PARRHASIUS AND THE OLYNTHIAN CAPTIVE.
Reading edition
Seneca relates that Parrhasius, when about to paint a picture of Prometheus Chained, crucified an old Olynthian captive, to serve as a model, that he might be able to portray correctly the agonies of Prometheus while the Vulture preyed upon his vitals. This story is doubtless a fiction, as it is found nowhere but in the Controversies. Olynthus was taken by Philip of Macedon, B. C. 347, about forty years subsequent to the latest accounts of Parrhasius.