The hero of
Ithaca
, dressed in a purple cloak and a
pileus
atop his head, holds in both hands a krater full of wine while advancing towards the giant.
The giant, sat on a big rock, is represented with human features and his
third eye
is his only monstrous feature; his brutality, however, is evoked by the disembowelled ram on his left leg.
In the foreground,
Polyphemus
’ flock – consisting of two brown sheep, a ram with curved horns and two white sheep – grazes peacefully in the rocky cave of the cyclops.
The composition, enriched by a refined naturalistic frame of pines and cypresses, as well as symbolising the victory of human cunning over brutality, is linked to the subjects inherent to the worship of
Dionysus
, which frequently recur in the mosaic ornaments of the domus
