Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl (1860, Temesvar, Austria-Hungary-1933, Rome)
Athena Assisting the Argonauts Pass Through the Symplegades (the Clashing Rocks)
circa 1910
oil on canvas
55 x 35 cm (21
11/16 x 13 13/16 in.)
The Daulton Collection
This painting has formerly been identified as a study
for The Ship of Odysseus between Scylla and Charybdis. However, the iconography strongly suggests that the scene is not of the voyage Odysseus but of Jason and the Argonauts, where the helmeted goddess Athena assists the Argonauts by holding the Clashing Rocks apart as the Argo passes between them.
For a related pastel drawing, see Adolf Hiremy Hirschl: Disegni, Acquerelli e Pastelli (Rome: Galleria Carlo Virgilio, 1981), cat. no. 82, tav. XXVIII.
