Getty Villa7031
Wine cup with the suicide of Ajax
Greek, made in Athens, 490-180 BC
Terracotta
Red figure kylix attributed to the
Brygos painter
Ajax lies with a sword through his back as his grieving consort Tekmessa rushes to cover the corpse. The hero's suicide is the climax to events depicted on the outside of this cup. After Ajax and Odysseus risked their lives to recover the body of Achilles, they came to blows over who should receive Achilles's armor. When the Greeks voted to award it to Odysseus, Ajax was so humiliated that falling on his own sword was the only way he could affirm his heroic status.
Getty Villa7031
Wine cup with the suicide of Ajax
Greek, made in Athens, 490-180 BC
Terracotta
Red figure kylix attributed to the
Brygos painter
Ajax lies with a sword through his back as his grieving consort Tekmessa rushes to cover the corpse. The hero's suicide is the climax to events depicted on the outside of this cup. After Ajax and Odysseus risked their lives to recover the body of Achilles, they came to blows over who should receive Achilles's armor. When the Greeks voted to award it to Odysseus, Ajax was so humiliated that falling on his own sword was the only way he could affirm his heroic status.