Achilles ambushing Troilos
Achilles (largely lost) overtakes Troilos, and leaps onto his horse to bring him down. Polyxena (also largely lost), Troilos' sister, runs in front, having dropped the jar that she was filling at the fountain.
Behind Achilles stand Athena, Hermes, Thetis, and a Trojan girl, Rhodia, who raises her arms in terror as she watches.
The fountain house on the lefthas three fluted Doric columns within which are two lion's head water spouts. A large hydria stands below one spout, and a Trojan youth places another hydria under the other spout.
Behind the fountain on the far left, Apollo approaches, dismayed at Achilles' imminent desecration of his altar when he kills Troilos.
On the right are the battlements of Troy, built of squared masonry with crenelations at the top. Between the battlements are piled round stones, for use as weapons. The gates open and two warriors, Hektor and Polites, brothers of Troilos, emerge; they are too late to help Troilos. In front of the walls, Priam, holding a long staff, sits on a stone seat and witnesses the death of his son.
Attic black figure volute krater
c. 570 BC
Archaeological Museum, Florence |
