Beauty from Getty Museum - Homer's Iliad horse-stealing episode

 Salvete Omnes, 

today we have the last day of July 2026, time flies or as ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said - panta rhei. 

While another ancient Greek - Homer - and his compositions - the Iliad and the Odyssey - have been with our culture for close to 3,000 years, inspiring countless writers, painters, sculptors and film makers - eg the latest Nolan's film.

So our horse-related image comes from the Iliad milieu, but from the  early Archaic period of the ancient Greek history & art,  as it shows Odysseus and Diomedes' infiltration the Thracian camp, the Trojan allies, at Troy in order to steal their famous horses ("huge of size, a wonder to behold'' or -  ''His[Rheos] be verily the fairest horses that ever I saw, and the greatest, whiter than snow, and in speed like the winds.'). Odysseus slays (of honey-sweet life) Rhesos/Rhesus, a Thracian king, and 12 other sleepingThracian warriors. - Book X of Iliad,

Murray's translation

Here you can read the description from Getty Collections webpage - where the amphora's photos are available for study. The authorship has been attributed to Inscription Painters (Chalcidician style) from Rhegion, Southern Italy (then so called Magna Graecia due to the Greek colonization and settlement) 

the amazingly well portrayed white stallion 

.

.

the act of killing of king Rhesos you can also study from the Wiki Commons page, where horse side of the amphora does not appear. Note that Odysseus is carrying a bow and arrows in a quiver slung on his back.

Valete

Harper's Weekly, ledger art & Sitting Bull

 Salvete Omnes, 

2nd post of this year. 

I hope your New Year is going all right, but let us bring peace to this world, the wars around Africa, Europe & Asia are in full wicked and evil bloom. 

ad rem, 

in 1876 Harper's Weekly published this article by David Hunter Strother under penname Porte Crayon  on a rather unusual subject - the native & hostile leader's own autobiography in pictures, aka the ledger art of famous Hunkpapa Lakota leader and medicine man/shaman & warrior Sitting Bull. 

In the years before 1876 Centennial Campaign Sitting Bull was in the forefront of the Lakota Sioux (Teton) opposition to the American conquest of the Lakota way of life, trespassing on their  hunting grounds (recently won from the Crows et al.)  and their pursuit of the bison herds etc. Eventually, Sitting Bull would be murdered by the Indian Policemen outside of  his cabin prior to the Wounded Knee Massacre during the so called Ghost Dance War in 1890.

The drawings were purchased by doctor  James P.Kimball from  a Yanktonai man at Fort Buford, Dakota Territory in 1870, who sent them to the Medical Director's Office, Department  of Dakota, and from there they were sent to the Army Medical Museum  in 1871. More on these drawings in the future posts. 
The ledger's drawings were copied from the colorful originals in order to be printed in the black and white magazine- 

.

to be continued

Valete