0724ANCIENTOdysseus

0724ANCIENTOdysseus_Esquiline

higher res
Homer Odyssey 10.80-132

"The Laestrygonians Hurling Rocks at the Fleet of Odysseus," wall painting from a house with Odyssey Landscapes on the Esquiline Hill, Rome, late 1st century BC, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, Rome.

An aristocratic homeowner in Rome's swankiest quarter decorated his walls with paintings of scenes from Homer's Odyssey.

Odysseus and the Laestrygonians, Esquiline fresco

Gardner's History of Art: "In the adventure with the Laestrygonians, the airy, bluish tones create a wonderful feeling of atmospheric, light=filled space that envelops and binds together all the forms within this warm Mediterranean fairlyland, where the human figures seem to play no more than an incidental role."

Vitruvius De architectura7.5, informs that such decor was common, if also considered decadent, in his day.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University and other contexts.
This resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.