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The weighing of souls was Zeus' method of deciding which of two confronted heroes would die in combat. He would place a death spirit for each of the heroes in the pans of the scales. The heavier spirit who sinks the scales is doomed.
This scene is illustrated on vases frequently between 500 - 460 B.C. Usually Zeus, or sometimes Hermes with Zeus presiding, holds the scales, deciding between the fate of Achilles and Memnon. On the vase left, (white ground black figure lekythos, by the Sappho Painter from c.500 B.C) Hermes can be seen weighing the souls of Achilles and Memnon. |
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