Rousseau’s Guerrières Antiques vase was inspired by photographs published in Comoedia Illustré (June 15, 1912) depicting the pirates from the second scene of the Ballet Russe’s Daphnis et Chloé (1912), with music by Maurice Ravel and choreography by Michel Fokine. The captions identify the two dancers as Alexander Oumansky and Nicolas Kremnev. The ballet, based on a pastoral romance by the Greek writer Longus (first printed in Florence in 1598), unfolds on a Mediterranean island where the shepherd Daphnis, his beloved Chloé, and their companions celebrate the god Pan. While jealous rivals Darkon and Lisinion attempt in vain to disturb the festivities, it is the pirates—led by the formidable Briaxis—who drive the drama forward. They storm the island, abduct Chloé, and plunge the pastoral idyll into crisis. One pirate advances with a spear in his left hand, a variation of the promachos pose associated with the foremost fighters in the phalanx, the tightly packed infantry formation that defined Greek warfare. The second pirate uses his right hand to grip a shield while his left thrusts forward. A third pirate lunges forward, spear in his right hand and shield in his left, capturing the dynamic balance of attack and defense.
