Cupid and Psyche Jacques-Louis David (French; 1748–1825) 1813 Gray wash and pen and black ink with white paint and traces of black chalk The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
The Punishment of the Arrogant Niobe by Diana and Apollo Pierre Charles Jombert (French; 1748–1825) ca. 1772 Oil paint on canvas, mounted on board The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Muse Erato Writing Verses Inspired by Love Charles Meynier (French; 1768–1832) ca. 1797 Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, heightened with white gouache over black chalk underdrawing; squared in black chalk The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Perun pursues his serpentine enemy Veles, who slithers down over the earth. Veles taunts Perun and flees, transforming himself into various animals, hiding behind trees, houses, or people. In the end, Perun catches up with the dog Veles turned into. Perun does not actually destroy Veles, but simply returns him to his place in the world of the dead. Thus the order of the world, disrupted by Veles’s mischief, is established once again by Perun.
Morana is a Slavic goddess of winter and death, associated with rebirth of nature. She often appears in different guises but is described as a woman of dark hair and terrifying appearance, bringing famine and destruction wherever she goes. Her arrival was therefore expected with dread while her departure was celebrated with boisterous cheer.
Some legends suggest she seduced Jarilo (god of spring) while he was searching for his lost wife in the Underworld - Nav. Eventually grown bored with her lover, Morana attempted to poison him with the drink of oblivion but failed and escaped badly burned. Another myth brings Morana in connection with Voden, making them a divine couple of the Underworld. Voden and Morana drowned people in their dark waters. Slavs tried to propitiate them by sacrificial offerings.
While the exact pantheon characterization differed between the Slavic tribes, Perun is generally believed to have been considered as the supreme god by the majority, or perhaps nearly all Slavs, at least towards the end of Slavic paganism. The earliest supreme god was probably Rod; it is unclear precisely how and why his worship as the head of pantheon evolved into the worship of Perun. Another candidate for supreme deity among at least some Slavs is Svarog.
As a thunder deity, all manner of rain-related phenomenon were associated with him. Perun’s family all had roles in the coming of rain. His sons would make the thunder and cause the lightning to strike. His daughters and wife would sift the rain. Together, they brought the moisture, thus making the land fertile so crops would grow. This would have been very important to the agricultural societies which worshipped Perun. To invoke Perun’s favor or call upon him to bring the rains, worshippers would give food offerings to the god. It is considered unlikely that human sacrifices were made to Perun.
Dažbog was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, and was thought to be a solar deity, as well as a cultural hero, a mythological hero who changes the world through invention and discovery. Each morning he emerged from the arms of The Zorya (Dusk) to ride his chariot across the sky. The chariot was drawn by three horses: one gold, one silver, and one diamond. In the evening he fell into the world of the dead, only to return to life again the next morning.
Morena, also known as Morė in Lithuanian and Marzanna in Polish, is the Slavic goddess of sorcery, death, winter and nightmares. The end of winter was celebrated using an effigy of Morena, which was burned along with herbs and cast into a river on first spring day in March. It was believed that touching the effigy once it was in the water, looking back at the effigy or falling on your way home would bring sickness and plague. The ritual represented the end of the dark days of winter, the victory over death, and the welcoming of the spring rebirth.
In Slavic mythology, the Zorya (alternately: Zarya, Zvezda, Zwezda) are the three (sometimes two) guardian goddesses, known as the Auroras. They guard and watch over the doomsday hound that threatens to eat the constellation Ursa Minor, the ‘little bear.’ If the chain breaks loose and the constellation is devoured, the universe is said to end.
The Auroras represent the Morning Star, Evening Star, and Midnight Star, respectively, although the Midnight Star is sometimes omitted. In some myths, the morning Zorya was the wife of the male Myesyats, the moon god, and was a major goddess. In other myths, the Zoryas are virgin goddesses who flank the sun, and Myesyats is an unrelated female moon goddess. The Zorya are associated with marriage, protection, and exorcisms.
Perún (often compared to Thor of the Norse mythological world), was considered the highest of all gods and was one of Svarog’s three sons. Perun was seen to be the creator and master of rain, lightning, and thunder.Perun is described as a rugged man with a copper beard. He rides in a chariot pulled by a goat buck and carries a mighty axe, or sometimes a hammer. The axe is hurled at evil people and spirits and will always return to his hand.
Diva-Dodolaor Perúnica, Perperúna, Preperuša is the Slavic goddess of rain, and the wife of the supreme god Perun. Slavs believed that when Dodola milks her heavenly cows, the clouds, it rains on earth. Each spring Dodola is said to fly over woods and fields, and spread vernal greenery, decorating the trees with blossoms.
— WhenPerun walked in the garden of Iriy, he happened across Diva-Dodola, daughter of Dy, the god of the Starry Sky and thunder and Diviya, goddess of the moon. Perun was awstruck, and he eventually asked her to marry him. But the maiden was fearful of the thunderer and burst into tears as she ran away.Perun followed quickly behind her. He came to the house of Dy and asked for his approval and to appease him, so that he may win the hand of his daughter. He invited Perun in to converse over dinner. As they spoke, a great beast arose from the Black Sea, a three-headed snake. The snake began to wreak havoc, destroying all in it’s path and kidnapping Diva.
Hearing the monster’s roars, Dy and Perun came out of the palace to rescue Diva. As they approached, the snake remained at it’s golden chariot, pulled by eight half-horse/half- crow creatures. As the snake watched the gods approach, Diva was able to escape and proclaimed “I would have been glad to walk on the sea, but I walk across the sky, with thunder in the clouds I play!”. This angered the snake and darkness began to engulf the garden of Iriy, one of the snake’s heads began to spew sparks, while the second exhaled an icy wind. Finally the third head spoke, in a bellowing voice, “Return to me Diva-Dodola at once!” Ignoring this, Perun and Dy transformed into eagles and at once attacked the snake, striking it with thunder and lightning. Defeated, the monster was plunged back into it’s home at the bottom of the black sea. Victory had yet again been achieved by Perun. This battle had gained the approval of Dy, and soon he allowed Perun and Diva to marry, Diva had now become the Perúna – wife of Perun.
El-Ahrairah piece I think I’m not going to finish out. Had a lot of fun with it conceptually and making the wolf forms but I’ve been losing enthusiasm for it and having trouble with getting the cohesion I want. I’ll probably take another stab at a different composition of this eventually though. I’ve wanted to do a nice “Prince of a Thousand” piece for a while.
Caught up with the last of my Patreon Sketches for August! Featuring Rage-Halo’s character, Suma, a ruthless river goddess who suffers no fools.
If you’d like to put my muse to the test, keep an eye on my Patreon page where you can snag one of my Sketch Collector tiers once it becomes available.
Re-blogging this Exalted piece from my main art account!
Filippo Tagliolini (Fogliano Cascia 1745 - 1809 Naples), a Neaples Biscuit, made in Real Fabbrica di Napoli, Bacchus and Cupid, ca.1790, Sotheby’s sale in 2011
Hey folks!!! We only have a few of these left in our shop at the moment. Once they sell out entirely we will not be reprinting them illustrated like this so you should definitely check them out!
Hey folks!!! We only have a few of these left in our shop at the moment. Once they sell out entirely we will not be reprinting them illustrated like this so you should definitely check them out!
(Sighs) I keep thinking how all the Thirteen Primes were/are essentially war deities.
I keep thinking how Megatronus and Prima are supposed to be foils of one another, and how Primus created Megatronus to have closer nature to Unicron in order to understand and defeat him. (But are Primus and Unicron not brother-twins as well? Opposites and Equals?)
I keep thinking about Megatronus Prime and what it means to be Fallen.
I keep thinking that perhaps there was something else hidden within the fallout between all of them, especially since there were hints of how allegiances were divided among them. How the death of Solus is only spun as a great tragedy by someone else’s hand when perhaps it could have been a triumph of her own making. She was held to the current day as the Greatest Artificer, especially in a time where Magic and Science was at the height of its power, so who’s to say she didn’t have a vision?
I keep thinking how Megatronus Prime Fell, and how he could have found himself upon a younger Earth; how Unicron, even deep in the throes of his slumber is still spiteful enough to take away his brother’s creation and remake him into his own. Despite Megatronus is already a strange reflection of him by Primus’ hand.
Basically I keep thinking how Megatronus would wander across the Earth, held to be born by the merciless sea -Vengeance and Violence, Rage and Ruin, War incarnate by the various peoples.
And I really want Megatronus, either as a mech or a reborn deity with broken memories interact with other gods and beings. Like you cannot tell me that Megatronus won’t have a long-time love affair with both Aphrodite and Hephaestus to the point that Megatronus is confused for Ares and Aglaea.
Megatronus finds comfort in the craftsmen’s burning, rough hands and in the goddess’s playful eyes and quick words. (Liege Maximo was recorded to have close friendships to Megatronus and Solus. Who’s to say he wasn’t closerto them?)
Megatronus would have a total bromance with Ares, a steady friend in Hermes, be Very Complicated with Athena, and absolutely throw hands with Zeus.
And they all question Megatronus’ relationship with Amphitrite. No one knows that she was Oceana and Oceanus, and many, many others - the sea always constant even with its ever-shifting waters, the source of all life and the death of many. She was there when Megatronus was found and reborn.
![vhenadahll: Mythology meme ~ One mythology ~ Slavic [1/1]Perun pursues his serpentine enemy Vele](https://64.media.tumblr.com/13b51219924bfd5380d601429b80e0d3/tumblr_nu9i2nJWsS1usocepo1_500.png "vhenadahll: Mythology meme ~ One mythology ~ Slavic [1/1]Perun pursues his serpentine enemy Vele")
![vhenadahll: Mythology meme ~ One mythology ~ Slavic [1/1]Perun pursues his serpentine enemy Vele](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b094edb9a64b2c83037be29296460b9e/tumblr_nu9i2nJWsS1usocepo2_500.png "vhenadahll: Mythology meme ~ One mythology ~ Slavic [1/1]Perun pursues his serpentine enemy Vele")
![marlingra: Slavic mythological figures [4/?] ↳ Perún, Dodola Perún (often compared to Thor of the](https://64.media.tumblr.com/3d7cf9467ab8c8a5b1b7ebadc5a83636/tumblr_nl2411LTIA1sz57yvo1_500.jpg "marlingra: Slavic mythological figures [4/?] ↳ Perún, Dodola Perún (often compared to Thor of the")
![marlingra: Slavic mythological figures [4/?] ↳ Perún, Dodola Perún (often compared to Thor of the](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a62b70f5a18bd470cfe9e4702304adf6/tumblr_nl2411LTIA1sz57yvo2_500.jpg "marlingra: Slavic mythological figures [4/?] ↳ Perún, Dodola Perún (often compared to Thor of the")
