DescriptionAttic Black-Figure Neck Amphora - Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena.jpg
English: Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena
Attic Black-figure Neck Amphora; Near Medea Group, ca. 510 BCE
Uploaded from the Getty Open Content Program, with the following description:
Achilles and Ajax, two great heroes of the Trojan War, play a board game on this Athenian black-figure amphora. Behind the table stands the goddess Athena. The scene of the warriors at leisure but with their armor at the ready might have taken place during a break in fighting the Trojan War.
This depiction of Ajax and Achilles gaming was especially popular in Athenian art in the late 500s B.C.; over 150 surviving vases show the scene. Why was this image so popular? Some scholars have argued that it was politically motivated. They interpret this scene as a mythical parallel for the tyrant Peisistratos's return from exile, when he was able to regain power because the Athenian army was unprepared for battle. If so, then these vases would be anti-Peisistratid propaganda, alerting Athenians to the importance of vigilance by reminding them of the consequences of their recent failure.
The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the
public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.enCC0Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedicationfalsefalse
Information
Captions
Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents
DescriptionAttic Black-Figure Neck Amphora - Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena.jpg
English: Achilles and Ajax playing a board game overseen by Athena
Attic Black-figure Neck Amphora; Near Medea Group, ca. 510 BCE
Uploaded from the Getty Open Content Program, with the following description:
Achilles and Ajax, two great heroes of the Trojan War, play a board game on this Athenian black-figure amphora. Behind the table stands the goddess Athena. The scene of the warriors at leisure but with their armor at the ready might have taken place during a break in fighting the Trojan War.
This depiction of Ajax and Achilles gaming was especially popular in Athenian art in the late 500s B.C.; over 150 surviving vases show the scene. Why was this image so popular? Some scholars have argued that it was politically motivated. They interpret this scene as a mythical parallel for the tyrant Peisistratos's return from exile, when he was able to regain power because the Athenian army was unprepared for battle. If so, then these vases would be anti-Peisistratid propaganda, alerting Athenians to the importance of vigilance by reminding them of the consequences of their recent failure.
The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the
public domain by waiving all of their rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.enCC0Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedicationfalsefalse
Information
Captions
Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents