Odysseus and the Cyclops: Constructing Fear in Renaissance Marriage Chest Paintings

Abstract

Recent scholarship addressing access to Homer’s epics during the Italian Renaissance has illuminated the unique importance of visual narratives for the dissemination and interpretation of material associated with the Trojan War and its heroes. This article looks at early fifteenth-century images deriving from the Odyssey that were painted for marriage chests (cassoni) in the popular Florentine workshop of Apollonio di Giovanni. Focusing on Apollonio’s subnarrative of Odysseus’ clash with the Cyclops Polyphemus (the Cyclopeia), I argue that Apollonio showcased this archetypal tale of a failed guest⁻host relationship to explore contemporary anxieties associated with marriage, an institution that figured prominently in the political and economic ambitions of fifteenth-century patriarchal families.

Keywords

• cassone
• Apollonio di Giovanni
• narrative painting
• Renaissance
• Homer
• Odyssey
• Odysseus
• Polyphemus
• Xenia
• hospitium
• marriage
• dowry