Part of a loutrophoros decorated in the red-figure technique. It was found in 1955 in the Sanctuary of the Nymphe.

On the vase’s neck a woman with her hair gathered in a sakkos, walks while holding a torch. On the vase’s body the abduction of Oreithyia by Boreas is depicted. Boreas grabs her by the hand, while, next to them, two women run away and a third one stands in front of them extending her arms. Between this woman and Boreas is a lit altar with a staff propped against one of its sides. It is possible that the altar suggests a shrine, since according to tradition, Oreithyia was abducted either from the Acropolis, when as a kanephoros ("basket-bearer") she was sacrificing to Athena Polias, or from the area of the Ilissos river, from Boreas’ sanctuary.

The abduction theme is closely related to marriage, since it implies the dynamic change of the bride’s guardianship, that transfers from her father to her husband. Lifting up women to carry them through the threshold of the new house, a custom that is still carried out nowadays, has its roots on the abduction theme.

Depicting the abduction of Oreithyia was very popular in Athens directly after the Persian Wars, since the strong north wind played a part in the destruction of the Persian fleet at Artemisium shortly before the naval battle of Salamis. At the same time, as a theme, it is not deprived of political connotations, since the union of the Thracian Boreas with the Athenian maiden might be related to Athens plans of conquest of Thrace, a plan already expressed from the 6th cent. BC.