Parodied renderings of the subject also occur.[[1360]]
The reward of Paris for his judgment was, as we know, “the fairest wife in Greece.” Accordingly we next find him arrived at Sparta and carrying off the fair Helen as his bride. The vases (all of the R.F. and late periods) depict him on his arrival at Menelaos’ palace introduced to Helen,[[1361]] or else we see Helen at her toilet making preparations for her new consort[[1362]]; next, Paris leads away Helen or carries her off in his chariot,[[1363]] and finally introduces her to his father Priam on his return home.[[1364]]
The war having now broken out, we are introduced to the two chief heroes on the Greek side, Achilles and Ajax, as they bid farewell to their family and friends and set out in full equipment. Achilles, accompanied by Patroklos, Menoitios, and other heroes, bids farewell to his parents Peleus and Thetis[[1365]]; he also pays a farewell visit to his grandfather Nereus, who presents him with a crown,[[1366]] and receives a valedictory libation from a Nereid.[[1367]] Again, we see Achilles and Patroklos taking leave of Nestor, accompanied by Antilochos.[[1368]] Ajax is represented taking leave of Lykos,[[1369]] and also of his father Telamon[[1370]]; but as in one of the latter cases the names are wrongly applied on the vase, it may only represent an idealised departure of an ordinary warrior. There is also a vase which represents Nestor arming (putting on a greave) in presence of Euaichme.[[1371]]
We next find the warriors gathered in Aulis, waiting for the favouring breeze, and whiling away the time (as Euripides describes[[1372]]) in the game of πεσσοί or draughts, which is played by Ajax and Achilles (names usually given) seated at a raised board in full armour, with the statue of Athena behind them.[[1373]] There is another variety of the type, in which the presence of Athena seems to have more meaning. Here the two heroes cast lots with dice before the statue, and there may be some reference to the dispute of Ajax and Odysseus for the arms of Achilles, which was settled by Athena.[[1374]] The story of the sacrifice of Iphigeneia, though popular with poets and painters, for some reason never found its way on to the vases until the influence of great pictures and plays was beginning to make itself felt; and then only appears in one instance, where the transformation into a deer is indicated.[[1375]] The only other incident of the voyage which concerns us is the halt at Lemnos and the sacrifice to the local goddess Chryse, where Philoktetes is bitten by the serpent and has to be left behind on account of his wound.[[1376]] This island was also the scene of the carrying off by Achilles of Chryseis, the daughter of Chryses, the priest of the local goddess, of which there is one possible representation.[[1377]]
Two doubtful references to opening scenes of the war are to be found in a supposed consultation of Zeus with Themis among the Olympian deities,[[1378]] and a representation of the Greeks formally demanding back Helen,[[1379]] a demand which of course was not granted. The story of Telephos also belongs to an early stage, and three incidents therefrom are found. In one case he is represented as wounded by the spear of Achilles[[1380]]; again, entering the Greek camp disguised as a beggar, in order to apply to Agamemnon for aid[[1381]]; and, lastly, he is seen seizing the infant Orestes, whom he threatens to destroy if his request is not granted.[[1382]] A R.F. kylix in Boston represents in the interior Odysseus persuading Achilles to heal Telephos’ wound; on the exterior the wounded hero comes, not to Agamemnon’s tent, but to his palace at Mycenae.[[1383]]
At a much later stage of the war comes the incident of Troilos, a subject which attained to great popularity, especially with the B.F. vase-painters. It falls into five distinct scenes: (1) the departure of Troilos, with his two horses[[1384]]; (2) the ambuscade of Achilles behind the fountain to which Polyxena comes to draw water[[1385]]; (3) the flight of Troilos and Polyxena, and pursuit by Achilles[[1386]]; (4) the death of Troilos[[1387]]; and (5) the fight over his body.[[1388]] Of these, the ambuscade and the pursuit are the most commonly represented.
A few incidents which are not to be traced in literature probably belong to the Ante-Homeric period. They are (1) Achilles bandaging the wounded Patroklos, on the well-known Sosias cup[[1389]]; (2) the wounded Achilles tended by Patroklos and Briseis[[1390]]; (3) a combat of Hector and Achilles attended by Sarpedon and Phoinix (in one case Phoinix interrupts)[[1391]]; (4) a general combat of Greeks and Trojans.[[1392]]
It will be most convenient to deal with the various scenes which can be traced to the Homeric poems (or to co-ordinate traditions) in tabular form, noting where possible the actual passages which they appear to illustrate. But it must be borne in mind that the vase-painter was never an illustrator; he rather looked to literature for suggestions, which he worked out on his own lines, and consequently coincidences with or divergencies from the Homeric text must not be too closely insisted upon.
Book I. 187 ff. The dispute of Agamemnon and Achilles.
Possibly to be identified in such scenes as on B.M. B 327, 397, and E 13; but very doubtful: see below, p. [133], and Robert, Bild u. Lied, p. 213.