John Flaxman's Illustrations for the Odyssey

Mercury and Calypso by sculptor and draughtsman John Flaxman around 1805 (shown here in a subsequent French edition of 1835). Calypso is ordered to give up Odysseus...

Flaxman was one of the main sculptors and illustrators of the Neoclassical movement and very successful in his day. Below: Odysseus and Circe... Negotiations are not going well.

Below: the Sirens...

Below: Athena appears in Penelope's dreams... Or, if you prefer, Athena appears in the form of Penelope's sister and tells the queen of the return of her son Telemachus.