Renaissance Art Portraying Greek Mythology Renaissance Art Portraying Poseidon

Many artists over the years take chosen the Greek Myths as the subject of their work. During the late 15th and 16th centuries classical mythology was a particularly popular subject of paintings. Maybe this is why many of the Renaissance paintings remain timeless for they accept tapped into the universal nature of humanity and in them we are able to run into ourselves reflected. Due to the vast amount of artwork based on mythology I include here a small selection of my favourite paintings and myths.

'The Birth of Venus' - Sandro Botticelli

Greek goddess Aphrodite emerged from the sea fully-grown after the titan Cronus slew his father Uranus and threw his genitals into the sea. She is the goddess of love, dazzler and pleasure and is depicted above in Botticelli's famous 'Birth of Venus'.

'Hermes' - W. B. Richmond (1886)

Hermes is the Greek god of speech, travellers, shepherds, merchants and thieves. He stole his brother Apollo's cattle the same day he was born. Hermes is oftentimes depicted wearing winged sandals and a helmet. He was the messenger of the gods and in his function as psycho-pomp guided souls to the underworld.

In Ancient Hellenic republic Hermes was originally a phallic god continued with fertility. Rock herms were used to honour him and they were placed at boundaries and crossroads in the promise they would ward off evil.

Pallas Athene Visiting Apollo on the Parnassus - Arnold Houbraken

Athene was the goddess of arts, inspiration, skill, and the strategic aspect of state of war. She was her begetter Zeus's favourite child and he granted her wish to remain a virgin. The urban center Athens was named in her honor after she offered the gift of the olive tree to its residents. She is depicted in the painting above paying a visit to Apollo.

Apollo and the Muses - John Vocalist Sargent

Apollo is the twin brother of the goddess Artemis and is one of the twelve Olympians. He is the Greek god of just near everything. Amidst his many responsibilities are creative pursuits such as music, poetry and art. He is also a favourite field of study of artists and is depicted in statues and painting throughout history. He is shown above surrounded past the Muses who are the personification of creative inspiration.

Engraving by E. Jeaurat

Hephaestus was the lame blacksmith of the Greek gods. Despite his deformities, he was a craftsman who created objects of unequalled dazzler, as well every bit magical tools such equally Achilles' armour and the winged sandals of Hermes.

Athena Scorning the Advances of Hephaestus - Paris Bordone

Unlike almost of the Greek gods, who were models of perfection, Hephaestus was both unattractive and lame. Whether he was lame from birth or considering his female parent Hera threw him from Olympus is non certain. Like many of the gods he desired the virgin goddess Athene, but she rejected his advances. He after married Aphrodite however his love was not reciprocated and she chose his blood brother Ares every bit a lover instead.

'Flaming June' - Sir Frederick Leighton (1895)

Hera was Queen of Olympus and wife to Zeus. Well-nigh myths tell of her biting rage as Zeus jumps from i lover to the next. In more ancient times she was seen as a fertility goddess and to the Greeks she was patron of mothers and wives. She is ofttimes depicted with a peacock and to the Romans she was known every bit Juno.

'Zeus, Semele and Hera' - Jan-Erasmus Quellinus

When jealous Hera discovered her husband Zeus had taken the mortal Semele as a lover she tricked her into making Zeus hope to reveal himself in his truthful divinity. Despite his begging her to withdraw her request he inevitably revealed himself and thus killed her instantly.

Cranium red figure vase painting of the nativity of Dionysus

After Semele died, Zeus saved the unborn infant from her abdomen and sewed him into his thigh. He was later reborn as Dionysus, the god of wine and religious ecstasy.

'Circe Invidiosa' - John William Waterhouse

The Greek goddess and witch Circe was the girl of the sun god Helios and the nymph Perse. She transformed the maiden Scylla into a monster and every bit a result she was exiled to the island of Aeaea.

'Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses' - John William Waterhouse

On his travels Odysseus spent a year on her island at which time she transformed his men into pigs through the apply of a wand and herbs. In one version of the myth she bore Odysseus a son who later on accidentally killed him.

'Pan and Psyche' - Edward Burne Jones

Pan was the god of nature, woodlands and all things wild and rustic. He roamed Arcadia often terrifying unsuspecting travellers past leaping out of them. It is equally a effect of this that the word panic is derived from his name. Over time he came to represent fertility and jump.

'Sleep and his Half-blood brother Decease' - John William Waterhouse (1874)

Hypnos and his brother Thanatos are the Greek gods of sleep and death respectively and are said to reside in the realm of Hades.

'Prometheus Bound' - Rubens

The titan god Prometheus loved the man race so much that he gifted them with burn down, so angering Zeus that his penalisation was to be eternal suffering. He was bound to a rock and each day an eagle would swoop down and tear out his liver but for it to regrow so the aforementioned could occur the next twenty-four hour period.

'Portrait of a Woman equally a Vestal Virgin' - Angelica Kauffman

Hestia was the Olympian goddess of hearth and home. In some accounts she gave up her position on Olympus to make way for the god Dionysus. Greeks worshipped Hestia equally the hearthfire and in Roman mythology she was known equally Vesta. Her temples were served by the vestal virgins which was the inspiration for the painting above.

'Thetis dips Achilles in the Styx' - Peter Paul Rubens

Thetis is one of many Greek Nereids or water nymphs, known most famously as the mother of the hero Achilles. She was also a goddess of the sea in more ancient times. When Achilles was an infant Thetis dipped him in the River Styx then he would be protected.

'The Death of Achilles' - Peter Paul Rubens

During the Trojan state of war Achilles was shot through the heel and killed, which is the origin of the term 'Achilles heel' used to refer to our weaknesses.

'The Golden Apple of Discord' - Jacob Jordaens

There'southward always someone who tries to spoil the political party! In Greek mythology it was the goddess Eris who, during the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis, threw the gilt apple tree and thus started a sequence of events that ultimately led to the Trojan war.

'Psyche in the Garden of Eros' - John William Waterhouse

The story of Psyche and Eros tells of the maiden Psyche who falls in dearest with the god of beloved himself. He makes her promise not to expect at him and all of their encounters occur in the dark. 1 day, out of a curiosity resulting from her jealous sister'south taunts, she decides to sneak a look at him. A drop of oil from her lamp falls and wakes him and he flees in horror. Ultimately the lovers are reunited, but not before Psyche is set a multitude of seemingly impossible tasks, gives upward all hope and and so finally obtains the mercy of the goddess Aphrodite.

'Pallas and the Centaur' - Sandro Botticelli

Centaurs have the trunk of a equus caballus and the torso of a human. They feature prominently in Greek mythology and were said to live in tribes in the mountains. The nearly famous centaur was Chiron, the tutor to many young heroes such as Achilles, Jason and Herakles.

'The Dryad' - Evelyn DeMorgan

The dryads were tree spirits or tree nymphs who watched over and protected the tree they were born in. Originally dryads were the spirits of oak trees but later they came to correspond all copse. Information technology was said that when the tree they guarded died, so to did they.

'The Nereids' - Adoplhe Lalyre

Nereids were the nymphs of the ocean. In fine art they were portrayed as beautiful immature maidens and were said to be attendants of the god Poseidon.

The book that inspired my beloved of Greek Mythology in art was Thomas Bulfinch'southward 'The Illustrated Age of Fable'. For those wishing to learn more about Greek mythology, Theoi Greek Mythology is a not bad place to outset online. Also, Stephen Fry's recent 'Mythos' is a neat introduction. I would as well highly recommend Madeline Miller's absolutely wonderful novels 'The Song of Achilles' and 'Circe'.

You tin also read more near mythology and folklore in this post.

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Source: http://www.curiousordinary.com/2018/04/the-greek-myths-in-art.html

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