Painting of the Month

The Escape from the Giant

Detail: Joseph Mallord William Turner, 'Ulysses deriding Polyphemus - Homer's Odyssey', 1829.
London, The National Gallery.

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After the war Ulysses set sail for home, but was destined to wander for another ten years before finally reaching his beloved island of Itacha.

During his travels he arrived at an island where he and his sailors sheltered in a cave full of provisions. They soon discovered the cave belonged to the man-eating, one-eyed giant, Polyphemus. He trapped them in the cave, but they succeeded in making Polyphemus drunk and then blinded him. They then tied themselves to the underbellies of Polyphemus' flock of sheep which he let out of the cave. Ulysses' taunted Polyphemus as they sailed away.

In the painting, Polyphemus appears as a figure almost to be made of storm clouds, directly above the ship, whilst Ulysses can be seen in red, waving a flag in defiance.

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