Three thousand years ago, someone composed the two central epics that have come down to us as the Iliad and the Odyssey. My first acknowledgement must be, therefore, to Homer, or at least to the person of the same name whom we know as the composer of the poems.
On the crumbs from Homer's banquet, artists and writers have fed ever since, and my thanks must go to all those who have recognised a great story and sought to embellish it.
Many of the texts have been retranslated and re-published in recent years as paperbacks, making them accessible to the ordinary reader; without the groundswell of interest that this has provoked, I do not think this page would ever been attempted.
The images come from far and wide, and I have attempted to list the main contributors on the Links page; the Perseus Project has gathered many of the treasures of some of the great collections, while the Web Gallery and CGFA are ever growing and invaluable resources.
This page grew out of a couple of classics courses offered by the Open University in England, and my thanks go to my fellow students, and particularly Henry Rogers, for their help and support.
This page is meant to be of art historical rather than classical interest; the story has entertained for nearly three millennia, and has constantly been illustrated in one medium or another. My intention is therefore to collect as many images as possible to see if any conclusions can be drawn. (That, incidentally, is your job - there are no conclusions here).
I have not imposed any criteria of taste or quality - the narrative has been around for far too long to be subject to such parochial restrictions. I would be delighted to add any images that you may feel have a place.
The divisions on the opening page are entirely my own; I was tempted by the original divisions of the Trojan epic, but felt that they would not reflect the narrative expectations of the surfer of the 21st century. If you have a copy of the Kypria on your bookshelf, I would be delighted to reconsider.
The choice of passages is mine too; Ovid does well because I like Ovid. I should apologise for using Hyginus and Apollodorus (yes, I know he's not that Apollodorus), so I will; but I feel I am in good company here (Graves).
The background colour is intended to be a browser-friendly terracotta, hinting at red-figure vases. The font is Lydian, if you have it on your machine, as the ancient kingdom of Lydia bordered on Priam's empire. For aesthetic reasons, I recommend the installation of Lydian. (The text defaults to Arial).
Please feel free to offer suggestions; I shall certainly feel free to ignore them if I wish.