The Euphronios krater, a sixth-century-B.C.E ceramic vase, was named

Explanation

The Euphronios krater, a sixth-century-B.C.E ceramic vase, was named for its painter, Euphronios. One side depicts the death of the mythic hero Sarpedon; the other, several anonymous Athenian youths arming themselves for battle. The youts lack Sarpedon's anatomical detail; their limited musculature is portrayed using faint, almost invisible lines and seems unfinished. Scholars have, however, dismissed the idea that Euphronios failed to complete the side depicting the Athenian youths.

The passage says that scholars have concluded basically the following:

It is not true that "that Euphronios failed to complete the side depicting the Athenian youths."

The passage provides no support for that conclusion. Rather, it provides a reason to believe otherwise:

The youths lack Sarpedon's anatomical detail; their limited musculature is portrayed using faint, almost invisible lines and seems unfinished.

Then, we are asked the following question:

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest reason for the scholars position regarding the krater?

The correct answer will provide support for the scholars' conclusion.

a) No other examples of Euphronios's work have survived, though descriptions of several works do exist.

The fact that no other example of Euphronios's work have survived does not indicate anything about whether this particular work was completed.

Eliminate.

b) Other existing kraters from the time period depict one scene on one side and a related scene on the other side.

This choice's stating that other kraters depict one scene on one side and a related scene on the other side is meant to tempt us to choose this choice because it could be perceived as somehow confirming an aspect of what the passage says about the Euphronios krater, which has one scene on one side and another scene on the other side.

However, we need to confirm one specific idea, that it's not the case that Euphronios failed to complete the side depicting the Athenian youths.

So, since the information in this choice does not indicates anything about what constitutes a completed Krater, it does not do what we need.

Eliminate.

c) The mythic hero Sarpedon was a stock figure used by sixth-century painters to comment on the concept of heroism.

We have to be careful not to run with this choice and create an unsupported story. For example, it would be easy to decide that the fact that Sarpedon was a stock figure used by sixth-century painters somehow explains why Sarpedon has anatomical detail that the youths don't have even though the vase was completed.

The truth is that the fact that Sarpedon was a stock figure used by sixth-century painters doesn't mean anything about whether Euphronios completed the side depicting the Athenian youths. All that information means is that Sarpedon was commonly used for the purpose of commenting on the concept of heroism. The fact that Sarpedon was commonly used doesn't indicate whether Euphronios considered the side depicting the youths complete.

Eliminate.

d) Euphronios's work is among the first examples of the use of a new technique for depicting the body and its musculature.

This choice is tricky to eliminate since we might decide that it means that the portrayal of the youths' musculature using faint, almost invisible lines is complete because it's an example of "a new technique for depicting the body and its musculature."

However, there's a key thing we need to notice, which is that the passage indicates that the musculature of both Sarpedon and the youths was depicted by Euphronios.

So, this "new technique" doesn't refer to how one or the other was depicted. It refers to how Euphronios depicted musculature in general, whether with "Sarpedon's anatomical detail" or "using faint, almost invisible lines."

Thus, we have no reason to believe that this choice is about only the way the youths were depicted, and thus it doesn't indicate anything about whether the side with the depiction of the youths was completed.

If there were no better choice, we still might feel forced to decide that "using faint, almost invisible lines" is the "new technique." However, we aren't forced to do so since (E) is a better choice.

Keep just in case, but look for a better choice.

e) Euphronios's contemporaries generally included only minimal detail when painting unheralded characters.

This choice indicates that "minimal detail," such as "faint, almost invisible lines," was commonly used when painting unheralded characters.

"Anonymous Athenian youths" could be considered "unheralded," meaning "not previously known about or recognized." So, in "using faint, almost invisible lines" to depicts them, Euphronios would have been doing what many artists of the time did when they completed works.

Thus, what this choice says indicates that the work was completed, in a style common at the time.

The correct answer is (E).