Year: 1982
Type: article
Abstract: Homer tells us that Sarpedon wounds Pedasos in his right shoulder, thus indicating that he is the right-hand trace horse, not the left as Exekias has shown him.But since Exekias chose to depict the chariot moving to left (for the reason given above), it would have been virtually impossible to show the right-hand trace horse as the fallen one, and Exekias opted for the solution that made his dramatic illustration more immediately intelligible.That Exekias omitted the spear from the dying horse's shoulder may be explained, I think, by realizing that without the presence of Sarpedon, who hurled it, the appearance of the spear would have little meaning and also the diagonal of its shaft might have marred the unity of the composition.Lastly, the three warriors who run alongside the team on the right, their spears and shields ready, surely stand for the many Myrmidons who accompanied Patroklos into battle on that dreadful day.The one in oriental dress may be Teukros, the half-brother of Telamonian Ajax who, although not specifically mentioned by Homer as accompanying Patroklos, very likely was there, since the poet earlier in the same book tells us that Ajax had his spear fixed on Hektor, but was unsuccessful in bringing him down.20 Representations of Patroklos do not appear often on vases, and the best known, of course, are the ones that show the fierce struggle for his body, a subject that is first assured on the Agora calyx-krater by Exekias, which has the names inscribed.21Other themes are not so well known.Most important among these is the late Corinthian hydria, formerly in the Astarita collection in Naples, that shows the Aristeia of Patroklos with all the names inscribed.22Here, Sarpedon lies face down on the ground, mortally wounded, while Patroklos rushes to left alongside the chariot driven by Alkimos.Since publication of this vase by Arena in 1967, Bothmer has added a large fragment that gives most of the chariot team as well as the figures of Ajax, Paris, and Polydamos, the son of Panthoos, a Trojan elder (to be published in a catalogue of the Astarita vases).This ambitious, lively scene captures the true spirit and flavor of this eventful Trojan day as told to us by Homer.Among other representations of Patroklos, one may mention the kantharos in Berlin by the Sokles Painter where Achilles and Patroklos depart from Thetis, accompanied by Menelaos, Odysseus, and Menestheus, an I Kansas City, Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum 30.13;ARV2 249.1.
Source: American Journal of Archaeology
DOI: 10.2307/504529
Authors: Gloria F. Pinney, Richard Hamilton
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4238966956