Polifemo's group

Atlas of Beauty /

EventInstitution, Trails

In 1957, the builders of the coastal road between Terracina and Gaeta were the authors of an exceptional discovery. Along the ancient Via Flacca Valeria they came across a series of remains, which were soon identified as a large marble group that stood in a cave of the ancient villa of Tiberius (sperlonga in fact derives from spelonca), mentioned in ancient sources but never identified. Among the many finds, the most important and mysterious, accurately reconstructed in plaster, depicts the blinding of Polyphemus by Ulysses. It is often forgotten that all the events of the poem stem from that episode: it is the hatred of the god of the sea, Poseidon, for the cunning and arrogant Greek who blinded and mocked his son, that produces the events leading to his long voyage. The enormous and beautiful sculptural group is the work of three sculptors from Rhodes in the 1st century AD. The titanic body of the Cyclops lies on a rocky spur, while at his feet Ulysses' companions are intent on raising the pole that will make him blind. Visit the site