Odysseus in het land van de Laistrygonen 1633

Theodoor van Thulden made this print of Odysseus in the land of the Laestrygonians in the 17th century. It represents a scene from Homer’s Odyssey, when Odysseus’s fleet is ambushed by a tribe of giant cannibals. Van Thulden was working in the Dutch Republic during its Golden Age, a time of booming international trade and expanding global awareness. Educated elites had a renewed interest in classical literature. Stories like the Odyssey reminded them of the dangers of foreign travel, and the importance of civic values like reason and self-control. The print uses visual codes derived from classical sculpture. The Laestrygonians are depicted as grotesque figures to emphasize their barbarity. A social and cultural history of this artwork might look at the role of classical learning in the Dutch Republic. We might ask how knowledge of the wider world shaped European identity, or how new print technologies popularized classical imagery. Such questions help us to understand the place of art in history, and history in art.