The young men are not heroes of legend with their finely detailed features, they are given personality and character, but they could be any of the youthful soldiers in the Greek army. The other scene, of the anonymous youths preparing for war, is both more general and explicitly contemporary. The death of Sarpedon, a quasi-mythological story which would be familiar to anyone viewing the krater, is an episode involving specific historical and mythological figures.
The scene of the anonymous Greek youths on the reverse shares this naturalistic style, using all the Pioneer Group's characteristic techniques of anatomical accuracy, natural poses, foreshortening, and spatial illusion.Īlso characteristic of the Pioneer Group is the narrative tension created both by pairing these two scenes on the same piece, and by painting them in a common style. This style is emblematic of the Pioneer Group of late Archaic painters, of whom Euphronios is considered the most accomplished. While the subject of Sarpedon's death might normally be depicted as a stylized tableau, the figures in this scene are painted in naturalistic poses and with schematic but accurate anatomy. In the scene of Sarpedon's death, the god Hermes directs the personifications of Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos) to carry the fallen away to his homeland for burial. The reverse of the krater shows a contemporary scene of Athenian youths from the sixth century BC arming themselves before battle. An episode from the Trojan War is shown on the obverse this illustration depicts the death of Sarpedon, son of Zeus and Laodamia.
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