The Human perspective is how the Greeks viewed life, and especially in art.

Works of art from ancient Greece emphasized the individual above all. (Adams 86) In the example of the terracotta black-figure amphora vase painting, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Board Game, 540-530 B.C. by Greek painter and potter, Exekias, the Geometric style has been kept and used in the border to draw focus into the individual scene. The same narrative style is also found within the red-figure calyx-krater painting, The Death of Sarpedon 515-510 B.C. by Euphronious. Both depictions were created within the Archaic style period c.600-480 B.C., the former at the start of the Archaic and the latter in the more refined Late Archaic style leading into Classical Style. In comparison, both paintings exhibit the artists eye for detail. This can be seen within the detailed cloaks of Achilles and Ajax, and in the fine brushstrokes used to paint the scene of Sarpedons death. In contrast, red-figure permitted more free painting and representation of natural forms than had been possible in black-figure. (Adams 89) Influences from other cultures such as shape, technique and decoration also played an integral role in Greek pottery. The figures in both paintings possess the stylized frontal eye found in Egyptian and Near Eastern art, with the customary turn on the bodies to emphasize depth. In contrast, the scene with Achilles and Ajax is less dramatic than that of The Death of Sarpedon. Here the two heroes of the Trojan War are seen, fully dressed for battle, taking a moment to play a quick game of chance. The rivalry between these two is evident in Achilles who does not bother removing his helmet, as if indicating his game with Ajax will not take long for him to win. Ajax is seen stooped over, such as an old man would do, concentrating hard with the task at hand. Both men hold their spears at a diagonal plane indicating concentration of the two players. The narrative painted by Euphronious illustrating the death of Sarpedon, from Homers account in the Iliad, is one of contrast showing the final results of war and loss. Zeus, anguished over the death of his son Sarpedon by the spear of Patroklos, sends Hermes down to oversee the handling of his son. In turn,

Hermes asks the twin brothers, gods Hypnos and Thanatos, to remove Sarpedon from the battlefield. Framing opposite sides of the scene are the already deceased soldiers Laodamas and Hippolochos. In the prominent front is Sarpedon, shown with three mortal wounds to his body and eyes already closed. Euphronious paints his moment of death using the finest of brush strokes yet conveys the finality of death. The Greek perspective in the narrative painting form showcases Exekias and Euphronious pioneering talent in their own respective method. Similar Greek canons are used in both but differ with the tooling black-figure painting required, versus the naturalistic flow of brushstrokes red-figure enabled. Both are important examples of the newfound creativity the Greeks displayed from the boundless subjects of their imagination.