A spectacular banqueting room with elegant black walls, decorated with mythological characters and subjects inspired by the Trojan War, is one of the rooms recently been brought to light during the excavations currently underway in insula (block) 10 of Regio IX at Pompeii and which is now completely visible in all its splendour.

The archaeological excavation started in 2023 in insula 10 of Regio IX in Pompeii, necessary for the arrangement of the fronts and for the improvement of the hydrogeological structure of the plateau, has so far yielded two houses, connected to each other, which overlooked Via di Nola.

It is a large house of notable quality, which has revealed rooms decorated with 2nd style paintings, overlooking a large peristyle, in an architectural arrangement dating back to the mid-1st century BC and which is comparable in Pompeii with other important private complexes.

It is believed the walls in the black hall were painted black to prevent the smoke from the oil lamps that were used at the time from being seen on the walls.

Seen here is Princess Helen (Helen of Sparta/Helen of Troy) meeting Prince of Troy, with a hand gesture by the prince, suggesting that the princess come with him. This elopement/abduction with Helen is said to spark the Trojan War.

The prince (Πάρις) is believed to be the son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, and younger brother of Prince Hector. He appears in numerous Greek legends and works of Ancient Greek literature.

The princess (Ἑλένη) was said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and was the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux, Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. Elements of her putative biography come from classical authors such as Aristophanes, Cicero, Euripides, and Homer (in both the Iliad and the Odyssey). Her story reappears in Book II of Virgil's Aeneid.

In Greek mythology, both the princess and prince are depicted in various scenarios, which are far to complex to explain here.

This is a fantastic fresco, with bold color from the afternoon sun on the painting. The prince is holding a shepherds crook, with his hound (herding dog) at his feet. Some historians believe the shepherds crook was where the word hoquet (Hockey) came from.