AchillesANCIENT

AchillesANCIENT_Exekias

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OGCMA s.v. "Achilles"

Exekias, "Achilles and Ajax Playing a Board Game", ca. 535 B.C.

Black-figure amphora depicting Achilles and Ajax playing a board game, with ornate handles and patterns

This is a common theme in Greek art, but if there was a literary source behind it, we have lost it. Achilles and Ajax are taking a break from the fight. The inscription tells us that Achilles (on the left) is beating Ajax 4–3 at whatever game they are playing.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1400 – 1990’s, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.