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“Examine the ways in which works of art of different periods have been inspired by literature” Artists throughout the ages have been inspired by works of literature to represent visually what they draw from a particular text. In this essay I will examine source material from different artistic periods in order to demonstrate the catalytic relationship literature has with art. Many artists have been influenced by literary texts, where the text has inspired in their imagination a particular scene which they subsequently bring to life through visual media. This relationship between literature and art is what I will explore in the essay, hoping to obtain a rounded understanding of the different methods artists use to interpret major works of literature. Sometimes a work of literature is so dominant in a given society that it becomes a recognised framework within which visual artists can operate. One such example would be the black figure vase by Exekias depicting ‘Ajax and Achilles playing draughts’ from around 540BC. These two are characters from Homer’s ‘Iliad’, often named the first work of western literature. The cultural significance of the Homeric epics at the time was such that Homer was known simply as ‘Th