This painting, titled Circe, is by Wright Barker. He is a Pre-Raphaelite artist. Circe is most reknowned for her role in Homer's Odyssey. She transformed her enemies into sedated animals by giving them a potion to drink. Odysseus was saved from this fate by Mercury. He warned Odysseus and told him of a special herb he could eat that would negate the potion's effects. This painting is an excellent allegory in that the beasts at her feet truly are men who have forgotten themselves and will now live merely as animals. The herb Mercury gives Odysseus symbolizes knowledge. On the surface this painting is an homage to Circe, but beneath that is an esoteric understanding of the Divine.

*Joseph Campbell