Chapter 19 Closer Look 5: The Funeral of Patroclus

Morford 11e Chapter 19 Image 19.12

The Funeral of Patroclus

The Funeral of Patroclus. Apulian red-figure krater by the Darius painter, ca. 330 B.C.; height 56 in. In the central panel is the pyre with Hector’s spoils (originally Achilles’ armor worn by Patroclus) on it. To its left Achilles holds a Trojan prisoner by her hair before running her through with his sword: three other bound prisoners to the left await the same fate. To the right of the pyre, Agamemnon pours a libation. In the lower panel the charioteer of Achilles, Automedon, prepares to drag the corpse of Hector behind the four-horse chariot around the tomb of Patroclus. In the upper register of the central panel, the old warriors Nestor (seated) and Phoenix converse in a tent.

Source: Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali/Art Resource, NY

Questions to Consider

1.Despite the proliferation of figures on this vase, they are all, even the missing Patroclus, bound together by their connection to the figure closest to the center of the krater: Achilles himself, and in particular Achilles’ story as it is told in Homer’s Iliad. Consider the figures mentioned in the caption, as well as any others you may be able to identify (a pair of gods on the right of the top panel should be recognizable by what they are wearing or carrying), or else whose identity, like the goddess (?) who holds one of the poles of the tent in the top panel, may be reasonably guessed at from context. Taken together, how might the painter’s depictions of these particular figures represent the important stages of Achilles’ story in the Iliad, from the opening quarrel to the funerals of Patroclus and Hector?

2.The work of the Darius painter, here and elsewhere, is marked by a high degree of variation. Notice, for example, that while the three Trojan prisoners to the left of Achilles share a certain “look,” a style of dress that distinguishes them from the other figures on the krater, the details of each of their outfits are different. This pattern of similarity and difference is evident elsewhere on the vase, and not just in the carefully rendered clothing. Look carefully at the objects, actions, postures, and even faces of the many figures here: where else can you see this pattern of variation-in-similarity? Which figures, on the other hand, are very distinct in their representation, looking like no one else? Is there a definable relationship here between the manner of the figures’ visual representation and their importance or status in Homer’s Iliad?