There are many shapes in the Greek vases according to its purposes. Though the shapes differ from the region to the region, the differences are not remarkable. In this section, the shapes and the purposes of Greek vase, mainly Attic vase, are told.

We can usually use a same term at the vases of any period, for the changes occured very slowly, although there is 300 years distance from the beginning of the Attic black-figure to the end of the red-figure. Of course some are abandoned and some are newly invented.

Then the shapes of most vases developed from stout to slender as time went by.