The genus name means "little urn"; the specific epithet is derived from the Latin cratera, referring to a type of bowl used in antiquity to mix wine with water.
The story of the Golden Fleece appeared to have little resonance for Athenians of the Classic age, for only two representations of it on Attic-painted wares of the fifth century have been identified: a krater at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a kylix in the Vatican collections.
From this area come numerous attributable sculptures from the Gardens's different phases : statues of deities, decorative reliefs, two large marble craters and three splendid portraits of Hadrian, Vibia Sabina and Salonina Matidia.