Key elements of the visual narrative
The visual narrative begins with the contour ‘description’ of the archaeological object, enhancing the fact that it is organized on three levels and two conceptual triangles ­– thematic units. A series of episodes are presented as ‘snapshots’: the fight between Patroclus and Hector, the death of Patroclus, the anger and the grief of Achilles over the death of Patroclus – all catalysts for the events that follow (that is, the combat of Achilles and Hector, the death of Hector, the dragging of his body). The figures of the Homeric heroes are drawn based on the iconography on ancient Greek pottery. With the enhancement of the figure of Priam, the projection focuses on the marble relief figures, adding elements of movement and immediacy – as for example the emphasis on gods as mediators, the group of sea deities and nymphs, Priam supplicating Achilles for the body of Hector, the expression of Achilles response to Priam’s supplication by slightly turning his head. The synchronic understanding of the relief representation (that is, its ‘cinematographic’ dimension where the different episodes co-occur at the same time) is temporally transformed to a diachronic understanding (presenting the development of the mythological episodes in time). To these two ‘objective’ forms of time, of the relief representation and the digital narrative, is added a third one, visitor lived time.