Alabaster Coffins
Trivia brain teasers have some element of trivia in them, but they are not just pure trivia questions.
A fortress of an island,
Rocky and forlorn;
Surrounded by a still, dark,
Ageless ocean.
With raiment white,
He crosses the sea,
In his boat, a coffin of
Alabaster.
What am I?
HintThis riddle refers to a painting from the year 1880. The artist made four different versions throughout the 1880's, but the gist of each was the same.
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Answer
A painting by Arnold Bocklin, called The Isle of the Dead.
Arnold Bocklin produced several different versions of the painting. All of them have an oarsman, and a standing figure in white clothes in a small boat crossing a sea of dark water towards a rocky island. The boat has something in it, which is usually thought of as a coffin. The figure in white is often taken to be Charon, and the water represents the Acheron. The first version was created in 1880 after a lady, whose husband had recently died, requested it. The other versions are located in collections in Basel, Berlin and Leipzig.
In Greek mythology, Charon is the ferryman of the dead. Acheron, or the "river of woe", is a river in Hades.
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