Engraved Scarab with Ajax and Cassandra

Set in a modern, probably 19th century, gold hoop, this cornelian intaglio is carved on one side to resemble a scarab beetle. On the underside, encircled by a hatched border, is a scene from the end of the Trojan War, as described in the lost epic poem Ilioupersis. In the center, the Trojan princess and prophetess Cassandra sits semi-nude with her back to the viewer. Gazing upward, she clings to a statue of the goddess Athena, identified by her helmet, spear, and shield. Athena’s head is turned away from the scene and the statue appears to tip forward due to the curvature of the gem. To the left, the Greek warrior Ajax stands fully armed, with a crested helmet, a breastplate decorated with a griffin, greaves, and a round shield adorned with the head of Medusa.

According to myth, as the Greeks laid waste to the city of Troy, Cassandra fled to the temple of Athena seeking sanctuary. Her state of disarray – with her loose hair and fallen mantle – alludes to her impending sexual assault at the hands of Ajax. According to several ancient sources (Quintus of Smyrna, Lycophron, and Scholia A to the Iliad), Athena was so offended by this act of impiety that she turned her head away from the scene. As depicted on this gem, the distinction between Athena-as-goddess and Athena-as-statue is blurred. Cassandra, along with many of the other Trojan women, was later enslaved by the Greeks, and Ajax was shipwrecked by Athena as punishment for defiling her temple.

In Etruria, where this gem was carved, these figures were named Aivas Vilates, Casntra, and Menerva, and their depiction on this gem reflects the popularity of Greek myths in Etruscan art. When worn as a ring, this story may have functioned as a warning against replicating the sacrilege committed by Ajax. Further, in an Etruscan context, the rape of Cassandra may have served as a metaphor for Etruria’s subjugation by Rome, which was rapidly expanding in the 4th century BC.