Chapter 5 - Atoms, Lithoi, and Animacy

Summary

A massive mosaic of black, white, orange, and tan uncut pebbles covered the floor of a banquet room in a private house at Pella (Figure 141).¹ The pebbles depict Theseus, the mythical founder-king of Athens, abducting the child Helen of Sparta, years before her marriage to the Mycenaean king Menelaus and subsequent trafficking by Aphrodite and Paris to Troy. Phorbas drives Theseus’s getaway chariot, pulled by four white horses, each with contrasting golden-orange manes and tails. Although this portion of the mosaic has sustained heavy damage and partial erasure, we can still see that the chariot driver looks over his shoulder at Theseus, who drags Helen towards the chariot.² Helen’s companion, Deianeira, reaches for the girl, as Theseus pulls her out of reach. The scene captures a critical moment in Theseus’s abduction in which Deianeira fails to recover Helen.