Hydria (water jar): The Ransom of Hector

This vessel calls attention to the importance of proper burial. The heroes of the Iliad are afraid that their bodies will lie unburied in the battlefield, ripped apart by dogs and vultures. Trojan Hector escapes this fate when his father, Priam, ransoms his body from the Greek hero Achilles. In this rendering, the wounds and tied ankles of Hector’s body recall how Achilles dragged it behind his chariot. The prominent corpse identifies the scene for the viewer and is appropriate for a water jar: washing the body was an essential part of Greek funerary ritual. In the narrative of the Iliad, in contrast, Hector’s corpse remains hidden while Priam and Achilles converse. Telling a story in word and image requires different strategies. In this image, every element is significant. Achilles’ dinner knife lends him an air of brutality, and the armor on the right evokes the events preceding the ransom.