Ancient Greek Literature in Art
“Black Figure column Krater depicting Odysseus [Ulysses] Escaping from the Cyclops’s Cave Greek made in Athens 550-500 BCE terracotta”
Photo by Mary Harrsch
via Flickr.com
Photographed at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California on October 8, 2006
Creative Commons License
Over the centuries, the authors and characters of Ancient Greek literature have been portrayed in many different styles; here are a few below.
To learn more about classical Greek art, visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrun Timeline of Art History, which offers excellent images, including photos of several urns, and detailed, interesting information; some unclad human figures are included.
“Athena” [Minerva] by unknown Greek artist
silver coin, 335-330 BC
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Creative Commons License
(click image to zoom in)
Scroll Fragment of
“The Odyssey”,
[scribe unknown,]
1st century B.C., Papyrus
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California.
Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.
The passage on this fragment describes the reaction of Ulysses’ men when he frees them from bondage to Circe.
Antigone Pouring a Libation over the Corpse of Her Brother Polynices,
by William Henry Rinehart, 1867-18700; carved 1870. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the family of John H. Hall, in his memory, 1891 (91.4). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
![Terracotta plaque, ca. 460-450 BC, artist unknown The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1930 (30.11.9) Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. From the description from the Metropolitan Museum website: “Odysseus returning to Penelope....Here [Odysseus] is shown approaching the disconsolate Penelope, as the faithful members of his household—his father, Laertes, his son, Telemachos, and the swineherd Eumaios—look on.”](https://i0.wp.com/www.excellence-in-literature.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/OdysseusMMterracotta.jpg?ssl=1)
Terracotta plaque, ca. 460-450 BC,
artist unknown
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Fletcher Fund, 1930 (30.11.9)
Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
From the description from the Metropolitan Museum website: “Odysseus returning to Penelope….Here [Odysseus] is shown approaching the disconsolate Penelope, as the faithful members of his household—his father, Laertes, his son, Telemachos, and the swineherd Eumaios—look on.”
Sophocles, date and artist unknown, photograph taken by Marie-Lan Nguyen, 2010
Bust of Homer from the Vatican Museum. Original artist unknown; photograph by Marie-Lan Nguyen, 2006.
Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, 1653, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Purchase, special contributions and funds given or bequeathed by friends of the Museum, 1961 (61.198). Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Fall of Icarus, a 17th-century relief sculpture.
Antigone and the Body of Polynices
Antigone by Sir Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)
Some Preliminary Observations on Classical Greek Literature by Ian Johnston
