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Title
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[Polyxena is Sacrificed by the Greeks]
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Description
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This engraving illustrates Polyxena, the daughter of King Priam of Troy, seconds away from being sacrificed. King Agamemnon, illustrated on the right-hand side of the engraving with a crown on his head, was confronted by the ghost of Achilles who demanded a sacrifice in his honour. Agamemnon chose Polyxena as the sacrifice. Polyxena is illustrated on a table with her hands in front of her, in a bodily position that looks as though she is accepting her fate. She accepts her fate as a noble woman, rather than being forcefully sacrificed as a slave. She asks the soldiers to give her body back to her mother so she can grieve for her. The soldiers who are onlookers to the sacrifice are depicted with their heads facing down, as Polyxena’s words had moved them and they feel pity for her. The man who holds the sword is Neoptolemus, who also pities the young girl and regretfully sacrifices her.
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Image Creator
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Virgil Solis (Engraver)
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Identifier
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mta:11861
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Source Name
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Las Transformaciones de Ovidio en lengua Española, repartidas en quinze libros, con las Allegorias al fin dellos, y sus figuras, para prouecho de los Artifices [The Transformations of Ovid in the Spanish language, distributed in fifteen books, with the allegories at the end of them and their figures, for the benefit of the creators]
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Image
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mta_11861_OBJ.jpg
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Subject
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Agamemnon
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Achilles
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Roman Mythology
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Greek Mythology
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Sacrifice
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The Trojan War
mta_11861_OBJ.jpg