ACHILLEUS (or Achilles) is the focus of this drawing series. Structured like a compressed spring, Homer's Iliad depicts a hero that stays idle throughout much of the tale. Sides advance, soldiers make their names on the battlefield, yet the hero of the Achaean army remains unmoved.
The tide turns, of course, with the death of the hero's companion, Patroclus. "Rage" (the epic's opening cry) is finally unleashed. First, a curiously modern scene of the warrior bellowing from atop a hill, fire bursting from his head, then Achilleus storms the Trojan ranks.
The drawings in this series depict the unleashing of Achilleus. The idle is now active, the spring has sprung.
The tide turns, of course, with the death of the hero's companion, Patroclus. "Rage" (the epic's opening cry) is finally unleashed. First, a curiously modern scene of the warrior bellowing from atop a hill, fire bursting from his head, then Achilleus storms the Trojan ranks.
The drawings in this series depict the unleashing of Achilleus. The idle is now active, the spring has sprung.
Brilliant Achilleus, charcoal & pastel on gray-toned paper, 11 x 14,
private collection, Chicago, IL 
Swift Runner Achilleus, charcoal & pastel on gray-toned paper, 11 x 14, private collection, Elche, Spain
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Greathearted Achilleus, charcoal & pastel on gray-toned paper, 11 x 14, private collection, Steyr, Austria
Pelides, charcoal & pastel on gray-toned paper, 11 x 14,
private collection, Dungannon, United Kingdom |
Son of Peleus, charcoal & pastel on gray-toned paper, 14 x 11, private collection, Tokyo, Japan
Godlike Achilleus, charcoal & pastel on gray-toned paper, 11 x 14,
private collection, Richland Center, WI |
Glorious Achilleus, charcoal & pastel on gray-toned paper, 11 x 14,
private collection, New York, NY |
Famous Spearman, charcoal & pastel on gray-toned paper, 11 x 14, private collection, Ledyard, CT