Hermes Orders Calypso to Release Odysseus
De Lairesse was well versed in the classics. Here he portrayed a story in Homer’s Odyssey, the epic poem about Odysseus’ wanderings after the fall of Troy. During his journey the Greek hero lands on Ogygia, the island ruled by the goddess Calypso. She falls in love with him, and detains him for seven years. Ultimately the Olympian gods prevail upon her, through their messenger Hermes, to release Odysseus.