A Black-Figure Parody of The Ransom of Hector

A BLACK-FIGURE PARODY
OF THE RANSOM OF HECTOR

par Ann Blair Brownlee
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has recently acquired an Attic black-figured
amphora of unusual interest1 (fig. 1-2). The vase can be securely attributed to the Painter
of Munich 1379, one of the artists in Beazley's Princeton Group.2 Beazley assigned three
amphorae - all in Munich - to the painter, and the Boston amphora is most like the name
vase.3 While the Boston vase is clearly the work of the Painter of Munich 1379, it also
strengthens the ties between that painter and some of the other Princetonians, for it has
close connections with works outside the Munich trio. For example, the Boston amphora
can be compared to Oxford 1965.141 and Louvre F 5, both of which Beazley assigned to
the manner of the Princeton Painter, and to an amphora now in a private collection in
I. 1979 .618. Annual Report of the Museum of Fine Arts ,
Boston , 1979-80, p. 40. Height 37.5-38.8 cm, max.

diam. 25.1 cm, diam. of mouth 15.5-15.6 cm, diam. of
foot 12.0 cm. Inside of the neck glazed to a depth of
5 cm. Top of the mouth reserved, with red lines on the
inside and outside edges. A pair of red lines on the neck,
a red line above the panels, and a red line on each side
of the panels, except on the right side of B, where there
is a dilute glaze line. Below the panels, a pair of red
lines. There are twenty-seven rays, and a red line separates
the rays from the black lower body. On the outside of
the foot, a red line. Underside of the foot reserved.
Above each panel, a palmette-lotus festoon with twelve
2. The Painter of Munich 1379: Munich 1379 ( ABV ,

p. 303, no. 1; Paralipomena , p. 131, no. 1; CVA , Munich ,
I, pls. 10, 4; 13; 28, 3), Munich 1373 {ABV, p. 303, no. 2;
Paralipomena , p. 131, no. 2; CVA, Munich , 1, pls. 8, 3;
9, 1; 12, 5) and Munich 1374 (ABV, p. 303, no. 3; CVA,
Munich, I, pls. 8, 4; 9, 2). A fourth amphora, Tarquinia 651, has been added by C. Tronchetti, but it
seems to stand a little apart from the three Munich
amphorae and from Boston 1979.618. See Ceramica
attica a figure nere. Grandi vasi: Anfore, Pelikai, Crateri
(Materiali del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Tarquinia, V), Rome, 1983, p. 70-1, no. 23; pl. 24.
elements on side A and eleven on side B. Palmette cores

and lotus cores and bases are red. The vase has misfired
on the right side of B; the area under the handle and

parts of the two rightmost figures are greenish. Because
the vase is warped where it has misfired, some of the
joins are difficult; some have slipped slightly. Also,
because there is a complete profile at only one place on
the vase - between the mules' hind legs - and because
the missing portions of the lower body have not been
restored in plaster, the amphora stands crookedly, and the

precise height cannot be measured.
I would like to thank D. A. Amyx, H. A. G. Bri j der,

David B. Brownlee, Keith DeVries, Carolyn G. Koehler,
Donna C. Kurtz, Michael Padgett, Florence Wolsky,
and Cornelius C. Vermeule, III, for advice and assistance
at various stages in the preparation of this article. To
A. A. Donohue, Gloria Ferrari Pinney, Jody Maxmin,
and Emily Vermeule, I am much indebted for kindness
and encouragement.
3. The figure of Zeus on side A of Munich 1379

(supra, n. 2), for example, has a number of stylistic
features in common with figures on the Boston amphora.
His ear can be compared to those of the cart driver and
youth on side A and 3 on side B. Zeus' hands are similar
to the hand of 1 on side B, and the treatment of his
forehead hair is like that of 5 on side B. The mouth and

nostril of Zeus are similar to those of 4 and 5 on side B.
The treatment of Herakles' legs (especially on side A of
Munich 1379) is close to that of the "slave" on side A
of the Boston amphora, and the arm of 3 on side B is
very close to the arm of the near body of Geryon. The
nonsense inscriptions on the Boston amphora are also
close to those on Munich 1379. The same letters are

employed, and the "words" often begin with E O and IIO.
Finally, the individual elements of the floral ornament
above the panels, especially the lotuses with central
leaves and dotted cuffs, are very similar on the two vases.
Rev. arch., 1/1989
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4 Ann Blair Br own lee
Madison, Wisconsin.4 Beazley himself noted the connection between Oxford 1965.141
and Louvre F 5 and the work of the Painter of Munich 1379, and it is clear that the boundaries separating that painter and those artists who are called in the manner of the Princeton
Painter cannot be easily defined.5
The Boston amphora can be readily assigned to the Painter of Munich 1379, but
the interpretation of the two curious scenes in the panels of the vase poses a more difficult
problem. The panel on side A (fig. 3) shows a large cart, loaded with amphorae, moving
to the right. The cart is pulled by a pair of yoked mules, one of which is ithyphallic.6 The
4. Oxford 1965 . 141: ABV , p. 299, no. 15 Paralipomena ,
p. 130, no. 1; Beazley Addenda , p. 39; CVA , Oxford , 3,
pl. 31, 2 and pl. 32, 3 and 4; Louvre F 5: ABV , p. 300,

no. 13; CVA , Louvre , 3, III H e pl. 10, 8 and pl. 11, 2;
Madison, Wisconsin, private: W. G. Moon and L. Berge,
Greek Vase-Painting in Midwestern Collections , Chicago,
979, p. 54-6, no. 32 (attributed to the Painter of Berlin
1686).
5. In Paralipomena (p. 130, no. 1), Beazley compared

Oxford 1965.141 to the name vase of the Painter of
Munich 1379. He also wondered if Lullies, in CVA ,
Munich , i (p. 11), might have been correct in assigning

Munich 1374, which Beazley himself had attributed to
the Painter of Munich 1379, to the same hand as
Louvre F 5. See ABV, p. 300, no. 13, and p. 303, no. 3,
and Beazley, review of CVA , Munich , 1, JHS , 59, 1939,
p. 305. Beazley also compared the Princeton Painter's
Tarquinia 624 to Munich 1373 (. supra , n. 2) by the Painter
of Munich 1379. Tarquinia 624: Para.y p. 130, no. 15 bis;

Tronchetti, op. cit. (. supra , n. 2), p. 67-9, no. 22; pl. 23.
For a recent study of the Princeton Painter and his

connections with contemporary artists, see J. Chamay
and D. von Bothmer, Ajax et Cassandre par le Peintre
de Princeton, Ant. Kunst. 30, 1987, p. 61-8 esp.
There are connections with painters outside the circle
of the Princetonians as well. Oxford 1965 .141, assigned
to the manner of the Princeton Painter, was one of six vases
which Beazley had previously grouped together on account

of the similarity of their nonsense inscriptions. See Some
Inscriptions on Vases - II, AJA , 33, 1929, p. 361-2.
The other five vases, Philadelphia MS 344 1, Cabinet des
Mdailles 207, Berlin 1697, Washington 136415 and

once Paris market (ABV, p. 296-7, nos. 3, 6, 17-9)
were all later assigned to the Painter of Berlin 1686. In
CVA , Oxford , 3 (p. 19), Boardman notes the connection
between Oxford 1965 .141 and the work of the Painter
of Munich 1379; he further speculates that the Oxford
vase and the three amphorae attributed to the Painter
of Munich 1379 might be early work of the Painter of
Berlin 1686. Finally, the Madison vase (supra, n. 4),
which has been attributed to the Painter of Berlin 1686,
is also clearly related to Boston 1979.618 and to the
the horse in height, uniformity of coat color, shape of

neck and croup, and form of tail. Like its sire, a mule
is mealy-mouthed, that is, it has a white muzzle. Unlike
its sire, a mule does not usually have a white belly. For
mules in general, see T. H. Savory, The Mule, Scientific
American, 223, 6, December 1970, p. 102-9; J* M. Davis,
Mules, Donkeys and Burros, New York, 1984; and B. Hutch-
ins and P. Hutchins, The Definitive Donkey, A Textbook

on the Modern Ass, Denton, Texas, 1981.
In black-figure, mules and donkeys may be shown
more or less the same size and with or without white
muzzles and bellies. Mules, however, are usually depicted

with full tails, similar to those of horses, while donkeys
are shown with tufted tails, and the treatment of the
tails is the surest way to distinguish between the two

animals. See D. von Bothmer, New Vases by the Amasis
Painter, Ant. Kunst, 3, i960, p. 73. On the Amasis
Painter's wedding procession lekythos in New York
(56.11.1; Para., p. 66; Beazley Addenda, p. 20; D. von
Bothmer, The Amasis Painter and his World, Malibu,
New York, and London, 1985, p. 182-4, no. 47 and p. 64
[color plate]), the first cart is pulled by donkeys, the

second by mules, and the animals are clearly differentiated. On the Franois Vase, Kleitias is also careful to
differentiate between the two animals. In the procession
to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Hephaistos rides
sidesaddle upon a donkey, while he rides astride upon a
mule in the Return of Hephaistos scene. See Materiali
per servire alla storia del Vaso Franois , Rome, 1981,
figs. 74 and 92.
For mules in the ancient world, see J. K. Anderson,
Ancient Greek Horsemanship, Berkeley and Los Angeles,
1961, p. 66-7; J. H. Crouwel, Chariots and Other Means
of Land Transport in Bronze Age Greece, Amsterdam,
1981, p. 36 and p. 43; and J. M. C. Toynbee, Animals in
Roman Life and Art, Ithaca, 1973, p. 185-92. Second
prize in the chariot race at the funeral games of Patroklos
is a horse mare carrying a mule foal (II. 23.265-6).
Mules and mule-breeding are discussed in Pliny, NH 8 . 69.
Mules are species hybrids and are usually sterile. Both
male and female mules are, however, otherwise sexually
normal, and a male mule has the same sexual response
as a male horse or donkey, as on the Boston vase. In fact,
three amphorae attributed to the Painter of Munich 1379

by Beazley. This account of the Painter of Munich 1379
and his fellows owes much to Jody Maxmin.
tease mares in heat and to accustom them to being
6. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a

female horse. Its donkey-like qualities include shape of
his semen is not fertile. See Hutchins and Hutchins,
head, long ears, thin limbs, and small hooves; it resembles
a young uncastrated male mule is sometimes used to
served by a donkey-like creature. While the young mule
may cover a mare, he cannot get her in foal, because

op. cit., p. 184, and Davis, op. cit., p. 57-8.
A Parody of the Ransom of Hector 5
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driver, a bearded man in a himation, sits on his cargo and urges his team forward. At the
mules' heads, a small, bearded man, who wears a fringed hat and a short garment, guides
the animals and seems to hold the muzzle of the near one.7 Partially hidden by the mules
are two draped males (a youth on the left and a bearded man on the right), who carry
spears and appear to be engaged in conversation.8 There are nonsense inscriptions to the
left of the driver, below the cart, between the mules' hind legs, and along the right edge
of the panel.9 In the center of side B (fig. 4), a small, unarmed, draped and bearded man
touches the chin of a larger man. The larger figure, also draped and bearded, clutches the
clothing of the shorter man with his left hand and holds his spear, point downwards, under
his right arm.10 The two men in the center are flanked left and right by pairs of draped and
bearded men. The figures on the right rest their spears on their left shoulders. Of the pair
on the left side of the scene, one of the men holds a spear, point downwards, in his left
hand, while the other rests a long shaft on his right shoulder. There are nonsense inscriptions at both the right and left edges of the panel, at the heads and along the lower bodies
of the three leftmost figures, and between the two rightmost figures.11
The cart on side A (fig. 5) is one of the most detailed depictions of such a vehicle in
Attic black-figure, and even though it is not fully preserved, a great deal of information
about draft animals, carts, and cargo can be gleaned from it. The cart is pulled by a pair
of yoked mules who wear halters rather than bridles and are thus not controlled by a bit
7. The small stature of the man and his position at

the mules' heads recall the figure - usually identified
as a slave - in the mule-harnessing scene on the plaque
Berlin 1814 by Exekias ( ABV, p. 146, nos. 22-3; Para.,
p. 60, nos. 22-3; Beazley Addenda , p. 18; P. E. Arias and
M. Hirmer, A History of 1000 Years of Greek Vase
Painting , New York, 1963, p. 302; pl. 61). For the muleteer
in particular, see N. Himmelmann, Archologisches zum
Problem der griechischen Sklaverei, Akademie der Wissen-
schaften und der Literatur , Mainz. Abhandlungen der

Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse , 1971, no. 13,
p. 16-7. The fringed hat and short garment worn by
the man on the Boston amphora set him apart from the
other figures on the vase, and that might be an indication
of his lower social status. Fringed hats are worn by
figures on several vases attributed to the Amasis Painter.
See, e.g., Basel L 19 (side A; Para., p. 65; Beazley Addenda,
p. 19; von Bothmer 1985, op. cit. [supra, n. 6], p. 83-5,
no. 6), Louvie F 26 ( ABV , p. 150, no. 5; von Bothmer
1985, op. cit. [supra, n. 6], p. 94-6, no. 11), and London
B 52 (ABV, p. 153, no. 31; von Bothmer 1985, op. cit.
[supra, n. 6], p. 138-9, no. 26). The hats by the Amasis
Painter are somewhat larger than the one on the Boston
amphora and lack its small projection at the peak. For
such projections, see the hats - unfringed, however - worn
by the riders on side B of the Amasis Painter's Munich 8763
(Para., p. 65; Beazley Addenda, p. 19; von Bothmer 1985,

op. cit. [supra, n. 6], p. 62 [color plate] and p. 79-80,
no. 4).
8. The thumb and closed fist of the bearded man's
right hand, which holds the spear, are visible beneath
the tip of his beard. The nearly vertical object between

his fist and thumb is difficult to identify. It might be
part of the mules' yoke, although it does not line up
exactly.
9. Added color. Red: hair and beard of 1 and 3, beard
of 4, fillet of 2, panels, centers of rosettes, folds, and dots
on drapery of 1, 2, and 3, garment and hat of 4, stripes

on haunch of mule, and part of yoke. White: amphora
stoppers, dots on hems and petals of rosettes on drapery
of i and 2, and muzzle and belly stripe of near mule.
10. The feet of the large man are not preserved, although
there appear to be traces of the heel of one of his feet, to
left, at the very edge of the break. If that is a correct
identification, the red of his chiton would then appear to
mark out his buttock, thigh, and calf, and his entire lower
body would be to left, while his upper body is to right.
The pose would be a very curious one, unparalleled in
the painter's uvre. His work does include conventional
depictions of figures moving in one direction and turning
back in the other, where the upper body is seen fully
frontally or from the back (with the head in profile), while
the lower body is in profile. See, e.g., Zeus and Kyknos
on side A of the painter's name vase (Munich, 1379: supra,
n. 2).
il. Added color. Red: beards of all the figures, hair

of 2 and 3, fillets of 1, 4, 5 and 6, panels and centers of
rosettes on drapery of all figures, and dots and zigzag on
drapery of 5. White: petals of rosettes on drapery of all
figures and dots at hem of garment of 4.
3. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 1979.618. Side A. Detail of panel.

Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
4. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 1979.618. Side B. Detail of panel.

8 Ann Blair Brown/ee
5. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 1979.618. Side A. Detail of cart.
and reins.12 The driver urges his team forward with the short goad he holds in his right
hand. He directs the mules by means of the long whip which he holds in his left hand.13
12. Only a small part of the yoke is preserved, but it
can be restored by comparison with the yokes worn by
the donkeys and mules on the wedding procession lekythos
by the Amasis Painter (New York, 56.11.1: supra , n. 6;

see also von Bothmer i960, loc. cit. [supra, n. 6], p. 73).
The yoke which appears in the harnessing of the mule
cart on the plaque Berlin 1814 (supra, n. 7) by Exekias is
different in detail, although its placement, high on the
animals' necks, is similar. For the harness and yoke worn
by the mules on Berlin 1814, see A. Greifenhagen, XXi8cove
)(jllvcov xal tztzv 7repi8paia, Jdi , 75, i960, p. 84-7.

For neck-yokes and harness, see Crouwel (supra, n. 6),
p. 97-101. For experiments with the neck-yoke traction
system, see J. Spruytte, Early Harness Systems , London,
1983, p. 23-52.
13. Two objects, which are probably meant to be

metal, dangle from the end of the long whip and are visible
to the left of the mules' heads. For the use of the short
goad and the long whip, compare the donkey cart loaded
with amphorae on the unattributed band-cup Louvre F 77,
where the driver holds a short goad, and a figure walking
behind the cart holds the long whip. See CV A , Louvre , 9,
III H e pl. 82, 4 and 6-10, and F. Roche, Travailleurs

manuels et artisans du mtal dans la Grce ancienne,
Archeologia , June 1978, p. 8. The driver of the cart on

side B of the Burgon amphora carries a long whip, with
dangling bits of metal, in his left hand and a short goad
in his right (London B 130; ABV , p. 89, no. 1; Para.,
p. 33, no. 1; Beazley Addenda, p. 9; J. Boardman, Athenian
Black Figure Vases, New York, 1974, fig. 296). For
another long whip (or perhaps a stick) in action, see an
Assyrian relief (London, British Museum 124939) from
the palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, showing Elamites
fleeing the Assyrians in a mule cart: Anderson, op. cit.
(supra, n. 6), pl. 1 1 a, and M. A. Littauer and J. H. Crouwel
Wheeled Vehicles and Ridden Animals in the Ancient Near
East, Leiden, 1979, p. 99-101; fig. 51.

A driver may only hold the short goad, as do the
drivers of both the donkey and mule carts in the wedding
procession on the Amasis Painter's lekythos (New York,

56 . 1 1 . 1: supra, n. 6). For the use of goads and long whips
with draft donkeys and mules, see Anderson, op. cit.

(supra, n. 6), p. 66-7.
The cart which the mules pull is large, open, and sturdily built.14 It has a heavy
wheel of cross-bar type, and the pair of concentric circles around the wheel's contour
probably indicates the unusual thickness of the felloe.15 The curved line which runs downwards from the felloe describes the left contour of the axle block, which is composed of at
least two pieces.16 The axle block is attached to the side rail of the cart, on which are very
carefully depicted the ends of floor planks that have been mortised into this rail.17 Below
the side rail the painter has depicted what appears to be the draft pole, a long member with
a rounded end, which passes behind the axle block and runs the full length of the cart,
extending to beyond the left edge of the panel. On vehicles of this kind, the draft pole,
14. The cart pulled by donkeys on Louvre F 77 {supra,

n. 13) is clearly open, and the mule cart on the Chalcidian neck-amphora London B 17 (A. Rumpf, Chalki-
dische Vasen , Berlin and Leipzig, 1927, p. 156^ pl. 199)

is also open. The driver of the mule cart sits on an object
identified as a cushion by H. L. Lorimer (The Country
Cart of Ancient Greece, JHS , 23, 1903, p. 139). The
object might be meant to suggest the load carried in the
open cart, however, so that the driver actually sits upon
his cargo, as on the Boston vase.
15. Unlike chariots, which regularly have wheels with

four spokes, carts are usually provided with sturdier
wheels of the cross-bar type. For the cross-bar wheel,
see M. A. Littauer and J. Crouwel, The Origin and
Diffusion of the Cross-Bar Wheel?, Antiquity , 51, 1977,
p. 95-105, S. Piggott, The Earliest Wheeled Transport ,
Ithaca, 1983, p. 97-8, and Lorimer, loc. cit. {supra, n. 14),
p. 145-9. A wooden wheel of cross-bar type has been
found at Gordion: see E. L. Kohler, Cremations of the
Middle Phrygian Period at Gordion, in From Athens to

Gordion , Philadelphia, 1980, p. 89, fig. 32. There are crossbar wheels on several of the cart and wagon model from
the recently discovered tombs at Sindos. See LINAOH.

KocTXoyo ttj 'Exa-r, Athens, 1985, p. 138-139,
no. 224 (inv. no. 8632), p. 240-1, no. 391 (inv. no. 8648),
and p. 272-3, no. 443 (inv. no. 8636). A heavy felloe,
such as a cart wheel would require, would likely be made

of two elements, and the concentric circles here probably
represent inner and outer felloes. See Crouwel, op. cit.
{supra, n. 6), p. 83-5.
16. On the carts on the Amasis Painter's New York
lekythos {supra, n. 6), the axle blocks are composed of

several pieces, but they are not curved. For a curved axle
block, see Acropolis 791 (B. Graef and E. Langlotz,
Die antiken Vasen von der Akropolis zu Athen, I, Berlin,

1925, pl. 48), and the reconstruction of a Portuguese
cart in F. Galhano, O carro de bois em Portugal, Lisbon,
1973, p. 22-8.
17. Similar rectangles, at wider intervals, appear on

the side rails of two carts on terracotta plaques from Meta-
pontum, and they are clearly meant to represent the

ends of the planks which form the floor structure of the
cart. See Megale Hellas. Storia e civilt della Magna Grecia,
Milan, 1983, p. 355; figs. 328-9. Mortise and tenon joinery

is similarly depicted on furniture, such as thrones and
chairs. See, e.g., the goddess' throne on side B of Tarquinia 625 by the Affecter {ABV, p. 245, no. 65; Beazley
Addenda, p. 30; H. Mommsen, Der Affecter, Mainz, 1975,
pl. 15B). For methods of joining, see G. M. A. Richter,
The Furniture of the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans,
London, 1966, p. 125, and also fig. 84, a wooden Egyptian
throne which has side rails mortised into the legs of the
chair.
For boards mortised into the side rails of carts, see
Galhano, op. cit. {supra, n. 16), figs. 14 and 16, and

Telesforo de Aranzadi, Der chzende Wagen und Anderes
aus Spanien, Archiv fr Anthropologie, 24, 1896, p. 219,
fig. Ii, and p. 221, fig. 13. The iron cart model Thessaloniki 8632 from Sindos {supra, n. 15) has a framework
consisting of metal "boards" attached to the two side rails.
The "boards" are fastened to the underside of the rails,
but it is not certain that the model accurately depicts a

method of joinery.
It is unusual for the mortised planks to be placed so
close together, for they serve as structural elements,
primarily, rather than forming a continuous floor. A
solid floor normally consists of planks which have been
placed perpendicular to the mortised units and nailed
to them. See, e.g., Aranzadi, op. cit., p. 219, fig. 11. On
open carts, perhaps, such as the one here, the mortised
boards were simply placed closer together to obviate the
need for additional flooring.
The paired vertical lines between the tenons are more
difficult to interpret. There are pairs of vertical white
lines, at wider intervals, on the side rail of the donkey
cart on the Amasis Painter's lekythos in New York {supra,
n. 6), and they appear to represent metal fasteners of some
kind. The lines on the Boston amphora do not, I think,
depict such fasteners.
The interpretation of the member decorated with the
small rectangles as the cart's side rail is not entirely
without difficulty. The amphora and its stand at the back
of the cart clearly rest on the element below the side rail,
which would mean that they are placed below the side
rail, an impossible arrangement. The amphora and stand
at the front of the cart, however, are on the same level as
the side rail.
which connects the animals' yoke to the cart, is rigidly fixed and runs the length of the
cart, beneath the floor.18
The cargo of five large amphorae is carefully lashed in place. Four ropes run vertically
between the amphorae, and two long ropes, forming a large "X", further secure the load.19
The amphorae are extremely big and unusually tall. Their mouths, necks, and shoulders
are fully delineated. Their lower bodies are not, however, although they are ornamented
with bands consisting of dots or short strokes between pairs of lines.20 Apparently, the five
amphorae rest in separate stands, whose curved sides and flattened bottoms are most clearly
discernible beneath the two vessels at the rear and at the front of the cart.21
18. See, e.g., Aranzadi, loc. cit. {supra, n. 17), p. 2195
fig. 11; Galhano, op. cit. {supra, n. 17), figs. 14 and 16;
Piggott, op. cit. {supra, n. 15), fig. 117 (sixth-century bc
of the cart. The second and third ropes are obscured by

the driver: the second one runs behind his right leg, and
the third one is visible at his left ankle. The fourth rope
{supra, n. 14), p. 135-6 (Etruscan bronze model of cart,

London, 602: H. B. Walters, Catalogue of the Bronzes,
the mules' tails.
bronze model of cart from Bolsena); Lorimer, loc. cit.
Greek, Roman and Etruscan, in the Department of Greek

and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, London, 1899,
p. 89; pl. 12), and the cart model Thessaloniki 8632 from
Sindos {supra, n. 1$).
On most representations of carts in black-figure, the
draft pole is shown simply emerging from the front of the
cart, and no great attention is paid to its relationship with
the side rail. See, e.g., the wicker-sided cart on an oinochoe
attributed to the Burgon Group (London B 485: ABV,

p. 90, no. 4; P. Cloch, Les classes, les mtiers, le trafic,
Paris, 1931, pl. 38, 3), the donkey cart on the unattributed
band-cup Louvre F 77 {supra, n. 13), the mule cart on

an amphora by the Swing Painter (Baltimore 48.2127:
Para., p. 134, no. 33 bis-, E. Bhr, Der Schaukelmaler,
Mainz, 1982, pl. 63), and two donkey carts on a skyphos

by the Theseus Painter once in the Robinson collection
(C. H. E. Haspels, Attic Black-figured Lekythoi , Paris,
1936, p. 250, no. 31; CVA, Robinson Collection, 1, pl. 22,
2 and pl. 23). The Amasis Painter, on his New York
lekythos {supra, n. 6), is more precise and clearly shows
the draft pole passing behind the side rail as it runs from
the front of the cart to the animals' yoke. On one of the
terracotta plaques from Metapontum {supra, n. 17,
fig. 328), the draft pole, as it emerges from the front of
the cart, is clearly shown as an element separate from the
side rail. As the artist has depicted it, the draft pole lies
behind the side rail, as it would on an actual cart of this
kind. On the "Chalcidian" neck-amphora London B 17
{supra, n. 14), there are several protrusions at the rear of
the cart, and one of them may be meant to be the back
end of the draft pole. J. H. Crouwel {op. cit. [supra, n. 6],
p. 90-1) has recently noted that the draft pole appears to
protrude from the rear of the vehicle in some Bronze Age
depictions of chariots, and he also lists several later
examples. The front of the cart is not completely preserved

on the Boston amphora, but enough is preserved to suggest
that the painter, while careful to show the back end of the
draft pole, omitted the front end, which one would
expect to see emerging from the cart and then disappearing behind the near mule.
19. The first and fourth ropes are clearly visible, and
one can see that the first one passes round the underside
and one of the ropes forming the "X" actually overlap
20. At first glance, the patterned bands might seem to

represent the planking of the side of the cart. The bands
do not, however, form unbroken lines from back to front,
rather they are staggered slightly from amphora to
amphora. There is a similar but more ornate patterned
band round the amphora in front of Dionysos on Munich 8763 by the Amasis Painter: Para., p. 65; Beazley
Addenda, p. 19; von Bothmer 1985, op. cit. {supra, n. 6),
p. 79-80, no. 4; detail showing amphora, p. 80.
The upper bodies of the amphorae in the Boston cart
are not much different from those of several amphorae
depicted on contemporary vases. See, e.g., the large
amphora, on one side of Brussels R 279 by the Princeton
Painter {ABV, p. 299, no. 20; Bhr, op. cit. {supra, n. 18),
pls. 166-7), the two big amphorae on Altenburg 189 by
the Painter of Berlin 1686 {Para., p. 129, no. 17 quater;
CVA, Altenburg , 1, pls. 15-6) and the somewhat smaller
vessel on Munich 8763 (see above) by the Amasis Painter.
The scenes on Brussels R 279 are usually thought to be
of an oil sale, but it seems just as likely that wine is
being sold. One side of the Altenburg vase may show the
sale of wine. The amphora on Munich 8763 is probably
a wine vessel.
C. G. Koehler remarks upon the difficulty of associating

depictions of amphorae with known contemporary vessels
in Handling of Greek Transport Amphoras, Recherches
sur les amphores grecques, BCH, Supp. 13, Paris- Athnes,
1986, p. 50.
21. The lowest decorative band on each vessel would
then belong to its separate stand, while the upper bands

serve as the ornamentation of the amphorae themselves.
Amphorae in stands placed in carts appear on two other
vases. Two amphorae rest in stands in the donkey cart
on the unattributed band-cup, Louvre F 77 {supra,
n. 13). Four amphorae are placed in stands in a cart on
the Kabeiric skyphos, Athens, National Museum 10429
(P. Wolters and G. Bruns, Das Kabirenheiligtum bei
Theben, I, Berlin, 1940, p. 98, K9; pls. 10, 11 and 44, 4;
K. Braun and T. E. Haevernick, Das Kabirenheiligtum
bei Theben, IV, Bemalte Keramik und Glas aus dem Kabi-
renheiligtum bei Theben, Berlin, 1981, p. 63, no. 303).
The stands are partly made up of cross-hatching, which is

meant to suggest wicker or wood. Lorimer, loc. cit. {supra,
The mouths of several of the amphorae are partly preserved, and three of them are
carefully closed with conical-shaped mounds of added white. These white mounds are the
plaster caps which serve as the outermost seals on the amphorae, rather than the actual
stoppers.22 The contents of the amphorae are clearly valuable, and the presence of the
ithyphallic mule, usually associated with Dionysos or satyrs and wine, makes it probable
that the vessels are filled with wine.23
The subjects of the two panels on the Boston amphora can be described, quite simply,
as a mule cart and a supplication scene. The scene on side A, with its detailed depiction
of the mule cart, could be interpreted as an illustration of everyday commercial activity.
n. 14), p. 138) proposed that the cross-hatching rep-
resented the cart's wickerwork sides, but since the
pattern is not continuous and unbroken, it surely is

meant to describe the vessels' stands. Amphorae placed
in stands often appear in scenes of commercial transactions.
On Brussels R 279 by the Princeton Painter (supra, n. 20),
a stand, perhaps of wood or wicker, supports a large

pointed amphora. A young man in a wineshop dips his
sponge in a large amphora, which has been placed in a
stand, on a stemless cup by Douris (once Cambridge,
Massachusetts, Rosenberg: ARV2, p. 445, no. 252;

Beazley Addenda , p. 118; D. M. Buitrn, Attic Vase
Painting in New England Collections , Cambridge, Mass.,
I972> P io2-3j no- 54> and frontispiece; lately on the
New York market: Sotheby's, 30 May 1986, no. 19. I
thank Mary R. McGettigan for the last reference). Three
large amphorae are placed in low spreading stands on a
red-figured oinochoe from Athens (Agora P 10408;
C. G. Boulter, Graves in Lenormant Street, Athens,

Hesperia , 32, 1963, p. 131-2, no. 13; pl. 49). The scene
probably also takes place in a wineshop. A smaller amphora
sits in a taller stand on the interior of a cup by Phintias
which seems to show a youth in a shop: Baltimore, Johns
Hopkins University, B4; ARV 2, p. 24, no. 14; Para.,
p. 323; E. R. Williams, The Archaeological Collection of
the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1984, p. 139-41,

no. 102. A large, low stand with spreading base, which
is closest to those on the oinochoe Agora P 10408, has
been found in the Agora (P 159 14; B. A. Sparkes and
L. Talcott, Pots and Pans of Classical Athens, Princeton,
1961, fig. 13; V. R. Grace, Amphoras and the Ancient
Wine Trade, Princeton, 1979, fig. 6).
Amphora stands may also appear in komos scenes. A
low stand supporting an amphora is depicted on the
interior of a cup by the Providence Painter (Heidelberg 57/8: ARV2, p. 644, no. 132; p. 1663; Para., p. 400,
no. 132; Beazley Addenda, p. 134; R. Hampe et al.,
Neuerwerbungen. 1957-1970. Katalog der Sammlung antiker
Kleinkunst des archologischen Instituts der Universitt Heidelberg, Mainz, 197 1, pl. 50; E. IIa7rouTCT>t7]-Sep^.7rT7].
O coypcpo tyj Providence, Athens, 1983, p. 178-9,

no. 159). The youth who stands beside the amphora and
stand is clearly a serving-boy. A rather taller, more elegant
woven stand of some kind on a column-krater by the
Agrigento Painter from Camarina (Syracuse; ARV2,

p. 575, no. 28; P. Orsi, Camarina. Campagne archeologiche del 1899 e 1903. Mon. Ant., 14, 1904, pl. 53).
22. The stoppers can be compared to those on the bandcup Louvre F 77 (supra, n. 13; see also, CV A, Louvre, 9,
III Hep. 70), which are similar in shape and color and
are probably also meant to be plaster. For amphora
stoppers, see C. Smith, Amphora-stopping from Tarentum, JHS, 4, 1883, p. 158-61; V. Grace, Standard Pottery
Containers of the Ancient Greek World, in Commemorative Studies in Honor of Theodore Leslie Shear, Hesperia,
Supp. 8, Baltimore, 1949, p. 175; and Koehler, loc. cit.

(supra, n. 20), p. 52-6. The little mounds of white on the
Boston amphora and Louvre F 77 closely resemble the
plaster cap on a reused Chian amphora, with cartouches
of Amasis, found at Tell Defenneh. The amphora was
actually closed with a clay bung held in place by string,
and the capping of plaster formed the outermost seal,
which prevented undetected pilferage. See W. H. Flinders
Petrie, Tanis, II, London, 1888, p. 72 and pl. 36, 5, and
J. Boardman, The Greeks Overseas, 3rd ed., London,
1980, fig. 152. The amphorae on Louvre F 77 are usually
thought to contain seed, since the other scenes on the
vase are illustrations of sowing and plowing.

The practice of stoppering wine containers with plaster
was still known in Greece in the early eighteenth century.
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort records that on the island of
Melos, wine-makers place the must in wooden casks or

in earthenware jars, and that "after the Wine has sufficiently work'd, they stop up the Vessels with Plaster".
See A Voyage into the Levant, London, 1718, I, p. 125,
quoted in C. Seltman, Wine in the Ancient World, London,

I957> P. 77.
23. An ithyphallic mule or donkey is usually Hephaistos'

mount in Return of Hephaistos scenes. Dionysos naturally
often appears in such scenes, and his presence is certainly
implied even when he is physically absent. For the Return
of Hephaistos, see, most recently, T. H. Carpenter,
Dionysian Imagery in Archaic Greek Art. Its Development
in Black-Figure Vase-Painting , Oxford, 1986, p. 13-29.
stand appears among the komasts on the exterior of a

cup attributed to the Proto-Panaetian Group (Brussels
For representations of Dionysos on an ithyphallic mule or

donkey, see Carpenter, p. 26-7. For wine and ithyphallic
Gutter Well. A Late Archaic Deposit in the Athenian

Agora, Hesperia, 55, 1986, pl. 16). An amphora rests in a
AAAN in Antidoron. Festschrift fr Jrgen Thimme,

Karlsruhe, 1983, p. 61-5.
A 723; ARV2, p. 317, no. 15; S. R. Roberts, The Stoa
donkeys, see H. Hoffmann, TBPIN OP0IAN KN2-
12 Ann Blair Brownlee
It might, for example, show a farm cart with its cargo of wine-filled amphorae brought
in from the country by the owner/driver and his slave in order to sell the goods in the city ;
the men with spears standing alongside the mules might then be city officials of some kind.
The very profusion of circumstantial detail, however, together with this curious juxtaposition
of the cart and the armed pair, suggests a narrative element that goes far beyond what
might be expected in a simple genre scene. The interpretation of side B is made difficult
by the absence both of inscriptions that make sense and of diagnostic attributes of the
various figures. It is, however, certain that the scene is one of supplication, which is less
likely to be taken from everyday life than to be heroic or mythological in inspiration.24
The scene on side B also has a tension, an emotional charge, wihch is again out of character
in a genre story.
Several clues strongly suggest that the two scenes are indeed heroic in theme and
are meant to be seen as parts of a single story. That figures on both sides wear fillets and
long, richly decorated garments and carry spears provides both visual and thematic connec-
tions between the two sides of the amphora. The combination of the spears, which are
not accompanied by other elements of armor, and the elaborate clothing would seem to
identify the characters as heroic, although emphatically not in battle. The profusion of
inscriptions - albeit nonsense ones - also gives a heroic flavor to the scenes. Finally, the
faces of several figures can only be described as distinctive and individualized: the cart
driver on side A with his long, hooked nose, the man with the large nose and the sorrowful
expression who stands second from the left on side B, and the small man with the narrow
eye who supplicates the large man on side B.25 It is as though these men were meant to be
identified as specific characters in a story. Surely, the two scenes should be regarded as
heroic in inspiration and as thematically related. The combination of a cargo of goods and a
scene of supplication suggests a ransom: a load of goods, on side A, is being brought in

by the small man on side B to help him win a favor from the larger figure he entreats. The
most famous tale of ransom in Greek literature and art is, of course, the ransom of Hector.
The story of the ransom of Hector is preserved in Book 24 of the Iliad . The gods,
unhappy with Achilles' treatment of the body of Hector, dispatch Thetis to tell her son to
relinquish the corpse. At the same time, Iris is sent to Priam, and she urges him to take a
rich ransom down to the ships of the Achaeans to win back his son's body from Achilles.
Priam is accompanied only by the old herald Idaios, who will drive the mule cart which
will carry the ransom to Achilles and will bear Hector's body back to Troy. Priam obeys,
24. The gesture of touching the chin is well known
in art and literature as a sign of entreaty or supplication.

See G. Neumann, Gesten und Gebrden in der griechischen
Kunst , Berlin, 1965, p. 67-72, esp. p. 70.
25. The small man's eye is narrow and almond-shaped

and is strikingly different from the large, round eyes of
the other figures. The white of his eye is also completely
incised, leaving the pupil as a small black bead.
and he chooses the goods for the ransom himself: garments, blankets, gold, tripods, cauldrons, and a goblet. His sons bring out
[xaâv aeipav uTpoôv y](jliovy)v
x<xXy)v 7rpc0T07raYea, 7repLv0a 8 Syjcocv biz auTYj.
. . . the easily running wagon for mules, a fine thing new-fabricated, and
fastened the carrying basket upon it.26
The preparation of the cart is described carefully, if slightly ambiguously, and when the
vehicle is ready, it is loaded with the ransom.27 Priam's sons
e <xv S' 7)(juvou xpaTepcovuôc vTeaispyo,
to p 7TOTS IIpi(jiG> Mu(Tol Saav yXa Scopa.
. . . then yoked the powerful-footed mules who pulled in the harness

and whom the Mysians gave once as glorious presents to Priam.28
The old herald Idaios leads the way in the mule cart, while Priam follows in his own
chariot. Zeus takes pity on Priam and sends Hermes to guide the old man and to make
certain that the Achaeans do not see him until he reaches Achilles. Hermes joins Priam
and Idaios when they stop to water their mules and horses at the river and takes up the
reins of Priam's chariot. The trio approaches the Achaean camp and slips by the sentries,
whom Hermes has caused to fall asleep. Once inside Achilles' compound, Hermes departs,
and Priam enters Achilles' shelter alone, while Idaios stays with the mules and horses.
Achilles has just finished his meal when Priam appears and takes hold of the hero's knees
and kisses his hands. Priam entreats Achilles to accept the ransom and to return Hector's
body to him. The old man and the hero weep and mourn together for their own losses, and
then Priam asks again for his son's body. Finally, the mules and horses are unharnessed,
and the ransom is unloaded. Hector's body is washed and anointed, and Achilles himself
helps to place it in the mule cart. Although a place is made on the porch of the shelter for
Priam and Idaios to sleep, Hermes soon comes to them, saying they must flee. The god
26. II. 24.266-7. The translation used here and below
is: The Iliad of Homer , trans. R. Lattimore, Chicago, 195 1.
27. The entire passage is II. 24 . 268-74. Fr various interpretations of the details of this passage, see A. J. B. Wace
Weapons , Edinburgh, 1964, p. 160-3, and id., The Dark

Age of Greece , Edinburgh, 1971, p. 432-3. There are
models of four-wheeled vehicles from two sixth-century
tombs at Sindos: see SIN AOL (supra, n. 15), p. 183-5,
and F. H. Stubbings, eds., A Companion to Homer , New

York, 1963, p. 539-41; The Iliadi ed. W. Leaf, 2nd ed.,
Amsterdam 1971 [reprint of 1900-02 edition], II, p. 623-
no. 295 (inv. no. 8646) and p. 272-3, no. 443 (inv. no. 8636).
Four-wheeled wagons do not appear in black-figure,
Homrica , I, F, Gttingen, 1968, p. F7-F10. See also

Crouwel, op. cit. (supra, n. 6), p. 98, n. 5.
amphorae in the carts on the Boston vase and on the band-
29; and J. Wiesner, Fahren und Reiten. Archaeologia
Priam's cart is TSTpxuxXo (II. 24.324), and the
vehicle described by Hesiod (Op. 423-31) may also have

had four wheels. See, most recently, N. J. Richardson
and S. Piggott, Hesiod's Wagon: Text and Technology,
JHS , 102, 1982, p. 225-9. For the four-wheeled vehicles
in Homer, see Wiesner, op. cit ., p. F5-F6. There appear
to be representations of four-wheeled vehicles on Geometric vases, although this interpretation is open to
dispute. See A. M. Snodgrass, Early Greek Armour and
however. All kinds of cargo - goods, passengers, even a

corpse - are carried in two-wheeled carts. There are
cup Louvre F 77 (supra, n. 13), and passengers in the

vehicles on the Amasis Painter's lekythos (supra, n. 6)
and on an oinochoe attributed to the Burgon Group
(London B 485: supra, n. 18). A corpse is carried by a mule
cart on a one-handled kantharos in Paris (Cabinet des
Mdailles 355: ABV, p. 346, no. 8 [Class of the OneHandled Kantharoi]; Beazley Addenda, p. 46, no. 8;
CV A, Bibliothque nationale, 2, pl. 72, 2, 4 and 6 and pl. 73,
1-3.
28. II. 24.277-8.
harnesses the mules and horses and drives them out of the Achaean camp. As he had first
joined Priam and Idaios at the river's edge, so now does he depart from them at the ford
across the Xanthos. Hector's body is returned to Troy, and the Iliad ends with his burial.
The literary account of the ransom of Hector has a visual counterpart, for it is well
documented in Attic vase-painting and on bronze reliefs.29 The earliest representations

date to the second quarter of the 6th century bc, and there are two different pictorial versions
of the story. The more common alternative appears first on two vases of ca. 570 bc: a hydria
by the Painter of London B 76 and a Tyrrhenian amphora by the Castellani Painter.30
On both vases, the action recalls Iliad 24, for Achilles, apparently finishing his meal, is
reclining on a dining couch, while Priam approaches from the left, with outstretched hands.
Homer does not place Hector's body in the "room" in which Achilles and Priam first meet;
it lies elsewhere, although apparently nearby. Both vase-painters, however, have shown
Hector's body stretched out along the bottom of the picture, and it becomes an established
element in the iconography. A third piece, a fragment from Naukratis, which also dates to
the second quarter of the sixth century, shows only the lower part of Hector's body and
the legs of a table and couch, but it appears to illustrate the same version as the hydria
and the Tyrrhenian amphora.31 As well established as this first iconographie scheme appears
to be, there exists another tradition at this time. A fragment of a Siana cup (ca. 560 bc) by
the Heidelberg Painter shows Achilles, standing and facing right, being approached by
Priam, who faces left.32 The old man leans on a stick and holds his right hand before the
face of Achilles. Achilles raises his hand in a gesture of acceptance or, perhaps, of welcome.
The scene is very fragmentary, and all that is preserved of Achilles is part of his head and
arm. It is certain, however, that the hero was standing upright, not reclining.
29. For the theme in general, see K. Friis Johansen,
The Iliad in Early Greek Art , Copenhagen, 1967, p. 12738; LIMC, I, p. 147-61; W. Basista, Hektors Lsung,
Boreas i 2, 1979, p. 5-36; R. Lullies, Eine Amphora aus
dem Kreis des Exekias, Ant. Kunst , 7, 1964, p. 82-4;
K. Schefold, Gtter-und Heldensagen der Griechen in der
sptarchaischen Kunst , Munich, 1978, p. 235-8; F. Brommer, Vasenlisten zur griechischen Heldensagen , 3rd ed.,
Marburg, 1973, p. 464-6; D. Kemp-Lindemann, Darstellungen des Achilleus in griechischer und rmischer Kunst ,
Frankfurt, 1975, p. 180-8; B. Fehr, Orientalische und

griechische Gelage , Bonn, 1971, p. 57-9, 79-81. For the
theme on bronze reliefs, see below, n. 33.
30. Hydria, by the Painter of London B 76, Swiss,
private: Para., p. 32, no. 1 bis ; Beazley Addenda , p. 9;

K. Schauenburg, Achilleus in der unteritalischen Vasenmalerei, Bonner Jahrbcher , 161, 1961, p. 225, n. 55 ;
pl. 47, 1-3; see also LIMC , I, p. 149, no. 650, and Basista,
loc. cit. (supra, n. 29), p. 17, no. V 2. "Tyrrhenian"
amphora by the Castellani Painter, Louvre E 843: ABV ,
p. 95, no. 7; Para ., p. 34 and p. 36, no. 7; LIMC , I, p. 149,
no. 647; Basista, loc. cit. (supra, n. 29), p. 17, no. V 1;
Lullies, op. cit. (supra, n. 29), pl. 28, 3-4 (after cleaning).
The two vases are dated to ca. 570 bc.
31. Oxford G 131 .30: CVA , Oxford, 2, III H pl. 2, 18;
Friis Johansen, op. cit. (supra, n. 29), fig. 47; LIMC, I,
p. 149, no. 646; Basista, loc. cit. (supra, n. 29), p. 18, no. V 4.
There is another fragment, once in the University collection, Leipzig, which Beazley called "not far from
'Tyrrhenian' " and whose scenes he identified as "Priam
and Achilles on one side; frontal chariot on the other".
See J. D. Beazley, review of K. Friis Johansen, Iiiaden i
tidlig graesk Kunst, JHS, 54, 1934, p. 85; see also LIMC,
I, p. 149, no. 651, and Basista, loc. cit. (supra, n. 29),
p. 18, no. V 5; and Friis Johansen, op. cit. (supra, n. 29),
p. 267, no. 20c.
32. The fragment (ABV, p. 66, no. 50), which was once
in the Curtius collection and subsequently on the American market, is apparently lost; cf., however, Lullies,
loc. cit. (supra, n. 29), p. 82, n. 5. A drawing of the fragment
is preserved in the Beazley Archive, and there is a very

complete description in Friis Johansen, op. cit. (supra,
n. 29), p. 137-8. See also Basista, loc. cit. (supra, n. 29),
p. 17, no. V 3 and LIMC, I, p. 149, no. 653.
This scheme also appears on a Middle Corinthian
plate once in the Basel market (Palladion Antike Kunst,
Katalog 1976, no. 14; LIMC, I, p. 148, under no. 642).
According to D. A. Amyx (letter 16. vi. 86), however,
"there is some doubt as to the authenticity of the plate",
and I have left it out of consideration here. See also
D. A. Amyx, Corinthian Vase-Painting of the Archaic

Period, Berkeley, 1988, II, p. 634, n. 430.
The Heidelberg Painter's version of the story stands apart from the representations of
the scene on other Attic vases of this period, but it is close to that which appears on a
series of "Argivo- Corinthian" bronze reliefs from the second quarter of the century and
beyond.33 On these reliefs, Achilles, naked and carrying a spear, faces right, while Priam,
who is slightly bent over and leans on a stick, stands to left and touches the chin of Achilles
with his right hand. The old man occupies the center of the composition, flanked by Achilles
on the left and by Hermes, identifiable by his caduceus, on the right. The body of Hector
is stretched out along the bottom of the scene, and his head is at the right, to the right of
his father. These bronze reliefs seem to represent a distinctive Argivo-Corinthian version
of Homer's story. Whatever its origin, this variation with Achilles upright and facing right
and Priam facing left, touching Achilles' chin, was clearly known in Athens by ca. 560 bc,
when the Heidelberg Painter painted his Siana cup. It thus appears at about the same
time as the version which was first used by the Painter of London B 76 and the Castellani
Painter. These two interpretations of the ransom of Hector continue to coexist. In the
third quarter of the sixth century, when the Painter of Munich 1379 was working, the
version with Achilles reclining is seen, for example, on an amphora attributed to Group E.34
The variation with Achilles upright appears on a bronze shield-band relief from the Acropolis
at Athens which is dated to the end of the century.35 The version with Achilles reclining was
to remain the most common, but the other variation was not forgotten or liable to be
misinterpreted.
The painter of the Boston amphora appears to have been well acquainted both with
Homer's text and with the pictorial version with Achilles upright, for his interpretation
of the tale partakes of both. On side A, the mule cart, with its carefully secured cargo, is
driven by a single bearded man, who can be identified as Idaios. The team is guided by
a small man, who seems to be holding the muzzle of the near mule, as though to quiet the
animal, and the cart passes by the two men, who are apparently oblivious to it, as were the
sentries when Priam and Idaios drove into the Achaean camp. On side B, the tiny unarmed
man with the unusual eye is Priam, who is ushered into the presence of the large figure,
who must be Achilles, by two men carrying spears. Achilles, in what may seem contradictory gestures, tucks his spear under his arm with one hand and takes hold of the small
man's clothing with his other. The two men to the left of Achilles are his men, who take a
more active role in the scene than does the pair on the right.
One prominent element of the story of the ransom of Hector, however, is absent in
the depiction on the Boston vase: the body of Hector. The lower part of the panel on side B
33. For the bronze reliefs, see Friis Johansen, op. cit.
(supra, n. 29), p. 49-51; p. 246, nos. ioa-io^; LIMC , I,
p. 148, no. 642; E. Kunze, Archaische Schildbnder ,
Olympische Forschungen, II, Berlin, 1950, p. 145-8. The
two earliest examples are Berlin 8099 (Kunze, op. cit .,
Beilage 11, i and 3; Friis Johansen, op. cit. [supra, n. 29],
fig. 7) and Olympia B 1654 (Kunze, op. cit., Beilage 11,
2 and pl. 19, 8: f and IV /).
34. Kassel T 674: Para., p. 56, no. 31 bis ; Beazley

Addenda, p. 15; Lullies, loc. cit. (supra, n. 29), pls. 26-7.
35. Athens, National Museum 6962: Friis Johansen,
op. cit. (supra, n. 29), p. 246, no. 10e and p. 138; LIMC,
I, p. 148, no. 642; Basista, loc. cit. (supra, n. 29), p. 16,
no. B 5 (illus.); Kunze, op. cit. (supra, n. 33), Beilage 10, 2.
16 Ann Blair Brownee
is not completely preserved, but there was never a corpse stretched out along its full width.
The body of Hector is indeed present in the vase-paintings and on the bronze reliefs. In
Iliad 24, however, the corpse is in another part of Achilles' shelter, and Priam does not
see his son when first he confronts Achilles. The vase-painters introduce the body in their
versions of the story largely for pictorial reasons. They must create tension and interest
through action and juxtaposition. The poet desires the sense of drama and psychological
tension created by Priam's not seeing his son at first.36 The absence of the body on the
Boston amphora actually makes the vase seem closer to the story as it is told in Iliad 24 than
as it is depicted on the other vases.

The scenes on the Boston amphora are also closer to the account in the Iliad in that
the mule cart, which is absent from depictions on other vases, plays such a prominent role.
On the other vases, the scene is always set inside Achilles' shelter. Occasionally, vasepainters may include depictions of the metal objects as a suggestion of the wealth of the
ransom Priam has brought, or they may add extra props or extra figures to intensify the
action or the meaning, but they are primarily concerned with the confrontation between
Priam and Achilles.37
But that the mule cart was always associated with the ransom of Hector may be
demonstrated by examining several later treatments of the story. The cart and Priam's
supplication of Achilles were important elements in Aeschylus' Phrygians or the Ransom
of Hector , which was probably produced in the 490's bc, perhaps as part of a trilogy of
which the other two plays were the Nereids and the Myrmidons .38 Priam probably made his
first entrance in the mule cart which carried the rich ransom, and he was accompanied by
the Trojan chorus.39 In the prologue, Achilles spoke with Hermes, but he sat silent through
the first song of the chorus of Trojans and through Priam's subsequent pleading for Hector's
body. Ultimately, he must have spoken to Priam and given up Hector's body to him.40
Despite the changes Aeschylus has undoubtedly made, his play still contains the two
basic elements of the story of the ransom - the same two elements which appear on the
Boston vase.
At least two of the plays in the Aeschylean trilogy, the Nereids and the Phrygians , are
thought to be represented on a red-figured double-register calyx-krater attributed to Polygnotos.41 The krater is very fragmentary, and what is preserved of the depiction of the
36. See Basista, loc. cit. {supra, n. 29), p. 35-6.
37. See, e.g., an amphora by the Rycrott rainter in
Toledo (72.54; Moon and Berge, op. cit. [supra, n. 4],

p. 1 14-5, no. 65) and a skyphos by the Brygos Painter
(Vienna 3710; ARV 2, p. 380, no. 171; p. 1649; Para.,
i972j P 1965 n. 2 and p. 430; and B. Dhle, Die

"Achilleis" des Aischylos und die attische Vasenmalerei,
Klio , 49, 1967, p. 93-5.
39. Mette 1963, op. ctt. {supra, n. 38), p. 1 19, and Dohle,
loc. cit. {supra, n. 38), p. 94-5.
p. 366, no. 171; Beazley Addenda, p. 112; Friis Johansen,

op. cit. [supra, n. 29], p. 134, fig. 46).
40. O. Taplin, Aeschylean Silences and Silences in

Aeschylus, Harv. St., 76, 1972, p. 75-6.
38. For the fragments of the Phrygians, see H. J. Mette,

Die Fragmente der Tragdien des Aischylos , Berlin, 1959,
p. 86-92. For discussions and reconstructions of the play,
Para., p. 442, no. 33; Beazley Addenda, p. 155. H. Kenner
see H. J. Mette, Der verlorene Aischylos, Berlin, 1963,
p. 118-21; O. Taplin, The Stagecraft of Aeschylus, Oxford,
41. Vienna, University, 505: ARV', p. 1030, no. 33;
(Zur Achilleis des Aischylos, Jh., 33, 194*5 P- i~24)
argues that all three plays are represented on the Vienna

krater. Trendall and Webster {Illustrations of Greek
Phrygians is part of the mule cart. Hedwig Kenner has reconstructed the cart as it would
have been outfitted for returning Hector's body to Troy, rather than for bringing in the
ransom. It is still, however, the mule cart, which appears here as a principal image in the
ransom of Hector.42
In the Roman period, the ransom of Hector continues to be a popular subject, and
there are representations of it in wall painting and stuccowork, on sarcophagi, and on the
reliefs known as the Tabulae Iliacae ,43 The two elements of the story which regularly recur
are the mule cart loaded with the ransom and Priam supplicating Achilles. The Roman
versions that have the most in common with the pictures on the Boston vase appear in two
Pompeian houses and in the Tomb of the Pancratii on the Via Latina in Rome.44 In a
painted frieze in the so-called House of Loreius Tiburtinus, Priam kneels before a seated
Achilles while a servant unloads the ransom from the mule cart on the right of the picture.45
A similarly kneeling Priam occupies the center of a scene which is framed on the right by
the seated Achilles and on the left by the mule cart in a painted and stucco frieze from the
sacrarium in the House of the Cryptoporticus.46 The two elements are present but arranged
in yet a third way on a stucco relief from the Tomb of the Pancratii.47 Clearly, the suppli-
cation and the mule cart with the ransom were regarded as the two images which best
characterized Iliad 24.48
While it is apparent that the loaded mule cart and the supplication on the Boston
amphora have elements in common with the story of the ransom of Hector and that the
painter's version is close to the Homeric account, it is also clear that the Boston amphora
does not provide a simple and straightforward depiction of the two scenes. The mule cart
does not carry a cargo of precious metal objects and garments; it carries wine-filled amphorae.
One of the mules is ithyphallic. Priam is not an old, white-haired man; he is a small figure
with a narrow eye. Achilles is a big man, with a head of red hair, who seems to be roughing
Drama , London, 1971, p. 54-5) accept her identification,

while Y. Bquignon (Un vase du Muse de Vienne
reprsentations homriques, RA, 1945, p. 148-50) rejects
it outright. Taplin (op. cit. [supra, n. 38], p. 196) is
uncertain if the second play, the Myrmidons , is actually
represented on the krater. There are also representations
of the Phrygians or the Ransom of Hector in South Italian
vase-painting. See A. Kossatz-Deissmann, Dramen des
Aischylos auf westgriechischen Vasen, Mainz, 1978, p. 23-32,
and Schauenburg, loc. cit. (supra, n. 30), p. 224-5.

42. For the reconstruction, see Kenner, loc. cit. (supra,
n. 41), fig. 6. Because so little of the upper part of the
cart is preserved, it is very difficult to identify the vehicle's
cargo. I am not certain that the cart is actually set up as

the funeral car, as Kenner suggests, rather than the
vehicle which carried the ransom.
43. For lists of these monuments, seeL/AiC, I, p. 152-8,

V. M. Strocka, Die Wandmalerei der Hanghuser in Ephesos,
Forschungen in Ephesos, VIII, 1, Vienna, 1977, p. 109,

and K. Bulas, Les Illustrations antiques de V Iliade, Lwow,
1929, p. 96-104. For the Tabulae Iliacae, see A. Sadurska,
Les Tables Iliaques , Warsaw, 1964, p. 98, and, most

recently, R. Brilliant, Visual Narratives. Storytelling in
Etruscan and Roman Art, Ithaca, 1984, p. 54-8.
44. So-called House of Loreius Tiburtinus (II.ii.2;
also called House of D. Octavius Quartio): F. Aurigemma,
Tre nuovi cicli di figurazioni ispirate all'Iliade in case
della Via dell'Abbondanza in Pompei, in V. Spinazzola,
Pompei alla luce degli scavi nuovi di Via dell1 Abbondanza
(Anni 19 10-1923), Rome, 1953,11, p. 1002-5, figs. 1043-8.
Sacrarium, House of the Cryptoporticus: Aurigemma, op.
cit., p. 890-6, figs. 888-93. Tomb of the Pancratii:
Aurigemma, op. cit., p. 895, fig. 894. For a recent discussion of the Iliad scenes in the so-called House of
Loreius Tiburtinus and the House of the Cryptoporticus,

see Brilliant, op. cit. (supra, n. 43), p. 62-5.
45. Aurigemma, loc. cit. (supra, n. 44), fig. 1043.
46. Aurigemma, loc. cit. (supra, n. 44), gs. 890-1.
47. Aurigemma, loc, cit. (supra, n. 44), fig. 894.

48. The title traditionally assigned to Iliad 24 is the
Ransom of Hector, "Exxopo XTpa, which is also the
alternative name of Aeschylus' Phrygians.
18 Ann Blair Brown lee
up his supplicant. Something out of the ordinary is going on; it seems more likely that the
panels on the Boston amphora are not decorated with scenes illustrating Iliad 24, but rather
with tableaux from a parody of the ransom of Hector.
The parody shows the enormous mule cart with its carefully secured cargo of wine
amphorae as it passes the Achaean guards unnoticed. The small Priam, in the company of
Achilles' men, some of whom seem to threaten him, entreats the hero, who is behaving a
bit like a bully (and perhaps, given the contents of the amphorae, even a drunken one). It
must be admitted that the story of the ransom of Hector does not seem, at first, to be
particularly promising comic material. Indeed, as it is told in Iliad 24, it is one of the most
moving scenes in the entire poem. But, on the Boston vase, the painter does not describe
those most emotional parts - Achilles and Priam talking to each other as father and son,
Achilles discoursing on the lot of man - rather he concentrates on the elements of the
story which lend themselves to visual gags. The large mule cart makes its way right under
the noses of the Achaean sentries, and it is a cart laden not with precious metal objects and
luxurious woven garments, but with amphorae full of wine. Old Priam is shown as a small
man beseeching the great - even in stature - hero. It has already been noted that some of
the figures have quite distinctive faces, and they may be meant to identify particular charac-
ters in the parody.

Still to be considered is the question of where the idea for this parody of the ransom
of Hector originated. While it is possible that the Painter of Munich 1379 conceived the
idea entirely on his own, it is more probable that his inspiration came from an external
source. The images on the Boston amphora are the painter's version of a comic performance
he had seen and heard.
In 486 BC comedy officially became part of the City Dionysia, and it was probably
added to the Lenaea in the late 440's bc.49 This does not necessarily mean that there were
no comic performances in Athens before 486 bc, and indeed, as K. J. Dover has suggested,
"it may be that humorous dramatic performances were a 'fringe' activity of the Dionysiac
festivals for a long time, perhaps even for centuries, before this official recognition . . ."50
There are numerous representations of comic choruses on vases which are earlier than 486 bc,
and they testify to the existence of some kind of comic performances with choruses, at least,
from the second quarter of the 6th century onwards.51 Among the contemporaries of the
49. See A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, The Dramatic Fes-
50. Dover, op. cit. (supra, n. 49), p. 210.
tivals of Athens , 2nd ed. rev. by J. Gould and D. M. Lewis,
Oxford, 1968, p. 40 and p. 82; Id., Dithyramb , Tragedy

and Comedy , 2nd ed. rev. by T. B. L. Webster, Oxford,
1962, p. 144; and K. J. Dover, Aristophanic Comedy ,
London, 1972, p. 210. It may be, however, that comedy
was actually connected with the Lenaea earlier than its
official association. See J. R. Green, A Representation
of the Birds of Aristophanes, in Greek Vases in the
J. Paul Getty Museum ( Occasional Papers on Antiquities, III), Malibu, 1985, p. 105, n. 7, which refers to
Pickard-Cambridge 1968, op. cit., p. 40. See also PickardCambridge 1962, op. cit., p. 144-5.
51. The scenes on the Heidelberg Painter's Siana cup

Amsterdam 3356 are usually reckoned to be the earliest
certain representations of comic choruses. Amsterdam 3356:
ABV, p. 66, no. 57; Para., p. 27, no. $7; Beazley Addenda,
p. 6; H. A. G. Brijder, A Pre-Dramatic Performance of a
Satyr Chorus by the Heidelberg Painter, Enthousiasmos.
Essays on Greek and Related Pottery Presented to J. M. He-
melrijk , Amsterdam, 1986, p. 69-82. For a thorough,

recent survey of depictions of comic choruses, see Green,
loc. cit. (supra, n. 49), p. 95-118.
Painter of Munich 1379, working in the third quarter of the 6th century, there seems to
have been a particular interest in comic performances, for two of these artists, the Painter
of Berlin 1686 and the Swing Painter, decorated vases with scenes of comic choruses.52
Unfortunately, very little else can be surmised about either the form or the content of these
performances.53 Something is known about the comedies of the Sicilian writer Epicharmos,
who may have been working as early as the late 6th century and was certainly composing
in the first decades of the 5th century.54 A number of his works have plural titles, and
that probably means that they had choruses, and he seems to have been particularly fond
of mythological burlesques.55 Themes from the Trojan War were fair game for Epicharmos;
the Trojans surely had such a subject, and Odysseus was the target of several of his
burlesques.56 There is certainly no literary evidence for organized comedy before Epicharmos
but he does develop a reputation among later writers as an artist who brought together
"various elements into a structure which was sufficiently coherent to be regarded as the
beginning of artistic comedy".57
The literary evidence for 5th-century comedy before Aristophanes is pitifully fragmentary and even the evidence of the work of his contemporaries is surprisingly meager,
but there is some information from these later comic writers which helps to recreate the
character of this parody of the ransom of Hector. An elder contemporary of Aristophanes,
Philonides, wrote a comedy called H 'A^vy) - the Mule-Cart. 58 Nothing more is known
about the work, but its theme could well have been a parody of the ransom of Hector in
which, as on the Boston amphora, the mule cart plays a most prominent role.
The figure of "Achilles" on the Boston amphora is not behaving very nobly and
52. Berlin 1697 {ABV , p. 297, no. 17; Para., p. 128,
no. 17; Beazley Addenda , p. 39), by the Painter of Berlin 1686, is decorated with a chorus of "knights". See
Bohr, op. cit. (. supra , n. 18), pl. 198, and Green, loc. cit.
{supra, n. 49), p. 101, no. 3; fig. 6. There is also a comic
chorus on the Swing Painter's Christchurch 41/57 {Para.,
p. 134, no. 31 bis; Beazley Addenda, p. 40; Bhr, op. cit.
{supra, n. 18), pl. 56; Green, loc. cit. {supra, n. 49), p. 100-1,
fig. 7-
53. And Dover {op. cit. [supra, n. 49], p. 219) cautions:

"We cannot, of course, assume that the performances
depicted on the vases were integrated with humorous
dialogue in the manner familiar to us from extant comedy."
54. For Epicharmos, see Pickard-Cambridge 1962, op.

cit. {supra, n. 49), p. 230-90, and L. Berk, Epicharmus,
Groningen, 1964. Epicharmos is known to have worked
in Syracuse during the reigns of Gelon (484-478 bc)
and Hieron (478-467 bc), and he may have been from
Syracuse. It is difficult to assess his relationship to Attic
comedy; see Dover, op. cit. {supra, n. 49), p. 220, and
Pickard-Cambridge 1962, op. cit. {supra, n. 49), p. 285-7.
55. For the question of choruses in Epicharmos, see
Pickard-Cambridge 1962, op. cit. {supra, n. 49), p. 278-80,
and Dover, op. cit. {supra, n. 49), p. 220.
56. Two fragments of the Trojans are preserved, but

the precise subject of the play cannot be determined from
them. One of the fragments "may be reminiscent of

Homer; the second seems to be a proverb" (PickardCambridge, 1962, op. cit. [supra, n. 49], p. 259). For the
text of the fragments, see G. Kaibel, Comicorum graecorum
fragmenta, Berlin, 1899, P IX55 frr- I30-ij and
A. Olivieri. Frammenti della Commedia greca e del mimo
nella Sicilia e nella Magna Grecia, Naples, 1946-7, I,

frr. 76-7, p. 49. Again, the plural title probably means
the play had a chorus, in this case, a chorus of Trojans.
Odysseus played a leading role in Epicharmos' comedies
Odysseus Automolos, Odysseus Nauagos, Sirens, Philoctetes,
and Cyclops. See Pickard-Cambridge 1962, op. cit. {supra,

n. 49), p. 255-9.
57. Pickard-Cambridge 1962, op. cit. {supra, n. 49),
p. 276. Pickard-Cambridge is here referring particularly

to an anonymous ancient writer who records that Epicharmos "first recovered the scattered fragments of
comedy and made many artistic additions... In his poetry
he was full of maxims, original and artistic". See PickardCambridge 1962, op. cit. {supra, n. 49), p. 230-1, 297.
58. See A. Meineke, Fragmenta comicorum graecorum,
I, Berlin, 1839, p. 102-4; T. Kock, Comicorum atticorum
fragmenta, Utrecht, 1976 [reprint of 1 880-1 888 edition],
I, p. 254; A. Krte, s.v. "Philonides" in RE, XX, 1
(1941) 62.
might well be described as driving a hard bargain. The hero is referred to in exactly such
terms in the Tragedians , a comedy by Phrynichos, who is also Aristophanes' contemporary:
"You're a hard bargainer; Achilles drove no harder".59 It is easy to imagine that the large
country cart pulled by mules and the hard-bargaining Achilles were two of the principal
elements of humor in the parody, and it is these two elements which the painter of the
Boston amphora has put on his vase.

Phrynichos' description of Achilles as a hard bargainer is related to what must have
have been another aspect of the parody's humor. The scene with the mule cart appears
at first to depict an everyday commercial transaction, and indeed, that is also part of its
humor. Priam's cartload of priceless objects brought as his son's ransom has been transformed here into a cargo of wine-filled amphorae brought for sale, and Priam himself has
become a merchant trying to make a deal with the shrewd-trading Achilles. The high
tone of epic is parodied through its translation into the low life of the everyday. It may also
be that this metaphor of daily commerce explains the meaning of the long shaft that the
sad-looking man, second from the left on side B, holds with a peculiar grip - with his thumb
on top of the shaft. It might be a spear, but it seems too long, and the man does not hold it
properly. It might also be the arm of a scale. Aeschylus' Phrygians ended with the weighing
of Hector's body against the ransom brought by his father, and the comic possibilities of
balancing the hero's corpse against the amphorae filled with wine are obvious.60 Or course,
the balance would not be the small, jeweller's device shown in the weighing of the souls
of heroes, but the large, commercial type used in scenes of the weighing of goods.61
This image of weighing, or, at least the use of the metaphor of daily commerce, calls
59. J. M. Edmonds, The Fragments of Attic Comedy i I,
Leiden, 1957 [reprint], p. 466-7, n. 52. See also Meineke,
op. cit. {supra, n. 58), I, p. 147-60; Kock, op. cit. {supra,
n. 58), I, p. 383, no. 52; and A. Krte, s.v. "Phrynichos" (7)
in RE , XX, i (1941) 918-20. 1 am indebted to A. A. Donohue for the reference to the Tragedians.
60. For the reconstruction of the end of the Phrygians ,
see Dhle, loc. cit. {supra, n. 38), p. 95 and Mette 1963,

op. cit. {supra, n. 38), p. 120. The weighing of Hector's
body against the ransom is not often depicted. The
examples include: a Melian relief in Toronto (Royal
Ontario Museum, 926.23; Trendall and Webster, op. cit.
[supra, n. 41], p. 56-7; Kossatz-Deissmann, op. cit. [supra,
n. 41], p. 24-24), a Roman silver cup in Paris (Cabinet
des Mdailles; LIMC, I, p. 154-5, no. 688; pl. 127), and
an Apulian volute-krater in Leningrad (Hermitage 1718
[St. 422]; LIMC, I, p. 151, no. 664; pl. 125; KossatzDeissmann, op. cit. {supra, n. 41), p. 25, K4; pl. 2, 2.
Aeschylus is generaiiy credited with bringing the two
parts of the story together for the purpose of intensifying
the drama, but they may have been part of the parody
as it is depicted on the Boston vase. Again, one might
think of the potential comic possibilities, particularly
the visual gags. As Priam comes to supplicate Achilles,
already one of the supernumeraries has come forward
with the scales, ready to pile on the gold to equal the
weight of the great Hector. But, of course, in the parody,
Hector's body will be weighed against wine amphorae.

The balance is associated twice with Hector in Iliad 22.
When he and Achilles are locked in their final combat,
Zeus weighs them in a golden balance and Hector is the

loser (22.209-13). And as Achilles is about to deliver the
final blow to Hector, he tells the Trojan hero that nothing
can save him now, even his bulk in gold weighed out by
Priam (22.351-2).
61. For large balances, see, e.g., the Taleides Painter
amphora in New York (47. 11. 5; ABV, p. 174, no. 1;
p. 688; Para., p. 72, no. 1; Beazley Addenda, p. 22;
CVA, New York, 3, pl. 11), the Lakonian cup by the
Arkesilas Painter, with King Arkesilas of Cyrene and the
weighing of silphium (Cabinet des Mdailles 189;
C. Stibbe, Lakonische Vasenmaler, Amsterdam, 1972,
p. 278, no. 194; pls. 61-2; E. Simon, Die griechischen
Vasen, Munich, 1981, pl. XV), and an oinochoe by the
Keyside Class (Vienna 1105; ABV, p. 426, no. 4; Gtter.
Heroen. Menschen. Antikes Leben im Spiegel der Kunst,
Vienna, 1974, p. 69, no. 212; pl. 35). These balances all
have arms which are thicker in the middle, whereas the
object on the Boston vase has a consistent thickness. For

the smaller balance used in scenes of the Psychostasia,
see, e.g., the top of the mouth of the dinos Vienna 3619
by the Painter of the Vatican Mourner {ABV, p. 140,
no. 3; Beazley Addenda, p. 16; LIMC, I, p. 173, no. 799;
pl. 135)-
to mind the last phase of the contest between Aeschylus and Euripides in Aristophanes'
Frogs . An exasperated Dionysos, trying to determine which poet he should take back to
Athens from the Underworld, decides to weigh the verses of the two poets in a balance.
The god says to his two contestants :
te Seup vuv, e7rep ye Sei xa tout [jls
vSpV 7UOL7]TCV TUp07tG)XYj<Jai, TS^V/jV.
Bring out the scales then, if my duty is to judge two master poets like a
grocer selling cheese.62
The verses go into the pans of the balance, and the pan which "contains" Aeschylus' verse
eS7TpXi. 7TOTa(JL oUVOfJLOl T ZniGT:pO(p(X.l
"River Spercheios with your cattle-pastures near"63
falls, while the pan with Euripides'

Vi0s ccpeX' 'Apyo [jltj Si>a7TTar0ai, axcpo
"I wish the Argo's hull had never winged her way" rises.64
Dionysos chides Euripides - his personal favorite - for putting wings on his verse, while
Aeschylus
L(70Y)X 7COTOCfXV, pL07rG)XlXto
ypv 7TOl,7](Ja TOU7TO &G7Zp Tap ta.
. . . put a river in [his], the wool-merchant's trick, and soaked his words
in water as they do their wool.65
Wool merchants and wine merchants, cheese sellers and mule carts - it was all part of the
fun that the Painter of Munich 1379 has captured on the panels of the Boston amphora.
Ann Blair Brownlee,
Art Department ,
Rutgers University , New Jersey.
62. Ran. 1368-69. The translations used here and below

are taken from: R. Lattimore, trans., Aristophanes. The
Frogs , Ann Arbor, 1962.
63. Ran. 1383.
64. Ran. 1382.
65. Ran. 1386-7. The contest is commonly compared

to, and said to be a parody of the weighing of the souls
of Achilles and Memnon in Aeschylus' Psychostasia. It
may also be meant to recall the last scene in the Phrygians ,
in which the body of Hector is weighed against the gold

brought by Priam. That connection would lend an
additional element of humor to another of Aeschylus'
verses: cp" pfjuxTo yp &P[ol xa vexpw vexp,'

("Chariot piled upon chariot and corpse upon corpse",
Ran. 1403). The line is from Aeschylus' Glaukos Potnieus'

see Aristophanes. The Frogs , ed. W. B. Stanford, 2nd ed.,
London, 1963, p. 192. See also Mette 1959, op. cit. ( supra ,
n. 38), fr. 446^. For Glaukos Potnieus , see Mette 1963,
op. cit. (supra, n. 38), p. 7-10.

A Black-Figure Parody of The Ransom of Hector

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A Black-Figure Parody of The Ransom of Hector

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A BLACK-FIGURE PARODY

OF THE RANSOM OF HECTOR

Boston , 1979-80, p. 40. Height 37.5-38.8 cm, max.

the rays from the black lower body. On the outside of

the foot, a red line. Underside of the foot reserved.

Above each panel, a palmette-lotus festoon with twelve

2. The Painter of Munich 1379: Munich 1379 ( ABV ,

elements on side A and eleven on side B. Palmette cores

on the right side of B; the area under the handle and

the missing portions of the lower body have not been

restored in plaster, the amphora stands crookedly, and the

I would like to thank D. A. Amyx, H. A. G. Bri j der,

3. The figure of Zeus on side A of Munich 1379

forehead hair is like that of 5 on side B. The mouth and

close to those on Munich 1379. The same letters are

Rev. arch., 1/1989

4 Ann Blair Br own lee

Painter cannot be easily defined.5

4. Oxford 1965 . 141: ABV , p. 299, no. 15 Paralipomena ,

p. 130, no. 1; Beazley Addenda , p. 39; CVA , Oxford , 3,

pl. 31, 2 and pl. 32, 3 and 4; Louvre F 5: ABV , p. 300,

5. In Paralipomena (p. 130, no. 1), Beazley compared

Munich , i (p. 11), might have been correct in assigning

Louvre F 5. See ABV, p. 300, no. 13, and p. 303, no. 3,

and Beazley, review of CVA , Munich , 1, JHS , 59, 1939,

p. 305. Beazley also compared the Princeton Painter's

Tarquinia 624 to Munich 1373 (. supra , n. 2) by the Painter

of Munich 1379. Tarquinia 624: Para.y p. 130, no. 15 bis;

For a recent study of the Princeton Painter and his

to the manner of the Princeton Painter, was one of six vases

which Beazley had previously grouped together on account

Mdailles 207, Berlin 1697, Washington 136415 and

which has been attributed to the Painter of Berlin 1686,

is also clearly related to Boston 1979.618 and to the

the horse in height, uniformity of coat color, shape of

ins and P. Hutchins, The Definitive Donkey, A Textbook

more or less the same size and with or without white

muzzles and bellies. Mules, however, are usually depicted

are shown with tufted tails, and the treatment of the

tails is the surest way to distinguish between the two

[color plate]), the first cart is pulled by donkeys, the

three amphorae attributed to the Painter of Munich 1379

tease mares in heat and to accustom them to being

6. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a

his semen is not fertile. See Hutchins and Hutchins,

head, long ears, thin limbs, and small hooves; it resembles

a young uncastrated male mule is sometimes used to

served by a donkey-like creature. While the young mule

may cover a mare, he cannot get her in foal, because

A Parody of the Ransom of Hector 5

6 Ann Blair Br own lee

7. The small stature of the man and his position at

schaften und der Literatur , Mainz. Abhandlungen der

(Para., p. 65; Beazley Addenda, p. 19; von Bothmer 1985,

right hand, which holds the spear, are visible beneath

the tip of his beard. The nearly vertical object between

9. Added color. Red: hair and beard of 1 and 3, beard

of 4, fillet of 2, panels, centers of rosettes, folds, and dots

on drapery of 1, 2, and 3, garment and hat of 4, stripes

il. Added color. Red: beards of all the figures, hair

A Parody of the Ransom of Hector 7

3. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 1979.618. Side A. Detail of panel.

4. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 1979.618. Side B. Detail of panel.