John William Waterhouse takes on Ulysses and the Sirens

Yesterday I noted that The Times was quite critical of Herbert James Draper's 1909interpretation of Homer's Sirens. Perhaps that is because 18 years before his painting was exhibited, John William Waterhouse had shown his own pictorial representation of Ulysses and the Sirens.



Unlike Draper, who leaned rather heavily on artistic license, Waterhouse was extremely careful to include specific details from the story that only would have been apparent to someone with more intimate knowledge of history. For example, as Australia's National Gallery has pointed out, the faces of Homer and his men, their clothing and helmets, and the boat's design have all been inspired by genuine artifacts.

Furthermore, you'll recall that critics were outraged that Draper portrayed the Sirens as mermaids. But when Waterhouse's rendition of the scene was exhibited 18 years before, critics noted that Waterhouse was one of the first artists to portray the Sirens as bird-like figures, something he might have noticed on a trip to the British Museum, which houses an ancient Greek red figure vase depicting the Sirens as birds.

I appreciate Waterhouse's version because it transports the viewer into the story of Ulysses and has a very clear narrative quality. Draper's portrayal seems to be telling a different tale altogether, but it's so lovely that I can hardly fault it. Both are lovely.