the robot and the witch 15
like the realistic, heavily muscled bronze chest armor worn by Greek
warriors (chapter 7, fig. 7.3). Employing the same technique used for
images of warriors wearing bronze “muscle armor,” the artist painted
Talos’s entire body yellowish- white to distinguish his bronze plating from
human flesh. But despite his metallic form, Talos’s posture and his face
are humanized to evoke empathy. One classical scholar even detects “a
teardrop . . . falling from Talos’ right eye,” although this line might repre-
sent metallic molding or seams, like the other reddish outlines defining
the robot’s anatomy. 13
An earlier (440– 430 BC) vase painting on an Attic krater found in
southern Italy shows Talos as a tall bearded figure reeling off balance,
again struggling against Castor and Pollux (figs. 1.5, 1.6, plate 2). This
Fig. 1.4 (plate 1). “Death of Talos,” Ruvo vase detail. Album /
Art Resource, NY.