rosy-fingered dawn

Homer writes of the "rosy-fingered dawn" numerous times in the Odyssey, describing the beginning of each new day in the epic journey of Odysseus. During a recent trip to Italy, I saw a beautiful rosy-fingered dawn from high in the hills above Capri. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, the Caesar Augustus, and I captured this photograph from the hotel's patio as I looked east toward the Sorrento peninsula at sunrise.

These are waters that Odysseus navigated. To the south of the peninsula, just off the Amalfi Coast, are three large rock formations known as the Sirens. "At sea once more we had to pass the Sirens, whose sweet singing lures sailors to their doom. I had stopped up the ears of my crew with wax, and I alone listened while lashed to the mast, powerless to steer toward shipwreck."

It was thrilling to be in the very places alluded to in this great work of classic literature.

Capri travel Amalfi+Coast Italy Odyssey Homer