If every digital record and paper book from our civilization were destroyed, future archaeologists would face the same challenge that confronts scholars studying ancient Greece. For the Greeks, the surviving evidence is not grand literature or official documents but something far more humble: painted pottery. Tens of thousands of decorated ceramic vessels have endured the centuries, and these objects turn out to be astonishingly rich windows into a world that would otherwise remain largely invisible. Ancient Greek pottery was not mere decoration. It was functional art produced on an industrial scale, used for storing wine and olive oil, mixing drinks at symposia, and carrying water from public fountains. The scenes painted on these vessels captured virtually every aspect of Greek life, from battlefield heroics and athletic competitions to intimate  ...