Greek against Persian in Hand-to-Hand Combat (detail)

This red-figure painting appears on the interior of a Greek wine cup. Painted about 480 B.C.E. (during the Persian Wars), it shows a Greek hoplite (armored infantryman) striking a Persian warrior in hand-to-hand combat with swords. The Greek has lost his principal weapon, a spear, and the Persian can no longer shoot his, the bow and arrow. The Greek artist has designed the painting to express multiple messages: the Persian’s colorful outfit with sleeves and pants stresses the “otherness” of the enemy in Greek eyes, and the soldiers’ serene expressions at such a desperate moment dignify the horror of killing in war. Greek warriors often had heroic symbols painted on their shields, such as the winged horse Pegasus, an allusion to the brave exploits of Bellerophon. (The Triptolemos Painter / © National Museums of Scotland / Bridgeman Images.)