A lecythus is a flask used by the early Greeks for oil in the bath, the gymnasium, and funeral rites. The finest examples of this type of vase were gracefully shaped cylinders tapering to a base, with a thin handle fastened to a long neck and a flat shoulder. Funeral vases were decorated with brown paintings over a yellowish-white slip in which the home life of the departed one was depicted.

 

The spellings "leythus" and "lekythos" are also found.