Troy Is Burning: 
Epic Archetypes
Alberto Camerotto*
 
ILIOUPERSIS: A RESEARCH PROJECT  
AND A CIVIL EXPERIMENT IN THE FOOTSTEPS  
OF THE CLASSICI CONTRO
Troy is burning. The fall of the city is a symbol that crosses time, 
history, cultures, and languages. Our imagery of the most inhuman 
violence of war begins with the end of Priam’s city. It symbolizes the 
end of civilization, a warning, and food for thought.
Starting from Homer, the Ilioupersis: Epic Archetypes project inve-
stigates the paradeigmata of our way of thinking about the violence 
of war across different cultures and epochs of history in a perspective 
that is multidisciplinary and includes oral poetry, literature, history, 
art, theater, cinema, and sport.
The research laboratory experiments with new dimensions for the 
civil conscience and the collective memory of our societies, and it 
does that right in the cities and places that symbolize war and peace, 
not only with research work, lectures, and seminars in universities 
and schools but also with public actions in theaters, archaeological 
museums, and World War Museums.
Meetings, seminars, and conferences on Ilioupersis are scheduled 
with the involvement of Italian and foreign scholars. Particular 
attention is dedicated to younger scholars, students, PhD students, 
and PhDs with the participation of Aletheia, the Laboratory of Greek 
Literature of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Among the activities of Aletheia Laboratory, the project includes 
a series of seminars and experimental meetings with a strong civil 
impact: a contribution to the construction of a shared historical- 
cultural awareness around the themes of war violence, starting with 
the archetypes of the fall of Troy. In several cities, symbolic places 
are chosen to present and discuss research results in front of a wider 
audience. The first experiment, as a scientific experience, concerns 
doi: https://doi.org/10.4312/clotho.5.2.109-126
* Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Dorsoduro 
3484/D, 30123 Venezia; alcam@unive.it.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   109 1. 03. 2024   10:36:12
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO110
the archaeological museums for immediate contact between the texts, 
documents, objects, and artistic representations of Ilioupersis and war.
Public lectures are scheduled in the Museums of the two World 
Wars, as places where ancient ideas and images about war encounter 
the symbols and memories of contemporary history.
In collaboration with UNESCO, we have begun discussing the idea 
of bringing the results of research on Ilioupersis to Sarajevo on the 
30th anniversary of the siege in a combined action with Venice. At 
the Siege Museum, the rebuilt Library, and the National Museum in 
the center of the city, amid the various communities still in conflict, 
the universality of this mythical archetype could contribute to peace, 
helping to resolve the tensions that have not yet found a solution.
The themes are centered on the polar opposition between peace 
and war. Knowing the evils of war is necessary to think about peace. 
Experiencing difficulties creates the awareness required to build a 
better future: to invent a civilization within the civitas, within the ideal 
and universal polis where differences become a resource, an added 
value, a source of beauty, an agathon koinon, an asset to be shared.
I. The utopia of peace. It consists of all the symbols required to 
build peace as the foundation of happiness and prosperity in the life 
of the polis and its men, starting from the representation of the city 
in peace in polar opposition to the city at war in the shield of Achilles 
of Homer’s Iliad. Weddings, courts, and altars. A paradigm of art and 
poetry that becomes a paradigm of history.1
II. War as the end of civilization. When a war starts, the real con-
sequences of its violence are impossible to predict, but it is undoubtedly 
the end of civilian life. To maintain a degree of humanity, other rules 
come into play, but the codes of honor, which are supposed to safeguard 
the respect for other humans, for the enemies, fail to be applied. They 
no longer have any meaning. When at war, only violence remains, 
blood that endlessly generates more violence and more blood.2
1 Hom., Il. 18.490–508. See Edwards, The Iliad: A Commentary, 213: “The blessings 
of ordered communal life are represented by weddings, which unite different 
families and bring festivities for all, and the peaceful settlement of a dispute 
over a man’s death by a city’s judicial institutions.” For the Homeric principle 
of human civilization see Ugo Foscolo, Dei Sepolcri, 119–21: “Dal dì che nozze e 
tribunali ed are / Diero alle umane belve esser pietose / Di sé stesse e d’altrui” 
(1807). The Homeric definition of the city of peace becomes a cultural paradigm 
for the ancient world and for our times.
2 On the motif of blood and massacre in the epic representation of the fall of Troy, 
see Barbaresco,“La terra e il sangue,” 323–39.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   110 1. 03. 2024   10:36:12
TROY IS BURNING: EPIC ARCHETYPES 111
III. The fall of the city, or the latest violence. It starts with Ilioupersis, 
which, for us, is the first archetype of limitless violence. When it comes 
to the siege and the fall of a city, there is a qualitative leap in the vio-
lence of war. All the rules are canceled, there are no human feelings, 
and a feral or, better still, monstrous dimension guides the winners’ 
actions. But hybris, the violence of the assailants who destroy the city, 
is at the origin of the ruin of those who believe they are the winners.3
IV. Sport is a principle of civilization that removes and denies war. 
Sport allows the construction of life and peace together with others, 
even the adversary, the enemy. Confrontation and struggle are part 
of human life, but the most ancient archetypes show that sport chan-
ges the symbol of hostility into a symbol of peace.4 It is a cognitive 
 question, a logical structure that has become part of our thinking and 
behavior. In sports, the opponent becomes a friend through mutual 
recognition, precisely in competition, confrontation, and cooperation. 
Starting with Homer, the athloi are a symbol of civilization, of peace, 
of hospitality. Sport is a symbol of a happy utopian society aware of 
the limits and difficulties of human life – a positive symbol in search 
of prosperity and beauty, which immediately suspends all hostilities. 
Ekecheiria is born around Olympia: it is the inviolable suspension of 
every act of war.5 It is the return of civilization and life.
The first experiments were as follows.
I. We started from Venice, in Piazza San Marco, on 3 March 2022, at 
the National Archaeological Museum with the action “Death in the 
Eyes,” staged in front of the Hellenistic statues of the Galatians. A long 
series of actions and seminars ensued.
II. “Women and the Fall of Troy,” on 8 March in Vicenza, at the Gal-
lerie d’Italia – Palazzo Leoni Montanari, among the bas-reliefs of the 
battles of the Iliad and the medallions of Homeric heroes, and then 
3 There is no triumph, no certainty. This is the epic story of mortals, we know what 
awaits the victors next. This is also the effect of the narration of the Iliou Halosis 
of Triphiodorus, see Miguélez-Cavero, Triphiodorus: The Sack of Troy, 394: “His 
readers should therefore anticipate the punishment of the Achaeans when they 
finish reading his poem, with the departure of the Greek ships from Troy.”
4 On sport as a sign of peace in the archaic Epics and in particular among the 
Phaea cians, see Camerotto, “Utopici Feaci,” 23: “l’eccellenza (Od. 8.244, 
ἡμετέρης ἀρετῆς) è quella delle gare sportive, ma con una ben chiara precisazi-
one, ossia con l’esclusione degli sport violenti, il pugilato e la lotta.” 
5 See Lämmer, “La cosiddetta ‘pace olimpica,’” 129–31.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   111 1. 03. 2024   10:36:12
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO112
at the Natural History and Archaeological Museum, with the great 
mosaic of Meleager.
III. “The Wolf, or the Enemy,” Adria, National Archaeological Mu-
seum (16 March 2022).
IV. “Ilioupersis: Epic Archetypes,” Seminar at the University of Pa-
lermo (24 March 2022). 
V. “Women on the Trojan Stage,” Treviso, Teatro Comunale Mario 
del Monaco (13 April 2022).
VI. “Ilioupersis: How and Why Should We Tell the Story of the Fall of 
Troy,” Seminar at the University of Salerno (27 April 2022).
VII. “The City under Siege,” Cagliari, at the National Archaeological 
Museum, in front of the giants of Mont’e Prama, at the Pinacoteca 
and at the Liceo Dettori (4–5 May 2022).
VIII. “Lysistrata: Women against War,” Venice, Teatro Santa Margherita 
Ca’ Foscari (12 May 2022).
IX. “The Death of Achilles,” Este, Museo Nazionale Atestino (14 May 2022).
X. “The City is Burning: Ilioupersis under Mount Pasubio,” Schio, 
Sala Turbine – Exhibition Space of the Lanificio Conte (1 June 2022).
 
Then came two large scholarly meetings, in the Museum of the 
Battle, a Memorial for the First World War in Vittorio Veneto: with 
laboratories, educational seminars, and with the participation and 
the work of 400 students in each meeting.
XI. “Il cielo è rosso: The sky is red at the Museum of the Battle of 
Vittorio Veneto; The myth of the fall of Troy to learn about war and 
imagine peace” (Museo Della Battaglia, Aula Civica, San Paoletto, 
Teatro Lorenzo Da Ponte – Vittorio Veneto, 27–29 October 2022).
XII. “Ilioupersis: Inventare la pace al Museo della Battaglia di Vittorio 
Veneto; Inventing peace at the Museum of the Battle of Vittorio Ve-
neto; Epic archetypes and collective memory to understand war and 
build peace” (Museo della Battaglia, Teatro del Seminario, Vittorio 
Veneto, 26–27 October 2023).
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   112 1. 03. 2024   10:36:12
TROY IS BURNING: EPIC ARCHETYPES 113
Three books were born from this project:
1. Alberto Camerotto, Troia brucia: Come e perché raccontare l’Ilioupersis 
(Milan: Mimesis, 2022), Classici Contro n. 20.
2. Alberto Camerotto, Katia Barbaresco, and Valeria Melis (eds.), Il 
grido di Andromaca: Voci di donne contro la guerra (Vittorio Veneto: 
De Bastiani Editore, 2022), Paradoxa n. 1.
3. Alberto Camerotto, Ilioupersis: La caduta di Troia in quattro atti, con 
un prologo, un epilogo e qualche nota di commento (sulle tracce epiche di 
Trifiodoro) (Vittorio Veneto: De Bastiani Editore, 2023), Paradoxa n. 2.
Obviously, images of our world also emerge here and there, from the 
aberrations of the wars of these days, as for Iryna in Mariupol, or the 
yellow room in Dnipro, the young musicians Khrystyna and Svitlana 
killed in Zaporizhzhia, the devastation of the Odessa Cathedral , the 
grain silos on the bank of the Danube. Daily images. All normal images 
of peace and happiness are contaminated by weapons and death.6 We 
look at them with fear: there is the tension of ancient ideas that tell 
us something to be able to resist in the face of horror. Even with the 
sense of testimony. It is the experiment of a rhesis, a civil discourse, a 
different thought from the world of Classics and Ancient Literature. 
Sometimes it is a good thing for research, philology and literature: to 
speak. This is our parrhesia.7 Through ancient thoughts.
From all these works, we propose here a simple example through the 
analysis of the images of the Pithos of Mykonos, so close to Homer’s 
poems and to the time of the epic narratives of the fall of Troy.
THE FALL OF TROY:  
EPIC ARCHETYPES AT THE END OF CIVILIZATION
This is the first great iconographic testimony of Ilioupersis: it comes 
from the second quarter of the 7th century, between 675 and 670 BC, 
not far from the times of Homer and our most ancient epic songs. It 
may well belong to the lifespan of the same generation of men.8
6 On the contamination of codes in the Ilioupersis see Scheijnen, Quintus of Smyr-
na’s Posthomerica, 278–80, Avlamis, “Contextualizing Quintus,” 172–3.
7 On parrhesia and Classici contro, see Camerotto, “Parrhesia: Una parola,” 51–63.
8 See Ervin, “A Relief Pithos from Mykonos”; Ervin Caskey, “Notes on Relief 
Pithoi of the Tenian-Boiotian Group”; Anderson, The Fall of Troy in Early Greek 
Poetry and Art, 182–90.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   113 1. 03. 2024   10:36:12
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO114
It is a large vase, a pithos, from an island in the center of the Aegean 
Sea, Mykonos, near the sanctuaries of Apollo in Delos. The vase and 
the images were created to be seen by everyone on festive occasions, 
in public situations, just like the songs of rhapsodes were meant to 
be heard by everybody. At the top of the pithos, on its neck and so 
in a position of prominence, is depicted the wooden horse. This may 
well be the most beautiful image in the entire history of art. There 
are all the necessary elements: it is a large, impressive wooden horse 
that contains many armed men, and seven Achaean warriors with 
weapons, who appear in seven windows on the horse’s body and neck. 
They let the weapons dangle from the windows above: we might say 
that the warriors are showing their weapons, a large helmet, a shield, 
and two swords ready to be drawn from their leather sheaths. They 
take pride in them, but this is also an authentic gesture: a simple 
and safe action before the last battle. Everything has been carefully 
prepared. This is what will resolve the war.9
As we can see, the wheels are applied to the horse’s legs, a notable 
detail.10 This element suggests the function, thus allowing us to identify 
the equus Troianus and the myth of Ilioupersis.11 The horse must enter 
the city. Indeed, at this point of the story, the horse is already in the 
citadel: above and around, there are warriors in action.12
9 As we can see in Hom., Od. 492–5, the horse is essential from the point of view 
of the story, nothing else is needed. From here the persis begins, with this spe-
cial space reserved for the construction of the wooden horse. The will is that of 
Athena. The objectives, the idea, the project are the metis of the goddess. The 
builder is Epeios, who is at work by divine inspiration. See de Jong, A Narrato-
logical Commentary, 215: “Odysseus’ description of the song which he requests 
resembles an epic proem … the Wooden Horse will lead to the fall of Troy.” Of 
course, the famous theme of the song is “ἵππου κόσμον … / δουρατέου” (Od. 
8.492–93).
10 On the wheels of the horse, which are part of Epeios’ project, cf. Quintus Smyr-
naeus 12.424–27, Triphiodorus 100. For a different perspective, with the wheels 
applied by the Trojans, cf. Verg., Aen. 2.235–36. See Cadario, “Il cavallo di Troia,” 
224: “Alla presenza di ruote potrebbe forse alludere già il verbo usato da Demo-
doco nell’Odissea (8.504, ἐρύσαντο) per descrivere gli spostamenti del Cavallo 
all’interno della città.” 
11 The construction of the horse is widely narrated in the Posthomerica of Quin-
tus Smyrnaeus (12.104–56) and in Triphiodorus’ Halosis Iliou (62–102). See 
Campbell, A Commentary on Quintus Smyrnaeus, 46–48, Miguélez-Cavero, 
Triphiodorus: The Sack of Troy, 156–66.
12 Hom., Od. 514–15, “ἤειδεν δ’ ὡς ἄστυ διέπραθον υἷες ’Αχαιῶν / ἱππόθεν 
ἐκχύμενοι, κοῖλον λόχον ἐκπρολιπόντες.” It is the beginning of the action of 
persis, a new section of the song (ἤειδεν).
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   114 1. 03. 2024   10:36:13
TROY IS BURNING: EPIC ARCHETYPES 115
Immediately below the top representation on the neck of the 
vase, there are three bands divided into metopes, the tableaux of the 
story, and we immediately move on to the final events of the persis. 
The narrative gap, the logical leap, is impressive: the beginning and 
the end are in sequence, in contact. We will see what this means 
straight away.13
The wooden horse immediately declares the traditional tale of 
the fall of Troy. But what we see below is not the hard fighting nor 
the heroic scenes of the conquest that we would expect. Ultima-
tely, this is not the Homeric αἰνότατον πόλεμον, “the most terrible 
battle” mentioned in Demodocus’ song (Hom. Od. 8.519). At the 
end of his Ilioupersis, the formidable singer of Scheria narrates the 
deeds of Odysseus amid the battle for the city, in Deiphobus’ home.14 
Demodocus’ song presents the signs of an aristeia: it recounts the 
final fight against the last defender, against the last husband of Helen, 
who thus also inherits the guilt of Paris and the role of the last target 
of the revenge of the Achaeans.
On the other hand, the images in relief on the large body of the 
vase are the scariest, most horrifying ones. Their sight is unbearable, 
no one would want to see scenes like these, neither the losers nor the 
winners. Even the old Argives say so at the return of Agamemnon’s 
army, two centuries later in a tragedy by Aeschylus: it is the refusal 
of the persis, and so it even becomes impossible to think of the heroic 
attribute πτολιπόρθης, “destroyer of cities,” because of its meaning, 
because of what we see on this vase with our eyes:
μήτ’ εἴην πτολιπόρθης 
μήτ’ οὖν αὐτὸς ἁλοὺς ὑπ’ ἄλ-
λων βίον κατίδοιμι.
13 Anderson, Fall of Troy, 182: “The upper panel narrates an early stage of the 
attack, while the lower group follows with later chapters of the same story. This 
progression may be described with more precision as preparation and execu-
tion, the ruse of the horse above forming a prelude to the murder and enslave-
ment below.”
14 Hom., Od. 8.517 “προτὶ δώματα Δηϊϕόβοιο.” Cf. Quintus Smyrnaeus 13.355 
“Δηίϕοβον κατέπεϕνε,” Triph. 627 “Δηίϕοβον κατέμαρψε.” See Verg., Aen. 
6.494–97 “Atque hic Priamiden laniatum corpore toto / Deiphobum videt et 
lacerum crudeliter ora, / ora manusque ambas, populataque tempora raptis / 
auribus et truncas inhonesto vulnere naris.” On the death of Deiphobus see 
Renker, A Commentary on Quintus of Smyrna, 226–27.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   115 1. 03. 2024   10:36:13
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO116
may I neither be a sacker of cities,
nor myself be captured and see
my life subjected to another.15
Metope after metope, in a repetitive and interminable sequence, we 
see an Achaean warrior with a sword. He is not facing an equally 
strong and well-armed opponent, another warrior in a memorable 
battle that will be told in epic songs forever and depicted on so many 
vases: in front of each Achaean warrior stands a woman with a child. 
Desperate gestures, pleas, cries, useless tears against the power of 
weapons, against the enemy’s violence. It is absurd and embarrassing; 
there is simply something wrong with the image. This is not a heroic 
myth. According to the rules of warfare, the rigid and heroic rules 
of war, fights can only happen between warriors and their equals. 
The war narrative is straightforward, even banal, but this is the only 
one still acceptable for those who believe in illusions and those who 
believe in mystifications. Here is an example. A duel is not possible 
between a young and strong fighter and a man who has become too 
old to bear arms.16 It would be a shame; there could be no glory; it 
would be an ambiguous, degenerate kleos. The epic codes make it 
clear. So surely a duel between a warrior in his splendid armor on one 
side and a helpless woman and child on the other is inconceivable. By 
definition, women and children have nothing to do with war. They 
know nothing about war and weapons.17 A helmet and a child do not 
go together; weapons are always awful.
15 Aeschyl., Ag. 472–74; translation by Alan H. Sommerstein. On the epic epithet 
πτολίπορθος and its metonymic meaning see Camerotto, Troia brucia, 21–26.
16 On the epic values and infamy of the duel between Neoptolemus and Priamus, 
see Tanozzi, “L’antiduello,” 430–37.
17 Being a paradigm of weakness and terror, women and children incarnate the 
opposite of the qualities that make a good warrior; Hom., Il. 2.289–90: “ὥς τε γὰρ 
ἢ παῖδες νεαροὶ χῆραί τε γυναῖκες / ἀλλήλοισιν ὀδύρονται οἶκον δὲ νέεσθαι,” 
7.235–36: “μή τί μευ ἠΰτε παιδὸς ἀϕαυροῦ πειρήτιζε / ἠὲ γυναικός, ἣ οὐκ οἶδεν 
πολεμήϊα ἔργα.” The formula “πόλεμος δ᾽ ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει” (Il. 6.492, 20.137) is 
famous, also for its parodic re-uses in the comedy. See Graf, “Women, War, and 
Warlike Divinities,” 245: “πόλεμος δ᾽ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει,” is the counsel Hector 
gives to Andromache – Lysistrata will repeat it, in quite another vein; γυνὴ 
στρατηγεῖ and γυνὴ στρατοπεδεύεται are proverbs used ἐπὶ τῶν παραδόξων. 
Women did not fight.” Loman, “No Woman No War,” Rousseau, “War, Speech, 
and the Bow”; Farioli, “Le dita tagliate delle donne greche,” 157s. The motif of 
children unaware of war will tragically return at the beginning of the persis 
in Quintus Smyrnaeus 13.123: “νηπιάχους τῶν οὔ πω ἐπίστατο κήδεα θυμός.” 
Women and children are symbols of peace, they are the opposite of war: see 
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   116 1. 03. 2024   10:36:13
TROY IS BURNING: EPIC ARCHETYPES 117
This is the persis: no rules or respect for gods or men exist. 
Before our eyes, we see the formidable deeds of the Achaeans. On 
the body of the vase, in a position of prominence, maybe even too 
prominent, is the violence against women, the slaughter of infants, 
and warfare of the most ferocious, ruthless, and unacceptable kind. 
We could even say that it is repugnant. A sword pierces a child in 
the arms of his mother; another one is caught between his mother 
and the warrior, who impales him. His blood flows like a river, 
and it can be touched on the relief of the terracotta. Another child 
in a lower metope is smashed on the ground: this is the same way 
Astyanax is killed, it seems to become a pattern18 for prefigurations.19 
Bigai, “Nausicaa e lo straniero,” 146, and Consoloni, “Le donne di Troia: fonda-
menta della città in pace,” 67–69.
18 Cf. Anderson, The Fall of Troy, 188; Morris, “The Sacrifice of Astyanax: Near 
Eastern Contributions to the Siege of Troy.” The image of the killing of Astyanax 
can be represented among the panels of the Pithos of Mykonos (met. 17) accor-
ding to the Ilias Parva, where it is Neoptolemus that kills the boy (Ilias Parv. fr. 
21.3–5): “παῖδα δ’ ἑλὼν ἐκ κόλπου ἐυπλοκάμοιο τιθήνης / ῥῖψε ποδὸς τεταγὼν 
ἀπὸ πύργου, τὸν δὲ πεσόντα / ἔλλαβε πορϕύρεος θάνατος καὶ μοῖρα κραταιή.” 
Of course, in the collective massacre, this motif does not need to be further 
specified and can have many applications. Cf. Andromache’s premonitory image 
in Il. 24.734–36: “ἤ τις Ἀχαιῶν / ῥίψει χειρὸς ἑλὼν ἀπὸ πύργου λυγρὸν ὄλεθρον / 
χωόμενος.” In the iconography, Astyanax’s body can become a weapon wielded 
in the scene of Priam’s killing, a superimposition of two scenes of the persis. 
When Odysseus is the protagonist, the δίσκημα recalls his launch during the 
Phaeacians games in the Odyssey (8.183–96). We find the juxtaposition of the 
images of the competition with that of the persis in Euripides, as a contamina-
tion of incongruent codes.
19 This image is anticipated by Priamus in the definition of the persis scenes in Il. 
22.63s: “καὶ νήπια τέκνα / βαλλόμενα προτὶ γαίῃ ἐν αἰνῇ δηϊοτῆτι.” Similarly, 
in the image suggested by the epic word κυβιστήσαντα (Triph. 644), we find the 
traces of happy categories of party, dance, and sport (Il. 18.605, Od. 4.18), but 
above all there is the sign of their distortion, and so of mockery and death (Il. 
16.745, 16.749, 16.750, 21.354). The image of Astyanax’s killing returns in Arcti-
nus’s  Ilioupersis, Procl. Chrest. p. 92, 268 Severyns = Il. Exc. arg. p. 89, 20 B: “καὶ 
’Οδυσσέως Ἀστυάνακτα ἀνελόντος.” Cf. Stesichorus (fr. 107 Davies-Finglass), 
according to schol. Eur. Andr. 10: “Στησίχορον μὲν γὰρ ἱστορεῖν ὅτι τεθνήκοι 
καὶ τὸν τὴν Πέρσιδα συντεταχότα κυκλικὸν ποιητὴν ὅτι καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους 
ῥιϕθείη· ᾧ ἠκολουθηκέναι Εὐριπίδην.” Cf. Paus. 10.25.9 = Il. Parv. fr. 21 (II) B: 
“γέγραπται μὲν ’Ανδρομάχη, καὶ ὁ παῖς οἱ προσέστηκεν ἑλόμενος τοῦ μαστοῦ 
–τούτῳ Λέσχεως ῥιϕθέντι ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου συμβῆναι λέγει τὴν τελευτήν· οὐ 
μὴν ὑπὸ δόγματός γε ῾Ελλήνων, ἀλλ’ ἰδίᾳ Νεοπτόλεμον αὐτόχειρα ἐθελῆσαι 
γενέσθαι.”
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   117 1. 03. 2024   10:36:14
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO118
All the other scenes are similar to these; they are variations on a theme.20
Among the panels of the first higher band, we perhaps see Helen 
appearing in front of Menelaus – an educated guess. Helen would 
be among the victims, among the women and the prisoners of war.21 
Judging by their gestures, this is probably the depiction of the first 
attempt at reconciliation between husband and wife. There is also a 
fallen warrior. It could be Deiphobus, as a paradigm or metonymy 
of the Trojan defenders: the symbol of the last, vain defense.22 But 
he could also stand as a just victim of the revenge of the Achaeans 
and Menelaus. A symbolic function that is useful to everyone.23 But 
their names do not matter; identifications are helpful for the story 
but not essential. These images are valid for the entire city, these are 
necessarily unidentified images of the collective massacre and horror. 
As we well know, this is the war code of Agamemnon, the Achaeans’ 
commander-in-chief (Hom., Il. 6.57–60):
   τῶν μή τις ὑπεκϕύγοι αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον
χεῖράς θ᾽ ἡμετέρας, μηδ᾽ ὅν τινα γαστέρι μήτηρ 
κοῦρον ἐόντα ϕέροι, μηδ᾽ ὃς ϕύγοι, ἀλλ̓  ἅμα πάντες
᾽Ιλίου ἐξαπολοίατ᾽ ἀκήδεστοι καὶ ἄϕαντοι.
Of them let not one escape sheer destruction and our hands, not even 
the boy whom his mother carries in her womb; let not even him es-
cape, but let all perish together from Ilios, unmourned and unseen.24
20 Cf. Quintus Smyrnaeus 13.100–23, Triph. 547–58. See Camerotto, Ilioupersis: La 
caduta di Troia in quattro atti, 109–13.
21 On the representation of Helen in the Ilioupersis see Brillante, “Elena nella notte 
della presa di Troia,” 109–10.
22 It is less probable that this might be Echion, the first Achaean warrior to die 
falling from the Trojan horse, forgetting to use a rope; his death somehow recalls 
that of Elpenor.
23 Anderson, Fall of Troy, 186: “But the massacre on the pithos need not be limited 
to a single family, and the multiplication of scenes may be read as an attempt to 
represent all the women and children of the city. Like the Achaians of epic poetry, 
the warriors on the pithos are determined to eradicate the entire race of Trojans.”
24 Translation by A. T. Murray and William F. Wyatt. These are the words that 
Agamemnon addresses to Menelaus in battle. They serve as a rule of conduct, 
this is the ideology of war. See Kirk, The Iliad: A Commentary, 161: “the phrase, 
not elsewhere, has a threateningly legalistic ring”; Graziosi-Haubold, Homer: 
Iliad, Book 6, 90: “Both ancient and modern readers have expressed shock at his 
harshness, and at the poet’s apparent endorsement of it.” And then see Came-
rotto, “I giorni del sangue,” 65–67.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   118 1. 03. 2024   10:36:14
Fig. 1 — Ilioupersis, Relief Pithos from Mykonos, Detail 
(Archaeological Museum Mykonos, inv. 2240)
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   119 1. 03. 2024   10:36:14
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO120
When the story is a persis, then one can observe the impotence of 
the women and the mothers whose children are being massacred in 
their arms, in front of their eyes; there is desperation and blood, and 
slavery. It is the time of the doulion emar (see Figure 1).
Why these images? Why does the artist choose to depict precisely 
these scenes, these images, and these motifs to narrate the persis? 
Such questions arise almost automatically. Even if these images were 
made for the public of the Hellenes, the context cannot be festive. 
It may be impressive, but it is not celebratory. There is nothing he-
roic about raping a woman; there is nothing great about killing a 
child, about massacring children without mercy before the eyes of 
their mothers. This cannot be the celebration of the winners. Why, 
then, do the Greeks of Homer’s time represent and want to see the 
slaugh ter of infants, something that Euripides will call an ignominy, 
a shame for Hellas?25
The vase is certainly not a heroic celebration of victory over ene-
mies. There is no sign of triumph. After the spectacular scene of the 
horse, we see the Achaeans immediately below: not even a single 
duel between heroes can be seen, and this is impressive since they 
are so frequent in many later representations of ceramics. The duel 
with the two warriors in arms facing each other becomes one of the 
most popular epic and iconographic themes. The structure is the 
same as that of the duel, but the variation is problematic, creating 
embarrassing and certainly terrible results. With the strength of their 
bodies, with the violence of their gestures, with the great weapons in 
the foreground, the Achaean heroes face the weakest, the helpless, 
in a literal sense. Women and children cannot be the protagonists of 
a duel. This is a massacre, but there exists a more precise term: it is 
genocide because the goal is the death of those who could become the 
25 Cf. Eur., Tro. 1190s: “Τὸν παῖδα τόνδ’ ἔκτειναν ’Αργεῖοί ποτε / δείσαντες; αἰσχρὸν 
τοὐπίγραμμά γ’  Ἑλλάδι.” Thus, the killing of Astyanax becomes the paradigm 
of cruelty and the end of civilization: Eur., Tro. 764s: “ὦ βάρβαρ’ ἐξευρόντες 
῞Ελληνες κακά, / τί τόνδε παῖδα κτείνετ’ οὐδὲν αἴτιον.” The reasons are aberrant, 
this is the legitimacy of the extermination of the lineage, to avoid any possi-
bilities of rebirth (Eur., Tro. 1160s: “μὴ Τροίαν ποτέ / πεσοῦσαν ὀρθώσειεν;”), 
any possible return: Eur., Hec. 1138s (Polimestor about the killing of Polydorus): 
“ἔδεισα μή σοι πολέμιος λειϕθεὶς ὁ παῖς / Τροίαν ἀθροίσῃ καὶ ξυνοικίσῃ πάλιν.” 
Cf. this series of barbaric and monstrous comparisons, Sen., Tro. 1104–109: “Quis 
Colchus hoc, quis sedis incertae Scytha / commisit, aut quae Caspium tangens 
mare / gens iuris expers ausa? non Busiridis / puerilis aras sanguis aspersit feri, 
/ nec parva gregibus membra Diomedes suis / epulanda posuit.”
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   120 1. 03. 2024   10:36:15
TROY IS BURNING: EPIC ARCHETYPES 121
future of the city.26 So, if heroic values reside in face-to-face fighting 
against an equally strong opponent, then here we have the complete 
opposite.27 Narrating the persis, then, is precisely narrating the violence. 
When the massacre of innocents becomes the dominant motif, the 
one that occupies the whole narrative, the one that is put in greatest 
prominence in the broader space of the scene of the pithos, then there 
can be no misunderstandings, no ambiguities. The artist’s goal, the 
desired effect, is in what we see with our eyes.
The tale of Ilioupersis is the testimony of the true nature of war, 
not of the memorable actions of heroes. Their glory is cursed, as we 
well know. Telling the persis shows the desperation in the eyes of 
women, their gestures, the tremendous emotions, the words, and 
the cries of their voices.28
We can see in these images the end of Troy through the eyes of 
Priamus, Hecabe, and Andromache: before our eyes, we see death, 
devastation, fire, pain, and blood. The representations, images, and 
songs become collective consciousness, essential because of this effect.
There are at least two perspectives. It is good to show everything: 
works of art have the necessary detachment and enargeia. This is the 
goal of the artist of this vase. We must have the courage to show the 
tragedy on stage before the people. As we know, this is also the aim 
and effect of Demodocus’ song.
It is good to see, understand, and remember. The evil of war 
must be seen. We must never forget what war means. This becomes 
a warning shared by everyone, winners and losers. The ruin of 
26 The goal of the winners is clear and tremendous: Hom., Il. 9.592–94 “κήδε ,̓ 
ὅσ᾽ ἀνθρώποισι πέλει τῶν ἄστυ ἁλώῃ· / ἄνδρας μὲν κτείνουσι, πόλιν δέ τε πῦρ 
ἀμαθύνει, / τέκνα δέ τ᾽ ἄλλοι ἄγουσι βαθυζώνους τε γυναῖκας.” See Camerotto, 
Troia brucia, 67: “Si uccidono tutti i maschi adulti, quelli che hanno il ruolo 
di difensori. Diventano il nemico demonizzato su cui infierire nella maniera 
più spaventosa, più oltraggiosa. Ma al contempo, se non prima ancora, entra in 
opera il massacro delle vittime innocenti, inermi. Si uccidono i vecchi, che sono 
la coscienza e la testimonianza della storia della città. Si ammazzano i bambini, 
anche quelli nel ventre delle madri, perché sono la speranza delle generazioni 
future e della rinascita.” 
27 For the meaning, the rules of duel and confrontation according to the codes of 
heroic epic, see Camerotto, “Il duello e l’agone,” 9–12, and now Tanozzi, “L’ant-
iduello,” 427–30.
28 On women’s crying and its value as testimony see Leandro, “Piangere Troia,” 39: 
“È l’esito di una volontà programmatica di sterminio, oltre che un gesto simboli-
camente mostruoso; non riguarda solo la resa della città, ma la rimozione totale 
della sua memoria collettiva.” The women see and mourn the horror of the fall 
of Troy.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   121 1. 03. 2024   10:36:15
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO122
persis affects everybody. The story of Ilioupersis, with its words 
and images, could make us understand that the horror of war is 
always present.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, Michael J. The Fall of Troy in Early Greek Poetry and Art. 
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Avlamis, Pavlos. “Contextualizing Quintus: The Fall of Troy and 
the Cultural Uses of the Paradoxical Cityscape in Posthomerica 
13.” Transactions of the American Philological Association 149 
(2019): 153–214.
Barbaresco, Katia. “La terra e il sangue (secondo Quinto Smirneo).” 
Lexis 37 (2019): 323–39.
Bigai, Silvia. “Nausicaa e lo straniero: Civiltà, accoglienza, ospitalità.” 
In Il grido di Andromaca: Voci di donne contro la guerra, edited 
by Alberto Camerotto, Katia Barbaresco, and Valeria Melis, 
141–52. Vittorio Veneto: De Bastiani Editore,  2022.
Brillante, Carlo. “Elena nella notte della presa di Troia: Dall’Iliou-
persis all’Eneide.” Aevum Antiquum 9 (2009): 109–39.
Cadario, Matteo. “Il cavallo di Troia aveva le ruote? Riflessioni su 
tradizione letteraria e iconografica.” In Philoxenia: Viaggi e vi-
aggiatori nella Grecia di ieri e di oggi, edited by Andrea Capra, 
Stefano Martinelli Tempesta, and Cecilia Nobili, 223–26. Milan: 
Mimesis, 2020.
Camerotto, Alberto. “Il duello e l’agone: Le regole della violenza 
nell’epica eroica.” Nikephoros 20 (2007): 9–32.
-------- . “I giorni del sangue: Immagini e codici eroici della violenza 
per la Ilioupersis.” L’Immagine Riflessa 21 (2012): 65–94.
-------- . “Parrhesia: Una parola per i ‘Classici contro.’” Atene e Roma 
6 (2012): 51–63.
-------- . “Utopici Feaci, ovvero a che cosa servono le utopie (secondo 
Omero).” In Utopia (Europa): Ovvero del diventare cittadini eu-
ropei, edited by Alberto Camerotto and Filippomaria Pontani, 
13–34. Milan: Mimesis, 2019.
-------- . Troia brucia: Come e perché raccontare l’Ilioupersis. Milan: 
Mimesis, 2022.
-------- . Ilioupersis: La caduta di Troia in quattro atti, con un prologo, 
un epilogo e qualche nota di commento (sulle tracce epiche di 
Trifiodoro). Vittorio Veneto: De Bastiani Editore, 2023.
Campbell, Malcolm. A Commentary on Quintus Smyrnaeus Postho-
merica XII. Leiden: Brill, 1981.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   122 1. 03. 2024   10:36:15
TROY IS BURNING: EPIC ARCHETYPES 123
Consoloni, Ludovica. “Le donne di Troia: Fondamenta della città in 
pace, frammenti della città distrutta.” In Il grido di Andromaca: 
Voci di donne contro la guerra, edited by Alberto Camerotto, 
Katia Barbaresco, and Valeria Melis, 65–78. Vittorio Veneto: De 
Bastiani Editore, 2022.
de Jong, Irene J. F. A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey. 
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Edwards, Mark W. The Iliad: A Commentary 5; Books 17–20. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Ervin, Miriam. “A Relief Pithos from Mykonos.” Archaiologikon 
Deltion 18 (1963): 37–75.
-------- . “Notes on Relief Pithoi of the Tenian-Boiotian Group.” Ame-
rican Journal of Archaeology 80, no. 1 (1976): 19–41.
Farioli, Marcella. “Le dita tagliate delle donne greche: Femminile, 
guerra e cittadinanza.” In Uomini contro: Tra l’Iliade e la grande 
guerra, edited by Alberto Camerotto, Marco Fucecchi, and Gior-
gio Ieranò, 157–74. Milan: Mimesis, 2017.
Graf, F. “Women, War, and Warlike Divinities.” Zeitschrift für 
Papyrologie und Epigraphik 55 (1984): 245–54.
Graziosi, Barbara, and Johannes Haubold. Homer: Iliad, Book 6. 
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Kirk, Geoffry S. The Iliad: A Commentary 2; Books 5–8. Cambridge: 
Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Lämmer, Manfred. “La cosiddetta ‘pace olimpica’ nell’antichità 
greca.” In Lo sport in Grecia, edited by Paola Angeli Bernardini, 
119–52. Rome: Editori Laterza, 1988. 
Leandro, Federica. “Piangere Troia: Attraverso le lacrime delle donne.” 
In Il grido di Andromaca: Voci di donne contro la guerra, edited 
by Alberto Camerotto, Katia Barbaresco, and Valeria Melis, 
39–52. Vittorio Veneto: De Bastiani Editore, 2022.
Loman, Pasi. “No Woman No War: Women’s Participation in An-
cient Greek Warfare.” Greece & Rome 51, no. 1 (2004): 34–54.
Miguélez-Cavero, Laura. Triphiodorus: The Sack of Troy; A General 
Study and a Commentary. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2013.
Moriss, Sarah P. “The Sacrifice of Astyanax: Near Eastern Contri-
butions to the Siege of Troy.” In The Ages of Homer: A Tribute to 
Emily Townsend Vermeule, edited by Jane B. Carter and Sarah P. 
Morris, 221–45. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.
Renker, Stephan. A Commentary on Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 
13. Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press, 2020.
Rousseau, Philippe. “War, Speech, and the Bow Are Not Women’s 
Bussiness.” In Women & War in Antiquity, edited by Jacqueline 
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   123 1. 03. 2024   10:36:15
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO124
Fabre-Serris and Alison Keith, 15–33. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins 
University Press, 2015.
Scheijnen, Tine. Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica: A Study of Heroic 
Characterization and Heroism. Leiden: Brill, 2018.
Tanozzi, Federico. “L’antiduello, ovvero della morte di Priamo.” 
Lexis 41 (2023): 423–52.
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   124 1. 03. 2024   10:36:15
TROY IS BURNING: EPIC ARCHETYPES 125
ABSTRACT
The paper discusses the Italian project on “Ilioupersis: Epic Archetypes,” 
which delves into the multifaceted concept of war violence across 
cultures and history, exploring its representation in various discipli-
nes like literature, art, and cinema. Through seminars, conferences, 
and public actions, the project aims to enhance civil consciousness 
and collective memory, particularly focusing on the fall of Troy as 
a universal symbol of violence and its consequences. With a strong 
emphasis on engaging younger scholars and involving communities, 
the project seeks to foster a shared historical and cultural awareness 
around war violence themes. Moreover, it explores the transforma-
tive power of sport as a symbol of peace and cooperation, drawing 
parallels between ancient athletic ideals and contemporary societal 
values. Collaborations with institutions like UNESCO aim to extend 
these discussions to conflict-affected areas, promoting peace-building 
efforts through cultural understanding and dialogue. Ultimately, the 
project advocates for a civilization that values peace, understanding, 
and cooperation over violence and conflict.
KEYWoRdS: Troy, Iliad, epic, archetypes, Quintus of Smyrna, war
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   125 1. 03. 2024   10:36:15
ALBERTO CAMEROTTO126
Troja gori: Epski arhetipi  
 
IZVLEČEK
Članek obravnava italijanski projekt “Ilioupersis: Epski arhetipi,” 
ki raziskuje večplastni koncept vojnega nasilja v različnih kulturah 
v zgodovini ter raziskuje njegovo predstavitev v različnih sferah 
umetnosti, kot so literatura, likovna umetnost in film. S seminarji, 
konferencami in javnimi nastopi želi projekt okrepiti državljansko 
zavest in kolektivni spomin, zlasti s poudarkom na padcu Troje kot 
univerzalnem simbolu nasilja in njegovih posledic. Z velikim poudar-
kom na vključevanju mlajših raziskovalcev in vključevanju skupnosti 
si projekt prizadeva spodbujati skupno zgodovinsko in kulturno 
zavest o temah vojnega nasilja. Poleg tega raziskuje transformativno 
moč športa kot simbola miru in sodelovanja ter išče vzporednice med 
antičnimi športnimi ideali in sodobnimi družbenimi vrednotami. Cilj 
sodelovanja z ustanovami, kot je UNESCO, je razširiti te razprave na 
območja, ki so jih prizadeli konflikti, ter s kulturnim razumevanjem in 
dialogom spodbujati prizadevanja za gradnjo miru. Končno se projekt 
zavzema za civilizacijo, ki med vrednote postavlja mir, razumevanje 
in sodelovanje namesto nasilja in konfliktov.
KLJUČNE BESEdE: Troja, Iliada, epika, arhetipi, Kvint iz Smirne, vojna
CLOTHO 12 (4).indd   126 1. 03. 2024   10:36:15