Odysseus & Circe

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Pictured is the goddess Circe fleeing from her chair perused by Odysseus holding a sward. On the left side of the picture, one of Odysseus' men is shown half transformed from pig to human.
This is a Greek vase painting depicting Odysseus threatening Circe after she had turned all his men into pigs. He demands that she return them to their human form. She is fleeing from him and as she does Circe drops what looks to be her mortar and pestle. On the left is one of Odysseus' men half turned back to human.

This vase is housed at Metropolitan Museum of Art. Its artist is unknown, but was believed to have been made around approximately 440 BCE. The vase itself is terracotta and thought to have been used to mix water and wine.

Full description

Classical Period vase, ca. 440 BCE; artist was an artist attributed to the Persephone painter. This vase painting shows the end of the story of Odysseus and Circe in the Odyssey. Circe was an enchantress and minor goddess thought to be the daughter of an Ocean Nymph and the sun god Helios. She was known for having a vast knowledge of potions, herbs, and magic. Odysseus and his crew of men stop at her island on their epic journey in Homers Odyssey. She turns his men into pigs and after a while he persuades her to change them back by agreeing to stay on her island with her for a year, over that time bearing her before leaving her to go back to his wife Penelope in Troy.

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    It is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art