Dickinson College Commentaries

Achilles and Briseis Fresco, Pompeii

Achilles' surrender of Briseis to Agamemnon, from the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii, fresco, 1st century AD, now in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

Map of Magna Graecia

map of southern Italy

Chariton passage 1 read aloud (CF)

Apulian red-figure oenochoe depicting the Rape of Oreithyia by Boreas

Boreas, depicted as a bearded and winged man, grasps the struggling Oreithyia around the torso, lifting her into the air. Oreithyia left arm is free, raised above her head, perhaps to fight off Boreas or perhaps in supplication. Her right hand grabs at Boreas's hands locked around her chest. Her head is thrown back against Boreas's chest.

Hans Holbein the Younger, "Lais of Corinth"

A Woman dressed in a Renaissance style dress sits behind a table or plinth with ": Lais : Corinthiaca : 1526 :" apparently engraved on the front edge. A heavy curtain hangs behind her. Lais faces the viewer with her right hand extended palm up. Her left hand holds a drape lying in her lap. On the table is a pile of gold coins.

Edgar Degas, Sémiramis construisant Babylone

Queen Semiramis stands (just left of center) on a terrace gazing left, across a river, toward the city of Babylon under construction. Behind her and slightly to the right stands a cluster of four women attendants. In the deep background behind the attendants stand 3 or 4 other figures and some trees. One woman crouches directly behind Semiramis near a small basket of flowers. To the right of her is a horse and chariot, its reins held by another woman facing away from the viewer.

Roman Silver Wine Cup

Two-handled silver cup with relief decoration depicting a scene from Odyssey 11.26-42. Odysseus is shown holding a sword up in his right hand. He looks to his left toward a tree. At Odysseus's feet lies the ram he has just sacrificed to summon the dead. To Odysseus's right sits the spirit of the seer Teiresias sits on a rock.

Roman banquet couch frame (restored)

Wooden bed frame of a Roman banquet couch. The scrolled arm rests at either end are decorated with bronze fittings in the shop of lions' heads. The legs are also of bronze terminating in a wooden base.

Lapiths and Centaurs mosaic

Mosaic depicting the battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs. The mosaic is laid out in three rows. Left to right, bottom row: a man grasps a centaur by the hair and thrusts forward with a spear held in his right hand. Another centaur appears lower right facing an unseen opponent. Middle row: a man attacks a centaur attempting to capture woman. Another man reaches toward the woman as if to help her escape. Top row: A man attacks a centaur who holds a woman by her arm. Another man appears to flee right.

Casa dei casta amanti fresco

Two couples recline on their left elbows. The men are at the head of the couches, the women lean against the mens' chests and holding large drinking vessels. In the center foreground a small round three-legged table with glass drinking vessels on top stands between the couches. In the upper left background of the fresco a slave supports a woman who has had too much to drink. In the lower right foreground a portion of a second round table with drinking vessels is visible.