His favourite haunts, the abbeys of Scotland and Yorkshire, the harbours of Kent, the mountains of Switzerland, the lochs of Scotland, and the River Wye, he chose as illustrating his best power over architecture, sea, mountain, and river.

He repeated several of the same subjects later in oils, such as the pearly hazy 'Norham Castle' in the Tate Gallery.
Turner painted still another kind of imaginary landscape, not in rivalry with any one, but to please himself.

Of course you all know the story of Ulysses and the one-eyed giant, Polyphemus, in the _Odyssey_ of Homer?
Turner chose for his picture the moment when Ulysses has escaped from the clutches of Polyphemus, and sailing away in his boat, taunts the giant, who stands by the water's edge, cursing Ulysses and bemoaning the loss of his sight.

Turner has used this mythical scene as an opportunity for creating stupendous rocks never seen by a pair of mortal eyes, and a galley worthy of heroes or gods.
The picture is the purest phantasy, even more like a fairy-tale than the story it illustrates.

He has made the whole scene burn in the red light of a flaming sunrise, redder by far than the sunset of the old 'Temeraire.' The story is told of a gentleman who, looking at a picture of Turner's, said to him, 'I never saw a sunset like that.' 'No, but don't you wish you could ?' replied Turner.