This paper explores the picture of an Attic black-figured alabastron, which is now in the Archaeological Collection of the Berlin Museum (Antikensammlung, Berlin, F 2030) and dates back to around 490 BC. The representation depicts a scene of preparations before a cockfighting. Two men, one young and one mature, are squatting, facing each other, and holding a cock in their hands, while tow hens stand in front of them. A symbol of bravery, fighting and male sexual supremacy in Attic iconography, the cock is rarely depicted in scenes of female life. What, therefore, could be the meening of a cockfighting on an alabastron, a vase related predominantly to female hygiene?
On examining cock images on alabastra and comparing them with other elements of the iconographic repertoire of these vases, this article shows that the alabastron in question does not only depict an impending cockfighting in the usual meaning. The presence of two hens in the middle of the scene, the prize for the victorious cock, moves the competition in the field of the erotic wrestling, Aphrodite’s world, in which women played an important role.