I.L. Raaly
Homer and the Greeks
1869
copperplate engraving
7 1/2″ height x 8 3/4″ width (19.05 x 22.23 cm)
Wetmore Print Collection, Connecticut College
FW-0838b

Wilhelm von Kaulbach’s fresco Homer and the Greeks was painted as part of a collection meant to teach the history of mankind, completed in 1860, and recreated as a copperplate engraving by I.L. Raaly in 1869. Homer lands on the shore and meets Hesiod, Æschylus, and Sophocles, among other scholars and poets. The gods float above as Thetis rises from the sea. Those pictured are Greek gods, historians, and authors of varying centuries, combining many periods of Greek history and tradition. Homer and the Greeks is in some way a historical scene, yet this moment is historically improbable.