Elfriede Weidenhaus was a talented, reliable and prolific book illustrator, producing material for more than fifty titles, including classics, poetry and travel books. Many had more or less erotic themes, including Daphnis und Chloe, Sappho, Bilitis, and Verlaine’s Amies (Freundinnen), and in later years several of these illustrated books were published by the Zikadenpresse in Erkenbrechtsweiler, which had been founded in 1959 and with which she was closely associated from 1990 onwards. Though she was prolific, her many illustrations became rather stylised and predictable, featuring entwined naked lovers and a large number of unicorns.

A notable exception, however, is her 1971 portfolio of twelve large and detailed etchings to illustrate the passage from Book 19 of Homer’s Odyssey, in which Penelope has a dream of an eagle, symbolising Odysseus, slaughtering her twenty geese, who represent her suitors. An eagle then appears in human form, identifying himself as Odysseus and assuring her of the suitors’ demise. Penelope initially interprets the dream as a false omen, but the eagle’s appearance and words solidify the dream’s true meaning, foreshadowing Odysseus’s return and vengeance.

Träume des Odysseus (Dreams of Odysseus) is a mature and adventurous portfolio of accomplished etchings, with echoes of Picasso and Dali. Träume des Odysseus was printed privately by Elfriede Weidenhaus in a limited numbered edition of 65 copies.