The Sirens and Ulysses [SEP] creator
The Sirens and Ulysses
The Sirens and Ulysses is a large oil painting on canvas by the English artist William Etty, first exhibited in 1837. It depicts the scene from Homer's "Odyssey" in which Ulysses (Odysseus) resists the bewitching song of the Sirens by having his ship's crew tie him up, while they are ordered to block their own ears to prevent themselves from hearing the song.
While traditionally the Sirens had been depicted as human–animal chimeras, Etty portrayed them as naked young women,
whiten all the ground. / The ground polluted floats with human gore / And human carnage taints the dreadful shore."
Composition and reception.
"The Sirens and Ulysses" shows three Sirens singing on an island, surrounded by the rotting corpses of dead sailors. Ulysses is visible in the background tied to the mast of his ship, while dark clouds rise in the background.
Ulysses appears larger than his fellow sailors, while the Sirens hold out their arms in traditional dramatic poses. The three Sirens