CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.

Details

AN ATTIC BLACK-FIGURED LEKYTHOS
CIRCA EARLY 5TH CENTURY B.C.
9 in. (23 cm.) high

Provenance

Swiss private collection, Dr R. H. (1922-2007), acquired prior to 1996.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The decoration shows Ajax and Achilles playing a board game under the watch of the goddess Athena standing between them. This scene was often used to decorate vases during the late 6th century and early 5th century B.C., and the interpretations of the meaning of the scene vary. For a comprehensive review of this iconography, cf. L. Romero Mariscal, 'Ajax and Achilles Playing a Board Game: Revisited from the Literary Tradition', in The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 2, December 2011, pp. 394-401.

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