Odysseus and his men blinding the cyclops Polyphemus with a sharpened stake. Etching by Taylor, ca. 1790.

Date:
[1790?]
Reference:
43375i
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view Odysseus and his men blinding the cyclops Polyphemus with a sharpened stake. Etching by Taylor, ca. 1790.

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Odysseus and his men blinding the cyclops Polyphemus with a sharpened stake. Etching by Taylor, ca. 1790. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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About this work

Description

An episode in Homer's Odyssey. Polyphemus was the son of the god Poseidon, and one of the race of cyclopes, giant one-eyed shepherds who inhabited the island later identified as Sicily. When Odysseus and twelve of his men made landfall there, they entered Polyphemus's cave and were captured by the giant who ate two of the men. The next morning he devoured two more, and another two for his evening meal. Odysseus gave the giant strong wine to drink; and when the giant fell asleep they put out his eye with a sharpened stake

Publication/Creation

[London] (16 Paternoster Row) : Alexander Hogg, [1790?]

Physical description

1 print : etching, with engraving ; image 13.3 x 7.7 cm

Contributors

Lettering

Ulysses & his companions, being cast on the land of the cyclops in Italy, are putting out the eye of the monstrous giant Polyphemus, -whom they attacked by artifice to preserve their own lives. Taylor sculpt.

Reference

Wellcome Collection 43375i

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