• Attic Black-Figure Amphora (Ajax and Achilles Playing a Board Game)
• Exekias (Greek, 6th Century BC)
• Made 540-530 BC
• Painted Ceramic
• 61.1 x 27.8 cm
• Vatican Museums

The piece is a beautiful composition, and has a certain allure, but if you look a little closer, the symbolism and metaphor that make this a masterpiece, are revealed.

Achilles and Ajax take a break from the battleground of the Trojan War, and share a moment of relaxation by playing a board game. Achilles is taller, still wears his mask, and holds his spears loosely. He is relaxed, rolling a four.

Ajax is hunched over the board, his helmet removed, spears gripped rightly. He rolls a three.

The game is a metaphor for the outcome of the characters' lives.

Achilles wins glory; he kills the Trojan leader Hector, after the latter murders his friend, and goes on to kill many more Trojans before being shot in the foot with an arrow.

After Achilles' death, Ajax and Odysseus fight back the Trojans to successfully rescue Achilles' body. Both of them claim Achilles' divine armour for themselves, but is awarded to Odysseus. Ajax, furious, desires to kill Odysseus. Athena clouds his mind, which leads him to slaughtering a flock of sheep. He awakes from his madness, and, racked with guilt and shame at his actions, falls on his sword, killing himself.