Author Description

Greek myth-makers crafted the downfall of Troy and its rulers into an archetypal illustration of ruthless conquest, deceit, crime and punishment, and the variability of human fortunes. This book examines the major episodes in the archetypal myth--the murder of Priam, the rape of Kassandra, the reunion of Helen and Menelaos, and the escape of Alnelas--as witnessed in Archaic Greek epic, fifth-century Athenian drama, and Athenian black- and red-figure vase painting. It focuses in particular on the narrative artistry with which poets and painters balanced these episodes with one another and interwtined them with other chapters in the story of Troy.