Ulysses at the Table of Circe (The Odyssey of Homer)
Medium
Line engraving
Dimensions
Image and text: 7 11/16 × 10 1/4 in. (19.5 × 26.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Harvey Smith, 1977
Accession Number
1977.595.53(16)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This line engraving captures a pivotal moment from Homer’s *Odyssey*: the hero Ulysses seated at the table of the enchantress Circe. Designed by the renowned neoclassical artist John Flaxman and published in 1805 by a consortium of London firms including Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, the print belongs to a celebrated series of outline illustrations for Homer’s epic. Flaxman’s spare, elegant figures evoke the purity of ancient Greek vase painting while distilling the dramatic tension of the encounter—Ulysses protected by the herb moly, Circe’s magic rendered powerless. Executed in the...
About the Artist
John and Arthur Arch|Jane Matthews|Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown|William Miller|Homer|Hesiod|James Parker|Aeschylus|John Flaxman (British|British|British, London|British|Greek|Greek|British|Greek|British) · 1800 |1800 |1724 |1780 |-1200 |-0799 |1750 |-0525 |1755 –1850 |1899 |1968 |1850 |-0700 |-0600 |1805 |-0455 |1826
London|London| |London|Greek, active 13th or 8th century BCE|Greek, active ca. 700 BCE|British, London 1750–1805 London|Greek, ca. 525 BCE–ca. 455 BCE Gela, Sicily|British, York 1755–1826 London