Greek cities expanded their trade and overseas colonization in the eighth century B.C. The influence of Near Eastern cultures on Greece, brought about by these contacts and the importation of Syrian, Assyrian, and neo-Hittite art, provides the name "Orientalizing" to this period (ca. 720-625 B.C.). Corinthian artists drew upon the Oriental repertory of hybrid mythical beasts for their subjects, including sphinxes, sirens, and griffins. This influence led artists to portray even Greek mythical figures with additional fantastic attributes. Here Typhon, a sea deity typically shown with a snaky or sea-serpent tail, was also given elaborate wings by the artist. The figure has been painted in the black-figure technique, a new method invented in Corinth. The black- and red-slip silhouettes of the figure were first painted on the clay, and then incised with details and patterns of anatomy and drapery like Typhon's wings, beard, and garment. The Corinthian style and black-figure technique strongly influenced Athenian pottery.