Athena and the Winds n.d.

John Flaxman made this pen and ink drawing called ‘Athena and the Winds.’ Flaxman was an English sculptor and designer, and this drawing reflects the 18th-century vogue for all things Greek, the so-called ‘neoclassical’ style. But this wasn't just a matter of taste, it was tied up with politics, too. Ancient Athens was seen as a model of republican virtue, in contrast to the decadent monarchies of Europe. This drawing is based on a scene in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’. Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, is restraining the winds to prevent them from harming Ulysses on his voyage home. But Flaxman wasn’t just illustrating a story. He was making a statement about the importance of reason and order in a time of revolution. Thinkers at the time believed that art can challenge the existing norms. To understand the image more fully, we might look to the writings of the period. A study into the impact of classical thought on contemporary politics would also be revealing. Art offers unique insights into the past, but its meaning is always shaped by the social and institutional context in which it was made.