The Blinding of Polyphemus – Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527-1596)
The Blinding of Polyphemus, painted in 1580 by Alessandro Allori
The two pieces of art I choose on the odyssey depicts the scene where Odysseus and his men use a staff to blind Cyclops. Although these two paintings depict the same scene they interpret it in completely different ways.
In the first picture, by Pellegrino Tibaldi, Odysseus is stabbing Cyclops in the eye with a sharpened stick by himself. Odysseus is in the light, blinding Cyclops by himself while his men are standing back in the shadows watching. This picture emphasizes Odysseus’ bravery and heroics since he is blinding Cyclops himself while Cyclops is just screaming. The artist downplays Cyclops’ strength because although the bones of Odysseus’ eaten men are on the floor Cyclops just looks like a giant man in the picture and is only screaming while Odysseus blinds him. Cyclops does not look very threatening in the depiction. The bright color and light on Odysseus shows that he is a heroic god-like figure while his men standing back in the dark colors could be foreshadowing their death in the story.
In the second picture, by Alessandro Alloriin, Odysseus looks like less of a hero Odysseus and his men are blinding Cyclops while he is seemingly pinned down by them. In this picture Odysseus is almost indistinguishable from his men and Cyclops doesn’t seem like such a big giant or threat. This depiction of the scene makes Odysseus look less courageous and godly since he is working with his men and blinding a much smaller depiction of Cyclops. Odysseus and his men blinding Cyclops while the other Cyclopes in the background can’t see them makes Odysseus and his men seem less heroic. This picture emphasizes Odysseus and his men’s urgency and secrecy of wanting to escape from Cyclops, like how they escaped with the sheep in the story. The picture downplays Odysseus’ bravery and heroics because he is indistinguishable from his men. The pale colors make it seem more of a secret attack and run instead of a heroic attack like in the other picture.
James Singh
Dear James Singh,
I agree with you that composition of Odysseus’ crew mates can help depict and emphasize Odysseus’s brave. In the second painting by Alessandro Alloriin, a composition of Odysseus that almost not to be able to identify and his crews’ composition can dull his heroic while in the story Odyssey itself, blinding Cyclops’ eye and lying his name as “Nobody” moment is one of significant scene; this important scene doesn’t only represent Odysseus’ heroic but his cunning, smart and strength.
I agree with your analysis about the different portrayal of Odysseus in these two paintings. By single-handily defeating Polyphemus, Odysseus’ heroism is prioritized. In the second painting, Odysseus is diminished to be indistinguishable from his crew men in the combined effort of defeating the Cyclops. This brings up the theme of identity and honor in The Odyssey. By removing Odysseus’ identity, some of his honor and bravery is also removed.
I do disagree, however, on the portrayal of Polyphemus in the first image. In my interpretation, the Cyclops looks to be in a defending position and his large physical stature does not downplay his power and danger.
Dear James,
In this thoughtful analysis, you lay out how two artists emphasize very different aspects of the original poem. Neither deviates far from what Homer wrote, but each offers an interpretation of both the hero and the monster. The Tibaldi picture portrays a struggle between two figures: one huge and helpless (that posture!), one small and powerful (lunging, piercing, etc). The Allori by contrast gives us many men against the Cyclops, de-emphasizing Odysseus and instead recalling other aspects of the poem–as you note, especially, the urgency and secrecy with which these men work. Interestingly, the cave door is open in this image–which it’s not, in the poem. What do you make of that? Why does this picture–otherwise very faithful to the text–make this change?
Strong work overall.
Prof Kolb