Unknown artist
Venus and Cupid Punished
Pompeian fresco
Fresco
cm 154 x 116
Naples National Archaeological Museum
Eros brought by Peïtho to Venus; Anteros laughs at him because he is being punished for having chosen the wrong target.
In Greek mythology, Peitho is the goddess who personifies persuasion and seduction. Her Roman equivalent is Suada or Suadela. She is the goddess of charming speech. She is typically presented as an important companion of Aphrodite.
There is evidence that Peitho was referred to as a goddess before she was referred to as an abstract concept, which is rare for a personification. Peitho represents both sexual and political persuasion. She is associated with the art of rhetoric. More on Peitho
In Greek mythology, Anteros was the god of requited love (literally "love returned" or "counter-love") and also the punisher of those who scorn love and the advances of others, or the avenger of unrequited love. More on Anteros
Unknown artist
Selene, c. about 1st century BCE,
From Pompeii
Archeological Nazionale Museum, Napoli
In Greek mythology, Selene is the goddess of the Moon. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia and sister of the sun god Helios and Eos, goddess of the dawn. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. In classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo.[1] Selene and Artemis were also associated with Hecate and all three were regarded as lunar goddesses, but only Selene was regarded as the personification of the Moon itself. Her Roman equivalent is Luna. More on Selene
Unknown artist
Nymph Leucothea feeding baby Dionysos, and The Nymphs Of Nysac. 1st c AD
Found in the The Villa Farnesina
Fresco
The History of the National Roman Museum
Unknown artist
Detail; Nymph Leucothea feeding baby Dionysos, and The Nymphs Of Nysac. 1st c AD
Found in the The Villa Farnesina
Fresco
The History of the National Roman Museum
With its scenic location on the Tiber, this villa was decorated with fine frescos and elegant mosaics, testimony to the art of the early Imperial Age.
In Greek mythology, Leucothea, sometimes also called Leucothoe, was one of the aspects under which an ancient sea goddess was recognized, in this case as a transformed nymph.
In the more familiar variant, Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, sister of Semele, and queen of Athamas, became a goddess after Hera drove her insane as a punishment for caring for the newborn Dionysus. She leapt into the sea with her son Melicertes in her arms, and out of pity, the Hellenes asserted, the Olympian gods turned them both into sea-gods, transforming Melicertes into Palaemon, the patron of the Isthmian Games, and Ino into Leucothea.
In the Odyssey, Leucothea makes a dramatic appearance and tells the shipwrecked Odysseus to discard his cloak and raft, and offers him a veil to wind round himself, to save his life and reach land. Homer makes Leucothea the transfiguration of Ino. More on Leucothea
The Nysiads were Oceanid nymphs in Greek mythology, daughters of the Titan god Oceanus and the goddess Tethys. They lived on the mythical mountain Nysa, and were entrusted by Zeus with the upbringing of the god Dionysus. The Nysiads took care of him assisted by the god Silenus. More on Nysiads
Dionysus is the god of the grape
harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and
religious ecstasy in Greek mythology. Wine played an important role in Greek
culture with the cult of Dionysus the main religious focus for unrestrained
consumption. He may have been worshipped as early as c. 1500–1100 BC by
Mycenean Greeks; other traces of the Dionysian-type cult have been found in
ancient Minoan Crete. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms;
some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek. In some
cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner; in others, from
Ethiopia in the South. He is a god of epiphany, "the god that comes",
and his "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and
essential to his cults. He is a major, popular figure of Greek mythology and
religion, becoming increasingly important over time, and is included in some
lists of the twelve Olympians. Dionysus was the last god to be accepted into
Mt. Olympus. He was the youngest and the only one to have a mortal mother. His
festivals were the driving force behind the development of Greek theatre. He is
sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god. More on Dionysus
Unknown artist
Zeus disguised as a Satyr and Antiope
Greco-Roman mosaic
Gaziantep Museum
Antiope, in Greek legend, the mother, by the god Zeus, of the twins Amphion and Zethus. According to one account, her beauty attracted Zeus, who, assuming the form of a satyr, took her by force. Pregnant, she escaped the threats of her father by running away and marrying Epopeus, king of Sicyon; she was later brought back and imprisoned by her uncle Lycus. On the way back from Sicyon, or after escaping from prison, Antiope bore Amphion and Zethus, who were brought up by herdsmen. Later she joined them; they recognized her, and they deposed Lycus and killed his wife, Dirce. According to one story, because of Dirce’s murder, Dionysus, to whose worship she had been devoted, caused Antiope to go mad. She wandered restlessly over all of Greece until she was cured and married by Phocus of Tithorea, on Mount Parnassus. More on Antiope
Unknown artist
The punishment of Dirce
Roman wall painting in House of the Vettii, Pompeii
Third style. Ca. 30 CE.
Naples, National Archaeological Museum
Unknown artist
The punishment of Dirce
Fresco from Pompeii (House of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, VII, 4, 56)
Third style. Ca. 30 CE.
Naples, National Archaeological Museum
Antiope was a daughter of Nykteus, and Zeus had intercourse with her. When she was with child, and her father threatened her, she ran away to Epopeus, at Sikyon, and was married to him. In a fit of despondency Nykteus killed himself, after charging Lykos to punish Epopeus and Antiope.
Lykos marched against Sikyon, subdued it, slew Epopeus, and led Antiope away captive. On the way she gave birth to two sons. The infants were exposed, but a neatherd found and reared them, and he called the one Zethos and the other Amphion . . . But Lykos and his wife Dirce imprisoned Antiope and treated her despitefully.
One day her bonds were loosed of themselves, and unknown to her keepers she came to her sons cottage, begging that they would take her in. They recognized their mother and slew Lykos, but Dirke they tied to a bull, and flung her dead body into the spring that is called Dirce after her." More on Dirce
This large picture, dominated by a rural landscape in which a dolmen symbolising the mythical era introduces a disturbing atmosphere of mystery, shares the theme (and to some extent iconography) of the Farnese Bull. The hapless Dirce is already bound to the bull which Zethus, standing on the left with his mother Antiope, is about to be set free, while Amphion is conversing with his tutor behind the bull. More on the punishment of Dirce
The subject of this artwork is the horrifying punishment being doled out to Dirce by the sons of Antiope who she had mistreated. The twins Amphion and Zethos are tying her to a bull who will drag and trample her to death.
Punishment of Ixion
Roman fresco from the eastern wall of the triclinium in the Casa dei Vettii ("House of the Vetii", VI 15, 1) in Pompeii, Fourth Style (60-79 AD).
In the center is Mercury holding the caduceus. On the right is Juno/ Hera on her throne, and behind her Iris stands and gestures. On the left is Vulcanus (blond figure) manning the wheel, with Ixion already tied to the wheel. Nephele sits at Mercury's feet. More on this Fresco
Punishment of Ixion. Ixion married Dia, a daughter of Deioneus and promised his father-in-law a valuable present. However, he did not pay the bride price, so Deioneus stole some of Ixion's horses in retaliation. Ixion concealed his resentment and invited his father-in-law to a feast at Larissa. When Deioneus arrived, Ixion pushed him into a bed of burning coals and wood.
Ixion went mad, defiled by his act and thereafter, Ixion lived as an outlaw and was shunned. By killing his father-in-law, Ixion was reckoned the first man guilty of kin-slaying in Greek mythology. That alone would warrant him a terrible punishment.
However, Zeus had pity on Ixion and brought him to Olympus and introduced him at the table of the gods. Instead of being grateful, Ixion grew lustful for Hera, Zeus's wife. Zeus found out about his intentions and made a cloud in the shape of Hera, and tricked Ixion into coupling with it. From the union of Ixion and the false-Hera cloud came Centauros, engendering the race of Centaurs.
Ixion was expelled from Olympus and blasted with a thunderbolt. Zeus ordered Hermes to bind Ixion to a winged fiery wheel that was always spinning. Therefore, Ixion is bound to a burning solar wheel for all eternity, at first spinning across the heavens, but in later myth transferred to Tartarus. More on Punishment of Ixion
Please visit my other blogs: Art
Collector, Mythology, Marine
Art, Portrait of a Lady, The
Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The
Canals of Venice, Middle
East Artists, 365
Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest
Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others.
Some Images may be subject to copyright
I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless
it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell
me.
I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are
shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.
If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.
Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.
Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.
No comments:
Post a Comment