HMS Boreas (1757) and (20 guns) to intercept a French convoy in the Windward Passage. After sighting the five French vessels on the morning of 17 October, the British gave chase. Light winds slowed the chase so it was evening before "Boreas" could engage the 32-gun frigate "Sirène". French fire disabled "Boreas" aloft with the result that "Boreas" could not engage "Sirène" again until the following afternoon. "Boreas" emerged victorious from the engagement, capturing "Sirène", which suffered about 80 men killed and wounded, most of whom died later; "Boreas" lost only one man killed and one wounded. The French 20-gun corvette "Valeur", struck
Greek mythology libretti for many of Handel's and Mozart's operas. By the end of the 18th century, Romanticism initiated a surge of enthusiasm for all things Greek, including Greek mythology. In Britain, new translations of Greek tragedies and Homer inspired contemporary poets (such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Keats, Byron and Shelley) and painters (such as Lord Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema). Christoph Gluck, Richard Strauss, Jacques Offenbach and many others set Greek mythological themes to music. American authors of the 19th century, such as Thomas Bulfinch and Nathaniel Hawthorne, held that the study of the classical myths was essential to the understanding of