Ajax and Achilles
Ajax and Achilles
This olpe shows a very popular subject in ancient Greece: Ajax and Achilles playing dice during a pause in the battle.
The two heroes are sitting on two cylindrical stools in front of a small table. They wear a chitoniskos decorated with a zigzag band, the cuirass, the helmet and the "knemides", or greaves, protecting their shins. With the left hand they are holding a double spear, and their shields are leant against the stools.
This subject was replicated several times by the potters with very different results from the artistic point of view.
On the base of the table on which they are playing, the following boustrophedon inscription is incised: ΝΕΟΚΛΕΙΔΕΣ ΚΑΛΟΣ.
Attic black-figured olpe
Made in Athens
Attributed to Taleides Painter
About 540-530 BC
Rome, Musei Capitolini
Ajax and Achilles
Ajax and Achilles
This olpe shows a very popular subject in ancient Greece: Ajax and Achilles playing dice during a pause in the battle.
The two heroes are sitting on two cylindrical stools in front of a small table. They wear a chitoniskos decorated with a zigzag band, the cuirass, the helmet and the "knemides", or greaves, protecting their shins. With the left hand they are holding a double spear, and their shields are leant against the stools.
This subject was replicated several times by the potters with very different results from the artistic point of view.
On the base of the table on which they are playing, the following boustrophedon inscription is incised: ΝΕΟΚΛΕΙΔΕΣ ΚΑΛΟΣ.
Attic black-figured olpe
Made in Athens
Attributed to Taleides Painter
About 540-530 BC
Rome, Musei Capitolini