Plant Food

Ancient Greek culture excelled at storytelling. Lots of the stories that were told included terrifying monsters, such as Scylla - a bloodthirsty predator with twelve feet, six heads, and three rows of teeth, the Chimaera – part lion, part goat, part snake, and the Hydra - a venomous, nine-headed monster who grew two new heads every time one was cut off.

This is an Apulian (ie. made in the Apulia region of Italy) red figure pelike vase depicting a juggler.

Late Classical, 370-340BCE, by the Verona painter. Owned by Reading Museum, housed in the Ure Museum, University of Reading.

© Reading Museum, REDMG 1951:150.1

The reverse shows two young men talking.

Dance Off, The Love of Honour and Plant Food were made for Ure View, an Arts Council funded 'Stories of the World’ project run at the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology in 2012. Local teenagers worked with the project team to interpret vases in the museum and develop stories and storyboards from them. We transformed the storyboards into animations. They have since been shown at Westminster as part of an Arts in Parliament exhibition. They were also included on a digital trail at the Museum of English Rural Life and in a special exhibition in Reading Museum.

Pupils at Maiden Erlegh School created an animation that reinterprets an image of a decorative plant as a vicious killer, reflecting the ancient Greeks’ love of stories about monsters.

The music used is kindly provided by Stefan Hagel.