| Collection: | Rome, Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia |
| Summary: | Tondo: Death of Priam |
| Ware: | Attic Red Figure |
| Painter: | Attributed to Onesimos |
| Potter: | Signed by Euphronios |
| Context: | Athens |
| Date: | ca 500 BC - ca. 490 BC |
| Dimensions: | H. 19 cm., d. 46.6 cm., d. foot 20.5 cm. |
| Primary Citation: | |
| Shape: | Kylix |
| Beazley Number: | 13363 |
| Region: | Attica |
| Period: | Late Archaic |
Condition:
The vessel was restored by Maya Barov, 1984. There is an ancient bronze repair inside the stem.
Decoration Description:
The tondo shows the Death of Priam. Priam is seated on an altar to the left. His hair is white; he is draped in a hanging garment. Neoptolemos, in a black helmet, scaly armor and greaves, is approaching him from the right, armed with a shield whose device is a lion attacking a deer, and wielding Astyanax, a young, long-haired boy. A woman in a short-sleeved dress and headband stands between the two men. A fallen warrior lies partly hidden by the altar, with his sword visible below the groundline. In front of the Trojan's body, projecting downward to the right is an object resembling a pestle, apparently wielded by the woman, Polyxena.
A meander pattern separates the tondo from the rest of the cup's interior. Throughout this zone are pictures of other events belonging to the fall of Troy. At the left handle two warriors, wearing greaves and short chitons, are partially preserved, moving right. The leading warrior is carrying a spear in his left hand and a sword at his left side. In front of the pair stands an old woman with white hair, wearing a long chiton and cloak, reaching her hands out to the warriors. Behind her is an altar; perhaps she has sought sanctuary there. From partial preservation of the names of these figures, the scene can be interpreted as the rescue of Aithra by Akamas and Demophon, her grandsons.
In the next scene, a fight is depicted. A woman wearing a long chiton has fallen to one knee while she wields a large pestle, successfully parrying a sword blow from an attacking Greek warrior. The warrior, Sthenelos, wears a helmet, a short chiton, and greaves; his shield is partially preserved. The woman's name is too poorly preserved to be read.
The next group depicts the Rape of Cassandra. Ajax attacks from the left, wearing cuirass, greaves and a black helmet. He has grabbed Cassandra's head, and he feints with his sword in his right hand. Cassandra is naked except for her slipping cloak. With her left hand she clings to the statue of Athena, as she reaches out to appeal to Ajax with her right. Athena is in a striding position, with her shield held in front of her and her spear raised in her right hand. Her helmet is poorly preserved, but her shield device is a black Gorgoneion surrounded by snakes. She has a scaly aegis with snakes appearing amid the scales and on the edges. Two large tripods stand behind the Athena statue.
In the next group, a fight is pictured. A Greek in a scaled cuirass, a cloak, and a short chiton holds his spear and shield as he confronts two Trojans, one of whom, naked, has fallen and is dying. His standing comrade bleeds from a stomach wound as he holds a sword above his head, desperate to defend himself against the Greek's next move. A youthful figure in a short chiton and cloak runs toward this group from the right, but he looks back to the left. A red tie under his chin makes it probable that he wore a petasos, no longer preserved.
The next group shows a bearded Greek warrior wearing an animal skin, helmet and greaves, carrying a shield and spear, meeting two draped figures. The first is a woman with white hair and a long chiton, the second an old man with a long chiton, himation, and shoes, holding what was once a staff or scepter. The older couple are interpreted as the Trojans Antenor and Theano, who appeal to Odysseus for their lives. Perhaps the youthful figure looking back at this scene from the earlier one might be a messenger dispatched by Odysseus to ask Menelaos if the lives of Antenor and Theano can be spared.
The next scene is missing from the zone, but the scene after it shows Menelaos advancing upon Helen with drawn sword. Eros has intervened and caused Menelaos to drop his sword. Helen wears a chiton and hairnet and one earring. From behind her another woman, probably Aphrodite, clutches Helen's chiton, in fear at Menelaos's violence.
The last group is poorly preserved, but appears to be a fight. A group of men's feet appear to the left, while a woman in a long chiton and head cloth wields a double axe. This figure is thought to be Andromache or Antiope (the first letters of her name preserved) attempting to defend one of the men, doubtless a Trojan.
The exterior of the cup has a lower border of stopped meanders, with a frieze of palmettes beneath. One side of the exterior is better preserved than the other. On this side, a man in a himation leans on a stick, while next to him, a bearded man in corselet and himation faces right, stretching out his hands. Approaching them are several figures, the closest a male in a himation decorated with crosses, leading by the wrist a woman in chiton and cloak. In his other hand this man once held a spear. The woman holds a red flower in her left hand. Behind the woman strides a youth in chlamys, with a red tie under his chin that probably belonged to a petasos. In his left hand he holds a kerykeion. A bearded man, dressed similarly with preserved petasos, follows the youth. He wears a sword at his left hip and carries a kerykeion as well. He reaches out to a woman behind him, who hurries to the right wearing a chiton and cloak. She seems pulled toward a youth on the far right. He has a thin beard and hair tied in a krobylos. He wears nothing except a cloak, and he is in the act of drawing his sword. This scene is thought to show Briseis being led away from Achilles's tent by Patroklos, with two heralds following. The other woman is Thetis, who calms her son Achilles when his rage gets the better of him.
The other side of the cup's exterior is very poorly preserved. On the far left, the back of Athena's helmet, part of her aegis and himation, and the end of her spear are visible. Next to her feet are two right feet of other figures, whose left feet are preserved further forward. By the greaves on one, this must be a warrior, to whom the partially preserved Boeotian shield in the cup's center must belong. The shield device is a boar and snake. Above the shield the tip of a spear can be seen, and at the warrior's thigh is the hilt of his sword. In the center of the scene is Apollo in a long chiton and a himation with a bow. Behind Apollo is space for two more figures, although only the calf and shoe of the Orientally clad Trojan on the far right are actually preserved. This scene is thought to represent the duel between Ajax and Hektor, separated by Apollo. On the left, Athena should be supporting Hektor.
Shape Description:
One of the earliest kylixes of Type C preserved.
Inscriptions:
On the edge of the foot is the inscription
In the tondo, the figures are labelled
In the interior zone around the tondo, the following figures' names are preserved:
On the cup's exterior the following names are fully or partially preserved:
Sources Used:
Other Bibliography: