ODYSSEUS AND THE SIRENS

Thanks to the wonders of the internet I have found my way back to a painting that I haven't seen in over thirty years - Odysseus and the Sirens by the long-forgotten Victorian artist Herbert Draper. I first came across it as an illustration in a book of Greek myths, and when I saw it,took it at face value. I now see that it's an allegory of the war between Lust and Guilt. Not really a hot issue anymore, is it? Lust versus guilt. In Draper's painting Odysseus struggles against his bonds to get at the sirens boarding the vessel, while his oarsmen look dead ahead, eyes and hearts fixed on their duty. Nowadays, who feels so bad about their desires of the flesh.? No, the sailors would just go: Oh, Bugger the oddysey, I'm having the redhead. Yes, I know she's a fish from the waist down, but we should all celebrate diversity.