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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileAchilles Slays Hector
Achilles charges from the left in a red cloak, pinning Hector to the ground with a spear aimed at his neck. Above the combatants, the goddess Athena appears in the clouds to guide Achilles' strike, while winged putti hover with a laurel wreath of victory. In the background, the massive stone gates of Troy and distant armies frame the final moments of the duel.
In the early modern period, Homeric scenes were frequently read as Neoplatonic allegories where heroes represented different virtues or psychological states. The intervention of Athena signifies the role of Divine Wisdom and Providence in the unfolding of human destiny, a central theme in Renaissance philosophical commentaries on the Iliad.
Homer, Iliad
The primary literary source for the scene, which was studied in the Renaissance for both its literal and allegorical meanings.
Porphyry
His tradition of Homeric allegoresis influenced the Western esoteric view of the Trojan War as a symbolic struggle of the soul.
Object
Engraving
mythological
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Slays_Hector.jpg Date: 2010-11-02 03:54 (UTC) Author: Slays_Hector.jpg: Original uploader was Alexanderchrist at en.wikipedia derivative work: Alagos (talk)
Public domain
1752 × 2656 px
4d4535e32510cf39a0561683f342988270838ef6
November 2, 2010
March 24, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.