This black-figure cup at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore shows combat between two warriors has a very special shape: it is a mastoid skyphos, taking its name from the Greek word ‘mastos’ (breast). It was a shape popular only for a few decades in the second half of the 6th century B.C. Almost impossibly
Captured in the interior of this large drinking cup is the very moment when Achilles and Penthesilea (the Amazon queen) meet on the battlefield at Troy. They fall in love, tragically, just as Achilles fatally stabs her. This representation is special on all sorts of levels, but primarily because of the way the painter has
The idea of the ‘thanatos kalos’, the ‘beautiful death’, was a crucial part of the Ancient Greek world view, and specifically referred to the death of a warrior on the battlefield at the absolute pinnacle of his vigor, strength and endurance (physical and mental). This type of death meant the corpse retained elements of this
Damaged but delectable, this famous glass vessel – known as the Portland vase – is a truly a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma…” (and I am sure Churchill would agree). The thick pearlescent layer overlaying the dark cobalt blue body is painstakingly carved down as if it were a multilayered sardonyx or
The idea of the ‘thanatos kalos’, the ‘beautiful death’, was a crucial part of the Ancient Greek world view, and specifically referred to the death of a warrior on the battlefield at the absolute pinnacle of his vigor, strength and endurance (physical and mental). This type of death meant the corpse retained elements of this
Agamemnon returned home, victorious from Troy, to his wife Clytemnestra. Unbeknownst to him, she had been stewing for the last decade (not happy with him for sacrificing their daughter for favorable winds to Troy, or bringing home his concubine) and took a lover while plotting revenge. The ambush Clytemnaestra had in store for her husband