The Trojan wars had ended. Odysseus, Greek hero and the King of Ithaca, was desperate to return home to his wife, Penelope, and their son Telemachus, who he had not seen for ten long years.

It is thought that the image might be portraying Odysseus (Roman name: Ulysses) offering wine to the Cyclops Polyphemus before he blinds the giant. The Greeks and Romans used intaglios ...