DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0301
xvi LITERATURE AND PAINTING: THE EPIC 281
art. His descriptions of the strange beings whom Odysseus
encounters are often vague; the Cyclopes and the Laestrygones
are only spoken of as gigantic. The companions of Odysseus,
when bewitched by Circe, do not, as they are represented on
the vases, turn into animal-headed men, but into very swine.
The Sirens are not said to be unlike ordinary women in form.
Only Scylla is frankly spoken of as monstrous, as having twelve
feet and six heads, as being, in fact, a six-fold being, and seizing
on six of the companions of Odysseus. Scylla in Greek art is in
the form of a mermaid, with dogs about her middle. The
gap between the vague story-telling of Homer and the definite
and concrete spirit of Greek plastic art is very striking.
In the vase which I have described, then, we may see a tra-
ditional scheme, varied by the desire to get in as much as pos-
sible of the Homeric tale.
In the next vase-painting we have a representation of the
passing of the Sirens, from an amphora in the British Museum
(Fig. 98).1 The ship with furled sail rows swiftly on, with
Odysseus tied to the mast, according to his own directions.
Two Sirens, in the form of human-headed birds, one called
Himeropa, are standing singing on the rocks, a third with closed
eyes is falling headlong into the sea. We have here three in-
teresting sets of facts: (1) Homeric reminiscence, (2) artistic
tradition, (3) continuous narration. (1) In the fact thatthe sails
are furled while the rowers ply their oars we may perhaps see
a reminiscence of the Homeric lines (XII., 170-172), which tell
how the mariners pulled down their sails and took to their
oars; but again the coincidence may be fortuitous. The bind-
ing of Odysseus to the mast is, of course, of the essence of the
story, and could not be missed. (2) Artistic tradition is visible
chiefly in the forms of the Sirens, who are here not sweet-
voiced women, as in Homer, and on some Roman sarcophagi,
but birds with human heads, an art form which in Egypt
1Mon. d. Inst., I., 8; Brit. Mus. Cat., III., 268.
art. His descriptions of the strange beings whom Odysseus
encounters are often vague; the Cyclopes and the Laestrygones
are only spoken of as gigantic. The companions of Odysseus,
when bewitched by Circe, do not, as they are represented on
the vases, turn into animal-headed men, but into very swine.
The Sirens are not said to be unlike ordinary women in form.
Only Scylla is frankly spoken of as monstrous, as having twelve
feet and six heads, as being, in fact, a six-fold being, and seizing
on six of the companions of Odysseus. Scylla in Greek art is in
the form of a mermaid, with dogs about her middle. The
gap between the vague story-telling of Homer and the definite
and concrete spirit of Greek plastic art is very striking.
In the vase which I have described, then, we may see a tra-
ditional scheme, varied by the desire to get in as much as pos-
sible of the Homeric tale.
In the next vase-painting we have a representation of the
passing of the Sirens, from an amphora in the British Museum
(Fig. 98).1 The ship with furled sail rows swiftly on, with
Odysseus tied to the mast, according to his own directions.
Two Sirens, in the form of human-headed birds, one called
Himeropa, are standing singing on the rocks, a third with closed
eyes is falling headlong into the sea. We have here three in-
teresting sets of facts: (1) Homeric reminiscence, (2) artistic
tradition, (3) continuous narration. (1) In the fact thatthe sails
are furled while the rowers ply their oars we may perhaps see
a reminiscence of the Homeric lines (XII., 170-172), which tell
how the mariners pulled down their sails and took to their
oars; but again the coincidence may be fortuitous. The bind-
ing of Odysseus to the mast is, of course, of the essence of the
story, and could not be missed. (2) Artistic tradition is visible
chiefly in the forms of the Sirens, who are here not sweet-
voiced women, as in Homer, and on some Roman sarcophagi,
but birds with human heads, an art form which in Egypt
1Mon. d. Inst., I., 8; Brit. Mus. Cat., III., 268.