Briseis and Achilles

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Briseis and Achilles (A489). Executed in 1865 by Georg Christian Freund under the supervision of H.W. Bissen, after Thorvaldsen’s original plaster model from 1803. Thorvaldsen Museum (Copenhagen, Denmark). Made with Memento Beta (now ReMake) from Autodesk.

During a raid in the area around Troy, the Greek kidnapped numerous women. The powerful King Agamemnon received Chryseis, while Achilles received Briseis. The gods, however, forced Agamemnon to let Chryseis go, to which he reluctantly agreed on the sole condition that he would be given Achilles’ Briseis instead. The relief shows the handing over of Briseis. Achilles, cornered in the far left, has no choice but to yield to Agamemnon’s superior power, but his wrath or pain is expressed by his tense posture, unusual for Thorvaldsen. According to the Iliad, Achilles subsequently refused to take part in the continued siege; his turning away can be regarded as a representation of this.

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