October 13, 2025 • 13 mins
One of the three women on this hydria (water jug) gives us a peek at some old-fashioned water cooler gossip. At a time before indoor plumbing, the water fountain was a center of urban life—so these ladies got to hear it all!
If you don’t see an image of hydria with this episode, you may have to turn on this setting in your podcast app.
For a listening guide, a coloring sheet, images, and more, visit getty.edu/podcasts/if-objects-could-talk/.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:00):
This is a Getty Podcast.
Host (00:04):
What covers over seventy one percent of the
earth’s surface, but is ahuge challenge to carry home?
It’s water!
Welcome to If Objects CouldTalk, a podcast where art
and artifacts get to leavethe museum vault and tell
their side of the story.
(00:24):
Thanks for joining us as webring objects into the light!
How long does it take youto get a sip of water?
Maybe it’s the time ittakes to walk to the kitchen
and turn on the sink.
Or the time it takes to gofrom the classroom to the
hallway water fountain.
(00:46):
Or maybe you’ve already got awater bottle in arm’s reach.
We all need water to survive,so as people built towns and
cities, we had to find waysto bring water along with us.
Today’s object was onetool people used for that.
It’s a special type of Greekwater jug called a hydria.
(01:08):
Like many others from thisperiod, this water jug was
painted with a beautiful scene.
This time, with three women,wearing a kind of draped
tunic called a “chiton.”[women laugh] They’re getting
ready, holding jewelry,mirrors, and other objects.
Lucky for us, one of theseladies is dying to spill.
Woman on the Hydria (01:30):
Rumor has it, you’re interested
in some ancient gossip.
[women laugh]
Well, get yourself a glass andcome on over, Sugar, because
we might be on a water jug, butwe’re here to spill the tea.
First up, get a good look at us!
We’re on a type of vase calleda “hydria” which ancient Greeks
(01:52):
used to carry water around.
Back before indoorplumbing, it was the only
way to stay “hydria-ated.”
Alright—tough crowd.
Look, if you’re gonnabe rude, you can go.
We’ve got plenty to gossipabout amongst ourselves.
There are three of usladies painted on this
(02:12):
hydria, after all.
I’m the one who has had theluxury of sitting for the past
two thousand, four hundredyears, ever since we were
made back in Athens, Greece.
The women on either side of me?
They had to standthis entire time.
[aside] Do you ladiesneed a water break?
Other Woman (02:30):
Nah, we’re good.
Thanks, Doll.
Woman on the Hydria (02:32):
Our hydria was probably used for special
occasions, such as festivalsor when company came over.
Sort of like having specialplates for Thanksgiving instead
of using your everyday set.
Our hydria is a littlesmaller than a volleyball.
That's smaller than yourregular, everyday hydrias, which
(02:52):
had to be large to make sureyou weren't running to the water
fountain a hundred times a day.
Some hydrias are twice our size!
We're also more decoratedthan everyday Hydrias, which
were usually just plain clay.
(03:14):
Our hydria is mostlypainted black, except for
us, the three figures, thatare a gorgeous red color.
How did the Greeksmake us so striking?
Honey, it’s allabout terracotta.
Terracotta means “baked earth”and the earth around Athens
(03:35):
had a lot of iron oxide in it.
The iron gives our vasea distinctive red color.
To add decoration, potteryworkers painted with a mixture
of clay and water called “slip.”The slip was barely visible
when it was first added on.
But never underestimate thepower of turning up the heat!
(03:59):
As potters carefully heatedand cooled their creations,
trapping and releasing oxygenand smoke, the slip would
react differently from theunpainted areas of the pottery.
As a result, the unpaintedareas would stay red, while
the painted areas would turna stunning shade of black.
(04:22):
For generations, Athenianpotters would leave the
backgrounds red and use slipto paint figures in black.
But one day, about two thousand,five hundred years ago, some
unknown artisan had an idea!
Instead of painting thefigures and leaving the
background red, this potterdecided to reverse it.
(04:45):
Soon, the new style tookover, and terracotta
was decorated with thebackground in black, while
the figures remained in red.
[applause]
And that’s how we’restyled, Darling.
Like the look?
You can try it yourself.
What would it be like todraw a picture only by
coloring the background?
(05:07):
And what would youchoose to depict?
Greek potters painted everythingfrom epic mythological heroes
to mundane scenes of daily life.
Now, the picture might bethe first thing that catches
your eye about our vase, butkeep looking and you’ll also
notice three distinct handles.
(05:28):
Two stick out on the sides andone sticks out on the back.
The two side handles wereused to hold the Hydria while
filling or carrying water,while the back handle made it
easier to pour the water out.
Now, where mightthat water come from?
Some people might journeyto a nearby river.
(05:49):
Others might find anatural spring that
came up from the ground.
Over time, Greeks developedbasic plumbing, and were able
to transport the water fromthe countryside to a communal
fountain in a town or city!
To protect these fountainsfrom the weather, they
would sometimes buildcovered pavilions—think
(06:10):
big stone columnsholding up a simple roof.
These buildings were called“fountain houses.” And,
Honey, it was very importantwork, carrying water from
a fountain house back home.
It’s easy to forget thesedays, when you can just turn
on a tap in the kitchen,just how often we use water.
(06:31):
Not to mention, howmuch water we all use!
Up for a little experiment?
Do you think you can calculatehow much water you use in a day?
I sure hope you’veflushed the toilet.
That’s about 2 gallons ofwater right there—each time!
Taken a shower?
That might be between15–20 gallons.
(06:53):
And then of course there’sall the water that’s used
by drinking or cookingor cleaning dishes!
Now, can you imaginehaving to carry every
gallon of water you used?
Honey, my arms are tiredjust thinking about it.
But it wasn’t all bad news.
(07:15):
For some women, gettingwater had a silver lining.
Society expected Greek women andgirls to stick close to home.
So while getting waterfrom a fountain house was
a daily chore...it wasalso a social occasion!
In the days before podcasts,FaceTime, and social media,
if you wanted to know whatwas what, you had to get it
(07:38):
straight from the source.
In fact that reminds me—didyou hear what happened
between Helene and Anastassia?
No?
Oh my goddess, well...
Helene and Anastassiawere daughters of two
rival potters in Athens.
Groups of craftsmen usuallyworked in the same area of town.
(07:59):
In Athens, potters werein the Kerameikos district
near the edge of the city.
You’d think that two familiesliving in the same part of
town, working in the industrymight have enough in common
that they would becomefriends, but no such luck.
Whether it was fearover losing customers or
professional jealousy,feuds popped up constantly.
(08:22):
In fact, a Greek proverbabout rivalries used
potters as its metaphor!
Even the philosopher Aristotlewrote about “Potter against
Potter.” And I assure you, hewas not talking about wizards...
All this to say, while potterswere known to be competitive,
Helene and Anastassia did notshare their fathers’ spite.
(08:45):
They had met as childrenwhile their mothers gathered
water, and were now justold enough to go themselves.
They tried to time theirtrips so they could play and
talk together while walkingback from the fountain house.
But then, a whole week wentby without Helene seeing
Anastassia even once!
(09:06):
Hey, look, life getsbusy; you know how it is.
It was the week of thefestival, after all!
At least, that’s what Helenetold herself the first time
Anastassia didn’t show.
But after a few days, Helenestarted to get worried that
Anastassia was avoiding her.
That day, Helene went to thefountain house twice: once for
(09:28):
the day’s regular water with herlarge hydria, and then a second
time with us to pick up extrawater for celebrating with.
There was still nosign of Anastassia.
As Helene waited in line forwater from the fountain house
with other girls and women, shelooked down sadly at the hydria
in her hand...and she saw us!
(09:51):
Yes, that’s right.
The three of us,red-figures on black, all
chatting with each other.
And Helene realized that sheshouldn’t make assumptions,
when she could just ask.
Okay, she couldn’t askabout Anastassia outright.
Word might get back to herfather about the friendship
with his rival’s daughter,and then where would they be?
But the power of gossip isreal—and really important.
(10:14):
Helene squared her shouldersand charged into the fountain
house to make small talk.
To get the hot goss she needed,Helene first needed to lend
a sympathetic ear...or hand.
She joined with twoyoung women discussing
a new play by Sophocles.
She held a toddler as themother filled her water jug and
chatted about the cost of wool.
(10:35):
She listened to a servantcomplain about how many
parties her employerswanted to have that winter.
And then, as Helene was helpingan elderly woman carry her
hydria home, Helene got thegossip she really needed.
The elderly woman wasAnastassia’s grandmother!
And she was only therebecause Anastassia had twisted
(10:56):
her ankle the week before.
Anastassia would be alright, butshe was not supposed to get out
of bed at all for twenty days.
This was the newest curerecommended in a recent book by
the trendy doctor Hippocrates.
Maybe you’ve heard ofhim—does the Hippocratic
Oath ring a bell?
Anyway, Helene breatheda sigh of relief.
(11:19):
Anastassia wasn’tmad at her after all!
That night, Helene came upwith a plan to see her friend.
Helene made sure to go onmultiple trips to the fountain
house again the next day.
When she saw Anastassia’sgrandmother there, she offered
to carry the old woman’s wateragain, and this time, got to
sneak in and see her bedriddenfriend for a short time.
(11:41):
We were placed on a smalltable and watched the two
friends as they caught up on awhole week’s worth of gossip.
There’s nothing like anin-person hang, is there?
They decided then and thereto find a way to temper
their fathers’ rivalryso they wouldn’t have
to sneak around anymore.
But that’s a storyfor another time.
(12:01):
Phew, am I parchedfrom all that chatting.
Anyone have some water?
Hello?
Anyone?
Host (12:14):
I hope you enjoyed learning about Greek
pottery and water!
Join us next timewhen a spirited Satyr
gem does his thing.
To see photographs of thehydria and learn more,
visit our website at Gettydot edu slash podcasts.
This episode was writtenby Claire Hupy and
(12:35):
produced by Zoe Goldman.
Hailey Wu Chow voicedour hydria figure.
Theme music, mixing and sounddesign by Alexandra Kalinowski.
Christopher Sprinkleis executive producer.
Special thanks to curatorsKen Lapatin, Judith Barr, Hana
Sugioka, and David Saunders.
(12:55):
Catch you next time!
This is a Getty Podcast.
Host (00:04):
What covers over seventy one percent of the
earth’s surface, but is ahuge challenge to carry home?
It’s water!
Welcome to If Objects CouldTalk, a podcast where art
and artifacts get to leavethe museum vault and tell
their side of the story.
(00:24):
Thanks for joining us as webring objects into the light!
How long does it take youto get a sip of water?
Maybe it’s the time ittakes to walk to the kitchen
and turn on the sink.
Or the time it takes to gofrom the classroom to the
hallway water fountain.
(00:46):
Or maybe you’ve already got awater bottle in arm’s reach.
We all need water to survive,so as people built towns and
cities, we had to find waysto bring water along with us.
Today’s object was onetool people used for that.
It’s a special type of Greekwater jug called a hydria.
(01:08):
Like many others from thisperiod, this water jug was
painted with a beautiful scene.
This time, with three women,wearing a kind of draped
tunic called a “chiton.”[women laugh] They’re getting
ready, holding jewelry,mirrors, and other objects.
Lucky for us, one of theseladies is dying to spill.
Woman on the Hydria (01:30):
Rumor has it, you’re interested
in some ancient gossip.
[women laugh]
Well, get yourself a glass andcome on over, Sugar, because
we might be on a water jug, butwe’re here to spill the tea.
First up, get a good look at us!
We’re on a type of vase calleda “hydria” which ancient Greeks
(01:52):
used to carry water around.
Back before indoorplumbing, it was the only
way to stay “hydria-ated.”
Alright—tough crowd.
Look, if you’re gonnabe rude, you can go.
We’ve got plenty to gossipabout amongst ourselves.
There are three of usladies painted on this
(02:12):
hydria, after all.
I’m the one who has had theluxury of sitting for the past
two thousand, four hundredyears, ever since we were
made back in Athens, Greece.
The women on either side of me?
They had to standthis entire time.
[aside] Do you ladiesneed a water break?
Other Woman (02:30):
Nah, we’re good.
Thanks, Doll.
Woman on the Hydria (02:32):
Our hydria was probably used for special
occasions, such as festivalsor when company came over.
Sort of like having specialplates for Thanksgiving instead
of using your everyday set.
Our hydria is a littlesmaller than a volleyball.
That's smaller than yourregular, everyday hydrias, which
(02:52):
had to be large to make sureyou weren't running to the water
fountain a hundred times a day.
Some hydrias are twice our size!
We're also more decoratedthan everyday Hydrias, which
were usually just plain clay.
(03:14):
Our hydria is mostlypainted black, except for
us, the three figures, thatare a gorgeous red color.
How did the Greeksmake us so striking?
Honey, it’s allabout terracotta.
Terracotta means “baked earth”and the earth around Athens
(03:35):
had a lot of iron oxide in it.
The iron gives our vasea distinctive red color.
To add decoration, potteryworkers painted with a mixture
of clay and water called “slip.”The slip was barely visible
when it was first added on.
But never underestimate thepower of turning up the heat!
(03:59):
As potters carefully heatedand cooled their creations,
trapping and releasing oxygenand smoke, the slip would
react differently from theunpainted areas of the pottery.
As a result, the unpaintedareas would stay red, while
the painted areas would turna stunning shade of black.
(04:22):
For generations, Athenianpotters would leave the
backgrounds red and use slipto paint figures in black.
But one day, about two thousand,five hundred years ago, some
unknown artisan had an idea!
Instead of painting thefigures and leaving the
background red, this potterdecided to reverse it.
(04:45):
Soon, the new style tookover, and terracotta
was decorated with thebackground in black, while
the figures remained in red.
[applause]
And that’s how we’restyled, Darling.
Like the look?
You can try it yourself.
What would it be like todraw a picture only by
coloring the background?
(05:07):
And what would youchoose to depict?
Greek potters painted everythingfrom epic mythological heroes
to mundane scenes of daily life.
Now, the picture might bethe first thing that catches
your eye about our vase, butkeep looking and you’ll also
notice three distinct handles.
(05:28):
Two stick out on the sides andone sticks out on the back.
The two side handles wereused to hold the Hydria while
filling or carrying water,while the back handle made it
easier to pour the water out.
Now, where mightthat water come from?
Some people might journeyto a nearby river.
(05:49):
Others might find anatural spring that
came up from the ground.
Over time, Greeks developedbasic plumbing, and were able
to transport the water fromthe countryside to a communal
fountain in a town or city!
To protect these fountainsfrom the weather, they
would sometimes buildcovered pavilions—think
(06:10):
big stone columnsholding up a simple roof.
These buildings were called“fountain houses.” And,
Honey, it was very importantwork, carrying water from
a fountain house back home.
It’s easy to forget thesedays, when you can just turn
on a tap in the kitchen,just how often we use water.
(06:31):
Not to mention, howmuch water we all use!
Up for a little experiment?
Do you think you can calculatehow much water you use in a day?
I sure hope you’veflushed the toilet.
That’s about 2 gallons ofwater right there—each time!
Taken a shower?
That might be between15–20 gallons.
(06:53):
And then of course there’sall the water that’s used
by drinking or cookingor cleaning dishes!
Now, can you imaginehaving to carry every
gallon of water you used?
Honey, my arms are tiredjust thinking about it.
But it wasn’t all bad news.
(07:15):
For some women, gettingwater had a silver lining.
Society expected Greek women andgirls to stick close to home.
So while getting waterfrom a fountain house was
a daily chore...it wasalso a social occasion!
In the days before podcasts,FaceTime, and social media,
if you wanted to know whatwas what, you had to get it
(07:38):
straight from the source.
In fact that reminds me—didyou hear what happened
between Helene and Anastassia?
No?
Oh my goddess, well...
Helene and Anastassiawere daughters of two
rival potters in Athens.
Groups of craftsmen usuallyworked in the same area of town.
(07:59):
In Athens, potters werein the Kerameikos district
near the edge of the city.
You’d think that two familiesliving in the same part of
town, working in the industrymight have enough in common
that they would becomefriends, but no such luck.
Whether it was fearover losing customers or
professional jealousy,feuds popped up constantly.
(08:22):
In fact, a Greek proverbabout rivalries used
potters as its metaphor!
Even the philosopher Aristotlewrote about “Potter against
Potter.” And I assure you, hewas not talking about wizards...
All this to say, while potterswere known to be competitive,
Helene and Anastassia did notshare their fathers’ spite.
(08:45):
They had met as childrenwhile their mothers gathered
water, and were now justold enough to go themselves.
They tried to time theirtrips so they could play and
talk together while walkingback from the fountain house.
But then, a whole week wentby without Helene seeing
Anastassia even once!
(09:06):
Hey, look, life getsbusy; you know how it is.
It was the week of thefestival, after all!
At least, that’s what Helenetold herself the first time
Anastassia didn’t show.
But after a few days, Helenestarted to get worried that
Anastassia was avoiding her.
That day, Helene went to thefountain house twice: once for
(09:28):
the day’s regular water with herlarge hydria, and then a second
time with us to pick up extrawater for celebrating with.
There was still nosign of Anastassia.
As Helene waited in line forwater from the fountain house
with other girls and women, shelooked down sadly at the hydria
in her hand...and she saw us!
(09:51):
Yes, that’s right.
The three of us,red-figures on black, all
chatting with each other.
And Helene realized that sheshouldn’t make assumptions,
when she could just ask.
Okay, she couldn’t askabout Anastassia outright.
Word might get back to herfather about the friendship
with his rival’s daughter,and then where would they be?
But the power of gossip isreal—and really important.
(10:14):
Helene squared her shouldersand charged into the fountain
house to make small talk.
To get the hot goss she needed,Helene first needed to lend
a sympathetic ear...or hand.
She joined with twoyoung women discussing
a new play by Sophocles.
She held a toddler as themother filled her water jug and
chatted about the cost of wool.
(10:35):
She listened to a servantcomplain about how many
parties her employerswanted to have that winter.
And then, as Helene was helpingan elderly woman carry her
hydria home, Helene got thegossip she really needed.
The elderly woman wasAnastassia’s grandmother!
And she was only therebecause Anastassia had twisted
(10:56):
her ankle the week before.
Anastassia would be alright, butshe was not supposed to get out
of bed at all for twenty days.
This was the newest curerecommended in a recent book by
the trendy doctor Hippocrates.
Maybe you’ve heard ofhim—does the Hippocratic
Oath ring a bell?
Anyway, Helene breatheda sigh of relief.
(11:19):
Anastassia wasn’tmad at her after all!
That night, Helene came upwith a plan to see her friend.
Helene made sure to go onmultiple trips to the fountain
house again the next day.
When she saw Anastassia’sgrandmother there, she offered
to carry the old woman’s wateragain, and this time, got to
sneak in and see her bedriddenfriend for a short time.
(11:41):
We were placed on a smalltable and watched the two
friends as they caught up on awhole week’s worth of gossip.
There’s nothing like anin-person hang, is there?
They decided then and thereto find a way to temper
their fathers’ rivalryso they wouldn’t have
to sneak around anymore.
But that’s a storyfor another time.
(12:01):
Phew, am I parchedfrom all that chatting.
Anyone have some water?
Hello?
Anyone?
Host (12:14):
I hope you enjoyed learning about Greek
pottery and water!
Join us next timewhen a spirited Satyr
gem does his thing.
To see photographs of thehydria and learn more,
visit our website at Gettydot edu slash podcasts.
This episode was writtenby Claire Hupy and
(12:35):
produced by Zoe Goldman.
Hailey Wu Chow voicedour hydria figure.
Theme music, mixing and sounddesign by Alexandra Kalinowski.
Christopher Sprinkleis executive producer.
Special thanks to curatorsKen Lapatin, Judith Barr, Hana
Sugioka, and David Saunders.
(12:55):
Catch you next time!
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