Kalos inscription

A kalos inscription is a form of epigraph found on Attic vases and graffiti in antiquity, mainly during the Classical period from 550 to 450 BC.

Some inscriptions are generic, reading only "the boy is beautiful" (Ancient Greek: ὁ παῖς καλός, ho pais kalos).

[2] These associations suggest a cult of celebrity or a concerted effort by a given youth's family to increase their son's public standing.

The purpose of these inscriptions remains uncertain, and many examples may be declarations of love as part of same-sex courtship in Athens.

[4] Both of these instances, however, praise the demos (the citizenry as a whole) rather than any individual, and suggest the public performance role of the kalos tag.

The so-called "Memnon pietà ", with the goddess Eos holding the body of Memnon : among the inscriptions [ 1 ] is the phrase Hermogenes kalos ( Attic red-figure cup, c. 490–480 BC, from Capua ; at the Louvre ).
Attic red-figure kylix with the inscription "Kleomelos Kalos": the youth Kleomelos ("he of glorious limbs") practises discus throwing in a gymnasium .