Odysseus Leaves Nausicaa,

1979

In 1977 Bearden began a cycle of twenty collages based on Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey that he then translated into screenprints. Bearden, long committed to mobilizing art to support the civil rights movement, reflected on the continuity between Homer’s tale and African American life: “All of us, from the time we begin to think, are on an odyssey.” He populated scenes from this ancient Greek myth with dark-skinned figures, aligning Odysseus’s long exile and journey home after the Trojan War with the struggles of the African diaspora. Here, the princess Nausicaa, who had cared for Odysseus, bids him farewell, while the boat that will finally bear him home waits at the edge of the frame.