(The term "krater" comes from the Greek verb meaning "to mix," and the vessel was used for mixing wine with water; the Greeks did not drink their wine "neat.")

Bell Krater	Calyx Krater	Column Krater	Kotyle Krater	Volute Krater
A wine-mixing vessel with a wide mouth, and deep bowl shaped like an inverted bell (hence its name).	The body of the vessel takes the shape of the calyx (or bud sheath) of a flower, hence its modern name.	The characteristic columnar-shaped handles give this vessel its modern name.	A kotyle is a deep cup with horizontal handles. The kotyle krater is usually set on a high flaring pedestal, and covered with a knobbed conical lid.	The volute-shaped handles give this vessel its modern name.

Kraters in Use: at symposia or komoi

Interior of a kylix: youth holding a kylix; man holding oinochoe; volute krater on left Attic red figure; early classical (450-440 bce)	Malibu 86.AE.682
Exterior of calyx krater; Satyr holding krater and looking forward; satyr playing barbiton (a type of lyre); Dionysus holding kantharos Attic red figure; archaic (500 bce)	Harvard 1960.236
Exterior of pelike; komos (drunken revel); woman holding kithara and singing; youth bending over to lift a large column-krater decked with ivy Attic red figure; early classical (470 bce)	Harvard 1959.188
Exterior of kylix; symposium scene; youths approach large column krater Attic red figure; archaic (500 bce)	Baltimore, Hopkins AIA B5
Interior of a kylix: Satyr filling a krater from a wineskin Attic red figure; archaic (510 bce)	Munich 2619A
Exterior of the same vase: komos (drunken revel); naked men dance and court around a large krater; youth on the left gestures toward krater and drinks from a cup; bearded man on the right holds out a barbiton	Munich 2619A
Stamnos with komos; flute girl playing; youth dancing while holding a column krater decked with ivy (detail of krater); bearded man on right holds barbiton and is beating the time with his staff Attic red figure; classical (450-440 bce)	Mississippi 1977.3.96
Exterior of kylix with komos; a young girl plays the flute while four youths and two men sing and dance; on the left, a youth holds a kylix and a skyphos; to his right a youth dances holding a kylix of the type on which this scene is depicted; to his right a youth dips into the krater, and holds a kylix in his left hand (detail of krater scene) Attic red figure; late archaic (490 bce)	Berlin F 2309
The revelry now is ended: interior of the same vase with man vomiting into a large shallow bronze vessel and a slave boy holding his head. Evidently, even when it was mixed with water, Greek wine was still pretty strong stuff!	Berlin F 2309