Athens - Its history in the making

The Met explains that the chariots and soldiers illustrated in the bottom row of the krater were likely a depiction of the ancestors of the deceased. This was to honor the deceased's military heritage, evoking a storied history and showing that the Athenians felt a sense of kinship and shared military pride and history. The deceased was, in effect, tied into a broader Athenian history. For example, the hourglass-shaped shields that the warriors are carrying are actually Dipylon shields which had not been used since the second millennium B.C.E., so they signaled a long military tradition. Athenians displayed respect to their past by memorializing it in their art. This veneration for the past acted as a glue to keep the city-state unified as the Athenians moved forward into an uncertain future.