Thread by @DocCrom

Ancient Artefact of the Day: One of my favourite figures from Greek mythology is Ajax, so here's a bronze statuette thought to be a representation of his suicide: Greek Geometric, ca. 700 BC. #AAOTD #Ajax

Image: British Museum (1865,1118.230)

The suicide of Ajax, following his divinely caused mania in which he slaughtered a flock of sheep thinking them the other Greek leaders at Troy, was a popular subject in ancient art.

There are other notable examples of his death in bronze, such as this piece from Aegina, ca. 480 BC.

Image: Archaeological Museum, Florence

But perhaps the most remarkable example is to be found in the Käppeli Collection in the Basel Antikenmuseum, which may have originally served as the handle to a cista.

Image: Figure 1 (Davies 1971)

For a detailed assessment of this last example, see:

DAVIES, MARK I. “THE SUICIDE OF AJAX: A BRONZE ETRUSCAN STATUETTE FROM THE KÄPPELI COLLECTION.” Antike Kunst, vol. 14, no. 2, 1971, pp. 148–157.

jstor.org/stable/41318417

#AAOTD #Ajax