Why do the horses on this vase have too many legs?

Question

Why do the horses have too many legs? They appear to have an extra set, why is this?

Comments are for clarification from the author of the question/answer; not to make fun of them.... — CGCampbell, Apr 19 '16 at 14:15
Perhaps it is a depiction of "my two horses are as fast as your four horses". — Jammin4CO, Apr 19 '16 at 13:57

score 65 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 18 '16 at 01:21

65

The number of legs is correct. It's the number of heads that is wrong.

The chariot depicted is an Olympic quadriga which was driven by four horses.

The artist probably found it difficult to make a design that included all four horse heads, so he just drew two of them.

answered Apr 18 '16 at 01:21

Tyler Durden

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WoW! So, wonderful. Having problem? Remove two heads!! But still have to draw the legs!! – Apr 18 '16 at 04:36
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Or they are pairwise perfectly in sync, so two of the heads are hidden – vsz Apr 18 '16 at 07:26
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How about tails? – Alex Apr 18 '16 at 12:11
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I love how the reasoning is basically "because he was lazy". – David says Reinstate Monica Apr 18 '16 at 21:27
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The numberof torsoes is also wrong... – David Richerby Apr 18 '16 at 21:59
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This was the last vase of the run of 400 they were making for the olympics - hoping they'd be hot sellers. They were tired, in a rush, and knew the customers wouldn't notice until after the games. – Adam Davis Apr 19 '16 at 01:19
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Here is a very similar picture but with 4 tails. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot_racing#/media/File:Chariot_race_Met_L.1999.10.12.jpg Apparently this was a mass produced item, and in one case the artist was just lazy to add the correct number of tails. – Alex Apr 19 '16 at 02:22
Here is one more: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Chariots_in_ancient_Greek_art#/media/File:Chariot_terma_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen_1452.jpg almost identical but with 4 tails. – Alex Apr 19 '16 at 02:28
And more: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Chariots_in_ancient_Greek_art#/media/File:Museo_archeologico_di_Firenze,_Vaso_Fan%C3%A7ois_5.JPG – Alex Apr 19 '16 at 02:33
HNQ HA! This is why I love this site! – Jolenealaska Apr 19 '16 at 12:26
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@vsz They don't even need to be pairwise perfectly in sync; the other two horses could just be eclipsed by the two horses in front, thereby eclipsed. Seems like a likely scenario (or perhaps more likely, an excuse) for the ambiguity. – Αδριανός Apr 20 '16 at 21:13

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:02

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I think Tyler is right, but it's also possible that the horses were depicted running as fast as Marvin here.

_{(source: cartoonbucket.com)}

edited Jun 17 '20 at 09:02

Community

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answered Apr 20 '16 at 06:09

Michael

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I wonder what archeologists will say about that picture in the year 3016. "Gosh, in 2016, they were still too dumb to properly count feet..." – Annatar Feb 25 '19 at 08:06

Why do the horses on this vase have too many legs?

2 Answers2