Circa 500-Circa 440 B.C.E.
Painter

High Honor. The son and pupil of Aglaophon, Polygnotus was born in Thasos, an island of the north Aegean Sea. He was said to have lived with Elpinike, sister of the Athenian politician Cimon, who was influential in the years 470-450. He painted the Stoa Poikile in the Athenian agora, including scenes such as the Sack of Troy. For doing this painting without charging a fee he is said to have been awarded Athenian citizenship; another source tells us his painting of The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus in a sanctuary of Castor and Pollux in Athens earned him this honor.

Other Works. In the wings of the Propylaia, or gateway to the Acropolis, he painted such Homeric figures as Achilles, and the meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa, and for Athena's temple in Plataea he painted Odysseus After Slaying the...