College Honors Program

The Trojan War on Roman Walls

Date of Creation

5-31-2023

Document Type

Campus Access Only

First Advisor

Ellen E. Perry

Abstract

For centuries, scholars assumed that Roman frescoes were copies of lost Greek originals. While ancient Greece and Rome shared an iconographic tradition, Romans had their own style and cultural framework of interpretation. This thesis explores the Roman elements of Roman frescoes that illustrate scenes before, during, and after the Trojan War. Chapter 1 explores The Judgment of Paris from the Casa della Venere, Achilles on Skyros from the House of the Dioscuri, and the Sacrifice of Iphigenia from the House of the Tragic Poet. They were popular in Rome and followed Roman formulae. Chapter 2 analyzes Achilles and Briseis from the House of the Tragic Poet and the Iliad Frieze from the House of Octavius Quartio. These illustrate that they were part of programs and demonstrated the homeowners’ values. In Chapter 3, I discuss the Odyssey Landscapes from the Esquiline Hill, review its previous scholarship, and utilize analyses from my other chapters to demonstrate that the Odyssey Landscapes are not a copy. Together these paintings show that Romans had a complex artistic and cultural tradition that drew from Greece but did not stem directly from it. Going forward, Roman frescoes should be examined through this lens, an idea with which recent scholarship agrees.

Comments

Reader: Mary Ebbott

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