Blinding of Polyphemos, Protoattic Amphora, c. 650 BCE.
Relates to:
Amphoras, vases with two handles and a long neck used to store food and liquids, such as this one, were often placed in tombs of small children. The frightening images - such as those of Medusa in the lower part of this amphora or of the Cyclops Polyphemus in the upper part - may have been intended to protect the children by frightening away spirits from their tombs. In this representation, Polyphemus is much larger than Odysseus. He holds a drinking cup in one hand and tries to remove the pole from his eye with the other.
Source/Citation:
Archaeological Museum of Eleusis in Greece. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Type:
Contemporaneous Resource
Access Level:
Public Domain