A man gives to the free-handed, but no one gives to the closefisted

A man gives to the free-handed, but no one gives to the closefisted. Hesiod. Works and Days. Line 355.

Image: Drinking vessel in the shape of a fist, from the reign of Tudhaliya III, Hittite New Kingdom. 1400-1300 BCE at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Surviving Hittite objects in precious metal are very rare. This cup was evidently used for rituals connected with the weather god, Tarhuna, who appears holding a bull in the frieze around the rim. The named donor of the cup was "Great King Tudhaliyas," who is shown leading priests and musicians from a city over a mountain, personified as a human figure covered with leaves. The fist shape probably evoked a Hittite hieroglyph meaning "strength," and the cup may have been presented to the god so that he would grant strength to the royal donor when the contents were drunk. Image courtesy of the Museum.