ρὶς ἀρχαιολογική, 1891. A contest before a walled city is clearly seen. On the steep hillside rise the fortifications, towering above which, like terraces, are squares upon squares, which may represent the roofs and towers of the city. On the wall stand women, five in number, while the hand of a sixth is seen upraised. They appeal wildly to the struggling warriors to save the city. Immediately under the battlements are two figures, upright and serene. These may be the elders of the town come out beyond the gates to inspire resolution, clothed with the chlaina;[1] or they may be spearmen, with shield and spear.[2] Before the two figures kneel bowmen, with arrows fixed; and in front of these stand slingers in the midst of action. At the bottom appear the head and breast of a helmeted warrior wearing a short chiton. Two men are crouching among the slingers. This picture almost fits the battle scene on the shield of Herakles.[3]
Nikolaïdes startles us by seeing on this vase the battlements of Troy. From the wall Hecuba, Andromache, and other women are looking on the fate of Hector (Χ, 405), while Achilles nods to the Greeks not to strike at Hector, but to leave to him alone the glory of his death. Lines below the combatants are interpreted as the two springs—the one warm, the
- ↑ So The Mycenaean Age, p. 163, 1897. "A necessary complement was the chlaina, or thick woolen cloak, reaching to the knees, or even to the ankles, and doubtless worn habitually by the elders, and in winter at least by the young men. It appears on the two old men just behind the bowmen on the background of the siege scene."
- ↑ So Rossbach, Philologus, 1892.
- ↑ Hesiod. Shield of Herakles, 337 ff.
