[124] He (i.e. Neoptolemus). Siebelis very ingeniously suggests ὁ Ἀχιλλέως. I accept that suggestion as necessary to the sense.
[125] See Iliad, xvii. 314. Pausanias goes a little beyond Homer methinks.
[126] See Iliad, iii. 205-207. Also 122-124.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Of the dead in the painting are Pelis naked,[127] lying on his back, and underneath him Eioneus and Admetus both in their coats of mail. According to Lescheos Eioneus was slain by Neoptolemus, and Admetus by Philoctetes. And above these are others, near the laver Leocritus, the son of Polydamas, who was killed by Odysseus, and near Eioneus and Admetus Corœbus the son of Mygdon. This Mygdon has a famous tomb on the borders of the Stectorenian Phrygians, and poets have given those Phrygians the name of Mygdones after him. Corœbus came to wed Cassandra, and was killed by Neoptolemus according to the prevalent tradition, but by Diomede according to Lescheos. And above Corœbus are Priam and Axion and Agenor. Lescheos says that Priam was not slain at the altar of Household Zeus, but was torn away from the altar and killed by Neoptolemus with no great difficulty at the doors of the palace. As to Hecuba, Stesichorus in his Fall of Ilium has stated that she was taken to Lycia by Apollo. And Lescheos says that Axion was the son of Priam, and killed by Eurypylus the son of Euæmon. The same poet states that Agenor was killed by Neoptolemus. And Echeclus, Agenor’s son, seems to have been slain by Achilles. And Sinon, the companion of Odysseus, and Anchialus are carrying out the corpse of Laomedon for burial. There is another dead person in the painting, Eresus by name; no poet, so far as my knowledge goes, has sung either of Eresus or Laomedon. There is a painting also of the house of Antenor, and a leopard’s skin hung up over the porch, as a sign to the Greeks not to meddle with the family of Antenor. And Theano, Antenor’s wife, is painted with her sons, Glaucus seated on his armour, and Eurymachus seated on a stone. Near him stands Antenor with his daughter Crino, who is carrying her baby boy. All these are depicted with sorrowful countenances. The servants are placing a chest and other articles on the back of an ass, on which a little boy also sits. And under this painting is the following Elegiac couplet by Simonides.
“Polygnotus of Thasos, the son of Aglaophon, painted these incidents in the capture of Ilium.”
[127] Naked here, and in connection with Epeus in ch. 26, probably only means without armour on. Cf. “Nudus ara, sere nudus.” Virg. Georg. i. 299.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The other part of the painting, that on the left, represents Odysseus descending to Hades, to consult the soul of Tiresias about his return home. In the painting is a river, which is obviously Acheron, and there are some reeds growing in it, and some fishes so indistinct that they look like the ghosts of fishes. And there is a boat on the river, and a ferryman with his oars. Polygnotus has followed (I think) here the description, in the poem called the Minyad, about Theseus and Pirithous.
“Unwillingly did old Charon admit these living persons into his boat meant for the use of the dead.”