Helene was helping
an elderly woman carry her

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hydria home, Helene got the
gossip she really needed.

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The elderly woman was
Anastassia’s grandmother!

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00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,570
And she was only there
because Anastassia had twisted

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her ankle the week before.

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Anastassia would be alright, but
she was not supposed to get out

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of bed at all for twenty days.

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This was the newest cure
recommended in a recent book by

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the trendy doctor Hippocrates.

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00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:12,200
Maybe you’ve heard of
him—does the Hippocratic

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Oath ring a bell?

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Anyway, Helene breathed
a sigh of relief.

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Anastassia wasn’t
mad at her after all!

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00:11:21,030 --> 00:11:24,500
That night, Helene came up
with a plan to see her friend.

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Helene made sure to go on
multiple trips to the fountain

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house again the next day.

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When she saw Anastassia’s
grandmother there, she offered

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to carry the old woman’s water
again, and this time, got to

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sneak in and see her bedridden
friend for a short time.

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We were placed on a small
table and watched the two

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friends as they caught up on a
whole week’s worth of gossip.

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There’s nothing like an
in-person hang, is there?

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They decided then and there
to find a way to temper

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their fathers’ rivalry
so they wouldn’t have

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to sneak around anymore.

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But that’s a story
for another time.

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Phew, am I parched
from all that chatting.

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Anyone have some water?

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Hello?

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Anyone?

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Host: I hope you enjoyed
learning about Greek

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pottery and water!

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Join us next time
when a spirited Satyr

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gem does his thing.

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To see photographs of the
hydria and learn more,

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visit our website at Getty
dot edu slash podcasts.

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This episode was written
by Claire Hupy and

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produced by Zoe Goldman.

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Hailey Wu Chow voiced
our hydria figure.

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00:12:40,890 --> 00:12:45,159
Theme music, mixing and sound
design by Alexandra Kalinowski.

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00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,419
Christopher Sprinkle
is executive producer.

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00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:53,540
Special thanks to curators
Ken Lapatin, Judith Barr, Hana

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Sugioka, and David Saunders.

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Catch you next time!