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The Trojan Horse facts and figures - Classical Studies 2010 NCEA Level 2
Terms in this set [34]
Date
Unknown
Location found
Unknown
Location now
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
Size
39cm heigh by 62cm width
The painting is thought to be originally part of what style wall? Why?
Fourth. Because of it's small size and advanced impressionistic technique.
Where is the action taking place? Why do we know this?
Inside the walls of Troy. Because the city walls are painted very faintly in the background.
Interpretation that all three figures with animated movements are dancing
This adds to the feeling of tension and contrasts with the sombre nature of the onlookers. They illustrate the short lived jubilation felt by the Trojans at the victory over the Greeks. But the quiet statuesque onlookers of women and children put this into perspective.
Second interpretation of three figure with animated movements.
One is dancing, one is praying and one is running away.
If the man is running away...
it is an attempt to suggest the terror of what will happen
the myth
the greeks have departed and left a 'gift' for the trojans, a huge wooden horse - an offering to Minerva. the greeks had merely sailed to a nearby island where they remained hidden and a number of greeks hid away inside the giant horse. they waited until the trojans were asleep then lowered themselves from the belly of the horse and opened the gates of troy for the greek army to enter. they destroyed troy.
Why would this scene would be well known to Pompeians?
from the writings of Virgil in his epic Latin poem The Aeneid. Book 2 from the Aeneid gives the best description from antiquity of this part of the myth. It would have been very relevant in that according the mythology, the fall of troy lead to the flight of Aeneas and so to the foundation of the Roman people.
Who tried to warn of the impending doom should the horse be taken into the city?
Priest Laocoon and Cassandra - daughter of King Priam
Sacro-Idyllic
Sacro-Idyllic are usually set in the countryside but this is set inside walls of Troy so not so clear. In distance is Mt. Ida [where the surviving Trojans fled] It is unclear what the rectangular structure on Mr. Ida is - maybe a gate.
Statue of Athene on tall podium
Warrior goddess and is shown holding a shield, wearing a Corinthian helmet and brandishing a spear.
Figure kneeling before Athene
Kneeling in prayer with arms outstretched. This may be Queen Hecuba, the only member of the royal family to survive Troy's destruction, praying to Athene for help.
Woman walking towards where men are pulling the horse [far left of painting]
She is holding a torch. She has been identified as Cassandra, daughter of King Priam and priestess of Apollo. Her beauty caused Apollo to grant her to gift of prophecy however when she did not return his love, he cursed her so that no one would ever believe her prophecies. She knew that the horse would lead to trhe destruction of Troy but no one would listen.
Four figures who represent...
Ate, Cassandra, Athene and Queen Hecuba are all thematically linked in that they suggest the destruction fated for the city of Troy.
A woman rushing forward [middle-left]
Possibly identified as a personification of Ate [ruin]. Her hand held up bearing a lighted torch about to be cast upon Troy. Her pose, direction, hand held aloft brandishing an object mimicks that of Athene.
Impressionism
figures are sketched with a series of brush strokes to give an impression of a figure rather than a detailed painting. this is particularly obvious in the splashes of white to highlight the men pulling the horse. The impressionist style does make it difficult to work out exactly what some of the figures are doing. Hence the alternative interpretation of the third dancing man.
The column
separates the sacro-idyllic third from the busy two/thirds. it has shading and highlighting to give volume and depth.
Atmospheric persepctive
the figures at the back are much lighter and less well defined. also, the walls of Troy are very pale indicating their distance away.
What does the white on the men pullling the horse suggest?
that they are illuminated by moonlight, in which case this action would have taken place at night.
Hints of shadows
to give a feeling of depth
Mood: unease
the two women rushing towards the scene [Ate at the top and Cassandra to the left] add to the profound feeling of unease. The front row of onlookers are women standing with torches, illuminated by the moonlight. Behind them in dark silhouettes are soldiers carrying halberds.
Mood: supernatural
The presence of Athene and Ate give a supernatural element to the scene. It was the Gods who helped destroy Troy.
Mood: foreboding of horror
Darkened colours and overcrowding make up this dense mass of people. They contrast greatly with the activity of the dancers and straining of the horse pullers. This suggests the foreboding of horror of what will happen to Troy later that night when the Greeks secretly come out of the horse and let in the rest of their army.
Mood: overcrowding and tension
Such a large number of figures within a small area adds to the overcrowding and gives emphasis to the tension
Mood: jubilation
The dancing figures give a feeling of jubilation that the Greeks have gone home and the war is over. Yet there is irony in that the viewer knows the joy will be short lived.
Contrasts
The brightness of the figures illuminated by the moonlight contrasts strongly with the deepening gloom of the middle ground and back ground. The animated dancing of the figures and the straining of the men pulling the horse [accentuated by their elongated forms] contrasts with the sombre, statuesque figures of the wome nand children on the left and figures in the middle ground.
Mood: despair and futility
The woman praying on her knees before Athene and a figure sitting in hopeless resignation beside the tree.
Composition
Roughly divided into thirds. The action takes place within an area framed either side by the static, solemn statue like figures of the women, children and soldiers.
the left one third...
contains the sacro-idyllic element. It also contains a number of figures that foretell the destruction of Troy. There are very few figures on this side [four plus the statue of Athene]. It's very uncluttered. Very little action shown, just hinted at by gestures.
the right two thirds...
more action such as the dancing and straining and contains the Trojans pulling the wooden horse into Troy. It's very crowded. It focuses on the man made [the horse and the city of Troy].
centre foreground
contains activity: the figures straining to pull the horse and three dancing men.
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