Penn Museum

Achilles and Ajax: The death of Achilles Achilles and Ajax depicting the death of Achilles, a Greek black figure amphora, currently in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, originally found in Orvieto, Italy, was most likely used as a funerary vessel to be placed on a tomb. In Greek culture it was common to illustrate significant events on vessels, including the death of Achilles. Achilles, considered immortal, was known as the best fighter of his time and his death was a shock to everyone. This vessel was determined to have been made between 540 and 530 BC during the Archaic Greek Period by Exekias. The process of making these pieces of art is rather extensive. First, the vessel is made out of terra cotta. Then, it is painted black and left to dry. The images are created by scratching and carving the paint. The vessel itself is in very good condition, still having all the structural pieces in tact with very little evidence of cracks or chipped edges. The design on the vessel has a geometric style with parallel lines running around the vase on the top and bottom, lines running from the top part of the handle to the bottom, and two lines running around the vase to act as a border for the main depiction on the vessel. Even though the vessel itself is intact, the depiction surrounding the vase is missing parts and there are several scratches on the front side of the vase, the main depiction portrays two events, Ajax bending down to lift the dead body of Achilles and Menelaos attacking an Egyptian king. A large portion on the Achilles side is missing but shows enough to determine what it is trying to illustrate. The depiction shows the people with a realistic pose and at a realistic angle showing their sides and not the front of their bodies, unlike how the ancient Egyptian’s depicted people. According to Greek mythology, Achilles’ mother, Thetis, dipped him into the river of Styx by his ankles to make him immortal. Achilles was killed with an arrow to his