Ulysses and the Sirens Jon Elster used the name of Draper's painting as the title for his 1979 book about rationality and precommitment. Ulysses and the Sirens Ulysses and the Sirens is a 1909 oil painting by Herbert James Draper measuring 69.25 x 84 in. It is held at the Ferens Art Gallery in Kingston upon Hull, England. The gallery purchased the painting from Draper in 1910 for £600. Draper also painted a reduced replica that is housed at the Leeds Art Gallery. The subject of the painting is an episode in the epic poem "Odyssey" by Homer in which Ulysses is tormented by
Hercules and the Princess of Troy captured by pirates. Hercules (Gordon Scott), aboard the "Olympia", comes across one of these ships and frees the Trojans aboard. Going to Troy, Hercules is given use of two horses that cannot be wounded by arrows. He then learns from Ortag (Roger Browne) the monster's weakness: its armor doesn't cover its belly. Shortly afterwards, a boxer tries to poison Hercules but is impaled on his own spiked gloves and dies. Then Hercules and Ulysses (Mart Hulswit) are attacked by what appear to be thieves, and Diogenes (Paul Stevens) presents the theory that Petra (Steve Garrett) killed his brother and is