Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar)
Attributed to the Ethiop Painter
Obverse, the Greek hero Ajax seizes Cassandra, a Trojan princess and prophetess, during the sack of Troy
Reverse, a youth
A number of ancient Greek texts recount that, when the Greeks sacked Troy, Cassandra, the most beautiful daughter of the Trojan king Priam, took refuge at the statue of Athena, but Ajax tore her away and raped her, thus committing sacrilege against Athena. The legendary actions of heroes were the basis for numerous rituals that took place in Greece. In Locris, which was Ajax's native region, the citizens expiated his crime for a thousand years by sending two virgins every year to serve in the temple of Athena at Troy.
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