Iconografía de Polifemo: la tradición homérica y sus pervivencias

Abstract

From the VII century B.C., the artistic representations frequently recreated the encounter between Odysseus and the Cyclops Polyphemus, as well as the scorn the sanguinary monster was made object of. These representations have been distinguished for their eminently narrative character, expression of two contradictory civilization and barbarism. Greece, as far as Etruria, frequently associated this topic to the funeral contexts and the victory over Death, while the Roman world increased its theatrical character and propagandistic use, whose meaning was transforming, until being subverted, in the Modern and Contemporary Ages in parallel to the historical development.