THE EXEKIAS AMPHORA
One of the most important objects in the gallery is the large amphora of c. 540-530 BC decorated with scenes from the Trojan War. Found in a tomb in Orvieto, Italy, it was painted by the well-known Athenian artist Exekias*.
The central figures on each side are fallen Greek heroes stretched across the bottom of the panel: Achilles and Antilochos*. The heroes are dead, and their comrades chase away the enemies who would despoil the corpses. Homer's Iliad, the great story of the Trojan War, indicates how terrible it was when a comrade’s corpse fell into enemy hands. The device on the shield carried by the hero labeled as Menelaos -- on the side with Achilles -- is a dog devouring a haunch of meat. This echoes an image in the Iliad where Achilles says he will take the body of Hector, the great Trojan hero, and “give him to the dogs to feed on raw.”
One of the most important objects in the gallery is the large amphora of c. 540-530 BC decorated with scenes from the Trojan War. Found in a tomb in Orvieto, Italy, it was painted by the well-known Athenian artist Exekias.
The central figures on each side are fallen Greek heroes stretched across the bottom of the panel: Achilles and Antilochos*. The heroes are dead, and their comrades chase away the enemies who would despoil the corpses. Homer's Iliad, the great story of the Trojan War, indicates how terrible it was when a comrade’s corpse fell into enemy hands. The device on the shield carried by the hero labeled as Menelaos -- on the side with Achilles -- is a dog devouring a haunch of meat. This echoes an image in the Iliad where Achilles says he will take the body of Hector, the great Trojan hero, and “give him to the dogs to feed on raw.”
The central figures on each side are fallen Greek heroes stretched across the bottom of the panel: Achilles and Antilochos*. The heroes are dead, and their comrades chase away the enemies who would despoil the corpses. Homer's Iliad, the great story of the Trojan War, indicates how terrible it was when a comrade’s corpse fell into enemy hands. The device on the shield carried by the hero labeled as Menelaos -- on the side with Achilles -- is a dog devouring a haunch of meat. This echoes an image in the Iliad where Achilles says he will take the body of Hector, the great Trojan hero, and “give him to the dogs to feed on raw.”
