#mythology tag

part 5:

From Ovid’s Metamorphosis: (-translated by Anthony S. Kline)

“The bloodless spirits wept as he spoke, accompanying his words with the music. Tantalus did not reach for the ever-retreating water: Ixion’s wheel was stilled: the vultures did not pluck at Tityus’s liver: the Belides, the daughters of Danaüs, left their water jars: and you, Sisyphus, perched there, on your rock. Then they say, for the first time, the faces of the Furies were wet with tears, won over by his song: the king of the deep, and his royal bride, could not bear to refuse his prayer, and called for Eurydice. She was among the recent ghosts, and walked haltingly from her wound. The poet of Rhodope (Orpheus) received her, and, at the same time, accepted this condition, that he must not turn his eyes behind him, until he emerged from the vale of Avernus, or the gift would be null and void.”

Let’s take a closer look at some of the secondary characters mentioned in Ovid’s passage. Tantalus (great-grandfather of Agamemnon) was a King who, after being admitted to dine with the gods, killed his own son (Pelops) to serve the gods to test their powers of perception. For this moral crime, he was cast into Hades where he endured the torment of everlasting hunger and thirst. When he bent to drink the waters at his feet- the water receded away, or when he reached for the fruit on the tree above- the wind blew the branches out of reach. Ixion was a corrupt mortal, who after killing his father in law and attempting to seduce Hera, was punished by Zeus to be strapped over a an ever spinning, solar flaming wheel. Tityus was a giant who attempted to rape Leto; the mother of Artemis and Apollo. After being slain by Apollo, the giant was punished in hades by being staked to the ground and having two vultures peck out his regenerating liver (similar to Zeus’ punishment for Prometheus with an eagle). The Belides (Daenaeds/water nymphs) were fifty daughters who were ordered by their father to murder their husbands on their wedding nights. In Tartarus they were cursed to carry water jars for eternity to fill an ever-emptying tub. Sisyphus was a trickster mortal who cheated death, and was cursed to roll a boulder uphill for eternity; another fruitless labor. The Furies (or Erinyes) were dark deities who punished mortals who spilled familial blood. The Furies were born from such an act, as when Uranus castrated his father, Cronos, they emerged from the blood. In the Greek tragedy; The Oresteia , they haunt Orestes for killing his mother, Clytemnestra.

As always, thanks for looking and reading!

“Chthonic Descent” by me, (image #4 in my Orpheus and Eurydice series)

part 4: The Roman poet Virgil, in his poem “Georgics”, gives a lush description of Orpheus descent into Hades;

“…entering the grove gloomy with black horror, he approached the Manes (dead spirits), and the tremendous king, and the hearts that know not how to relent at human prayers. But the thin shades being stirred up by his song from the lowest mansions of Erebus moved along, and the Ghosts deprived of light… mothers and husbands, and the departed bodies of magnanimous heroes, boys and unmarried girls, and youths laid on funeral pyres before the faces of their parents, whom the black mud and squalid reeds of Cocytus, and the lake hateful with stagnant water encloses around, and styx nine times interfused restrains.” (-translation from the Latin by John Martyn.)

The word Chthonic in my title is an adjective describing something belonging to the underworld. This would be an apt time to discuss the structure and details of the ancient Greek underworld; the realm of Hades. Our oldest literary source in Homer’s “Odyssey” (700 B.C.) portrays the realm as dark, gloomy, and frightening. A place where all souls go, and lacking skin and bone; have no physical form. The shades (spirits) wander mindless, and without memory.

In Virgil’s “Aeneid” (25 B.C.) we get a much more detailed account of the geography. Our hero Aeneas pays the boatman Charon to ferry him across the river styx, and after passing the three headed guard-hound Cerberus, they eventually come to a crossroad leading to two important realms; Tartarus (an invincible fortress guarded by one of the Furies, where sinners are punished) and Elysium (a sunny paradise where pure souls pursue leisure activities).

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Part3: But Orpheus is not satisfied to sit in solitary mourning. There was a great injustice in the death of his love Eurydice. If the beasts and rocks of the wild woods of Olympia bow before his song, what is to stop him for persuading the spirits of the underworld? Perhaps he can even persuade the King Hades to take pity on him and his lost love. With this determination, he receives directions to the dark gate from the forest nymphs and sets out. Many days later, standing before that gaping black maw, Orpheus shivers. He might never return to the land of the living. He steps forward. He has nothing left to lose.

In Greek literary sources we have varying references to the location of the entrance to underworld. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus must travel to Hades to perform a “Nekyia” ceremony to commune with the dead to receive prophecies. Circe gives Odysseus the vaguest of directions; “…once your ship has crossed flowing Ocean, drag it ashore at Persephone’s groves, on the level beach where tall poplars grow, willows shed their fruit, right beside deep swirling Oceanus. Then you must go to Hades’ murky home, where Periphlegethon and Cocytus, a stream which branches off the river Styx, flow into Acheron.” – translation by Ian Johnston.

Some scholars believe Homer’s description of the location is based on the real-world temple of the “Nekromanteion” (oracle of the dead) in Ancient Epirus (Northwest Greece). This was a temple of necromancy dedicated to Hades and Persephone where devotees could commune with dead spirits, and was believed to be the entrance to Hades. The temple was located at the meeting point of three rivers; the Acheron (river of woe), Pyriphlegethon (river of fire), and Cocytus (river of lamentation).

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“The Death of Eurydice” (#2 in my Orpheus and Eurydice series)

part 2:

But the three Moirai (fates) weave and cut their strings of mortal’s destinies, and this love was not destined to last. Dancing barefoot upon the forest floor with the nymphs, Eurydice was bitten by a venomous snake and tragically died. Orpheus played such music of melancholy mourning as to make the trees bow and weep.

The Latin poet Virgil gives a lush description of lament from his poem, “Georgicks:”…“But the choir of sister Dryads filled the tops of the mountains with their cries: the rooks of Rhodope wept, and high Pangaea, and the martial land of Rhesus, and the Getae, and Hebrus, and Attic Orithyia. He assuaging his love-sick mind with his hollow lyre, lamented thee, sweet wife, thee on the solitary shore, thee when day approached, thee when it disappeared.” (-translated by John Martyn.)

We have multiple sources giving variations recounting Eurydice’s death. According to Ovid, she was walking along the riverside with her sister dryad nymphs, while Vergil has her escaping a rape attempt by another son of Apollo; a pastoral god named Aristaeus. But the authors agree that her death results from the bite of a poisonous viper.

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“A New Love” (part 1 in my Orpheus and Eurydice series)

On a crisp, spring day, deep in the forests of Olympus, a wood nymph by the name of Eurydice (yu-ri-di-see) catches a precious sound upon the wind. Stretching from her oak tree, she spies a musician upon a rock, playing his lyre to a group of wild animals. Even the very trees and rocks stand at attention to hear his sacred song. She knows this musician. It is Orpheus; known to be the greatest song poet to ever live. And as she listens, she falls entranced, betwitched; in love. Orpheus too, sees this quiet nymph approach, and is taken aback by her beauty. A great love is kindled and the two and are married in a joyous celebration shortly after.

Some say Orpheus was the son of a Thracian king, others, the demi-god son of Apollo, playing music upon his father’s gifted Lyre. His mother was the muse of epic poetry and song; Calliope.

As Euryidice is a “dryad” or tree nymph, I have placed her emerging from the giant oak. These powerful forest spirits originated within trees, and typically took the forms of beautiful young maidens.

Can you all think of other characters in world myths who use their musicianship skills and the power of song in their stories?

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Who was this mythical storyteller? A singing bard-poet, (aoidoi)-dramatically orating the epic tales for aristocratic banquets or bawdy taverns? A collective of poets-refining their work over generations? The unfortunate truth is, we just don’t know.

Homer is thought to have existed around 800-700 B.C. and is credited as the creator and poet of the epics; “The Iliad” (15,693 lines) and “The Odyssey” (12,109 lines). Homer existed during a time when Linear B had been lost, or the Greek “dark ages.” So the poets of this time sung their tales in song-like structures, passing the oral art form down form generation to generation. Therefore, its unlikely Homer made up these tales, but inherited and refined them from older tales that had been passed down in the oral tradition. To complicate things further, Between the epics, there are variations in narrative style, vocabulary, and geographic expertise, which lead many scholars speculate that The Iliad and Odyssey were written by different authors.

Unfortunately, there are no biographical details within the epics to give us insight into the author(s). However, In the Odyssey, there is a blind bard poet character, Demodocus, who recites his poetry to the royal court. Some have suggested that this character was created by Homer as a reflection of himself. This is a fun and tempting parallel to draw. Similar to how we might get the reflection of Shakespeare’s voice through Hamlet when the prince describes to his players the the philosophies of theatre acting. The portrayal of a blind poet also creates a nice symbolic parallel to the Norse God Odin, who, sacrificed an eye in exchange for divine wisdom. Indeed, the Greek bards saw themselves as divinely inspired by “the Muses”; the inspirational goddesses of the creative arts. Through Homer, the elegant oral form crafted these classics, and, incredibly, we can still hear the song like syntax and repetitions in the texts. 

(**i drew this map and wrote this text for my upcoming book on greek hero myths. If you see any problems please let me know! Xoxo)

Certainly the ancient Greek myths were influenced and inspired by even older cultures like Egypt and Babylon (see Zeus parallels with Babylonian “Anu”) through “diffusion” (cultural spreading). But there were three powerful civilizations in ancient Greece which fostered a unique cultural and mythic heritage, spanning almost 3000 years.

MINOA: (3000 B.C.-1100 B.C.) In the Bronze age, on the southern island of Crete, rose a great civilization with a population of over 10,000 at the city of Knossos. The name derives from King Minos, of the Theseus and Minotaur myth. The Minoans were known for far-reaching Mediterranean sea trade, and wrote in a language called “Linear A,” which has never been deciphered.

MYCENAE: (1700 B.C.- 1100 B.C.) Another sea faring Bronze age civilization in which the Homeric characters hail from. With the Minoan civilization in decline around 1450 B.C., the Myceneans took over the islands and adopted much of the Minoan culture, developing a new writing system, “linear B,” which became the earliest Greek language. Whether due to invading foreigners or natural disasters, the decline of Mycenae was followed hundreds of years of decline; the “dark ages.”
“Archaic” period (700-480 B.C.) Populations increased, and progressive concepts appeared, such as the creation and organization of the “Polis” or city-state.

ATHENS (480 B.C.- 323 B.C.) the word “Greece” was a later term created by the Romans. The ancient Athenian Greeks called their country “Hellas” and the people were “Hellenes.” the “Classical age” of Athens was a period of revolutionary development in philosophy; (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,) theatre drama (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides), refining concepts of democracy, among many other innovations in sculpture, architecture, and medicine.

“Athena’s Aegis,” by me, (#10 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

PART 10: With justice served and his mother saved, Perseus returned his Adamantine blade to Hermes, and the helmet of invisibility and winged sandals to the nymphs, and of Medusa’s head he offered it to grey-eyed Athena who placed the head upon her “Aegis” (armored breastplate) as a sacred weapon. Later in life, Perseus returns to his original homeland, fulfilling the original prophecy by accidently killing his grandfather with an accidental discus throw. Perseus and andromeda go on to found the great kingdom of Mycenae.

The original Aegis armor was described as a goat hide with golden tassels wrapped over a shield used by Zeus in the war against the Titans. In an alternative account, in the Olympians war against the titans, Athena strips a giant monster, Pallas, of his skin and wears the skin as armor. In ancient Greek vase paintings we can see a metal corselet worn by Athena upon her torso, with Medusas head positioned abreast. In Homer’s Iliad, Apollo borrows the Aegis, and joining in the war, provokes terror upon the battlefield with it, as it was said to produce “…a sound as from myriad roaring dragons.” (Iliad, 4.17)

combing through the references about the Aegis was a bit tricky. Does anyone have anything to add about this sacred piece of armor? Did i miss anything?

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Part 9: Upon returning to Seriphos, Perseus finds his mother fearing for her life in the temple from the lecherous King Pholydectes, who had assumed our hero dead. Perseus rushes into the throne room, turns his head away, and unleashes the full power of Medusa’s gaze upon the king and his soldiers, freezing them to cold stone before they could attack or even flee.

This is an amazing climactic scene, and is appropriately dramatic. It brings to mind the fairytale trope, where a character must conquer and remove an evil step-parent who has usurped and corrupted the natural parentage. We also have the fascinating symbolic motif of defeating a monster, then absorbing and using the monster’s powers against other adversaries. So, the monster’s abilities, initially a deadly danger, have now become an advantageous tool in the hero’s repertoire.

On the flip side, this situation reminds me of an example where a character thought they had a magic tool, but it turned out to be a deadly weapon. When Hercules saw the centaur Nessus attempting to rape his wife Deinara, Hercules shot him with an arrow tipped with the poison of the hydra. While Nessus lay dying, the centaur tricked Deianeira, telling her his magic blood was a love potion. Later in life, when her trust was waning, she spread the blood on a robe and gifted it to her husband, who was burned a live by the hydras poison in the blood.

Can you think of any other examples in Greek myth of heroes using defeated foes weapons as tools, or vice versa?

Coming next…Athena receives the head of Medusa for her Aegis! :D

“Cetus and Andromeda” (#8 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

part8: Having successfully acquired his prize, Perseus flies over the sea for home. But along a foreign coast, he hears cries. A young woman, Andromeda, chained to a rock as a sacrifice, with a vicious sea beast approaching. (Andromeda’s mother, Queen Cassiopia, had bragged that her daughter’s beauty was greater than even the sea nymph Nereids. The nymphs were outraged as such hubris, and Poseidon sent a flood and sea creature to ravage the kingdom. Ammon the oracle prophesied the kingdom would be spared if Andromeda were offered as sacrifice). When young Perseus laid eyes upon the helpless girl, he fell in love, and vowed to fight the Sea serpent. Upon defeating the beast, Andromeda marries Perseus and they fly away together.

Perseus and Andromeda later go on to have many children and are the founder of the Mycenae kingdom, from which the Greek kings Agamemnon and Menelaus from the Iliad hail. Upon her death, Andromeda was placed in the sky as a constellation in honor by Athena.

There are other fascinating examples of the god’s punishing mortals for their hubris. The king Salmoneus was struck down by Zeus for comparing himself to the king of gods. Tantalus, attempting to trick the gods by serving them the meat of his own son, was condemned to everlasting punishment in the underworld, “tantalized” by hunger and thirst with fruit and water always moving out of reach. The Roman poet Ovid writes of Arachne, who boasted of her weaving being better than Athena, and was turned into a spider by the goddess, cursed to weave forever.

Can you think of other examples where the gods punished mortals for their prideful transgressions?

Coming next…Perseus returns to find some drama at home with his mother and king Polydectes!!!

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“The Birth of Pegasus and Chrysoar” (#7 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

Part7 : But Perseus was not turned to stone by Medusas gaze, for he used his bronze shield as a mirror. Before Medusa could rise and attack, Athena guided Perseus sword-hand, decapitating the monster. From the bloody neck stump of Medusa, from Poseidon’s seed, two bizarre children were born; Pegasus the winged horse, and a son, Chrysaor. Not far off, the Gorgon sisters awoke in fury. There was little time. Perseus secured Medusa’s head into his Kibis, and fled into the night upon his winged sandals, while the screeching gorgon sisters sought the killer in vain.

Here we have another example of a strange, “higher birth” in Greek mythology. It brings to mind Athena’s birth, fully formed and armored, from Zeus’ cracked forehead.
        Pegasus is an important figure in Greek mythology. In some versions of the Perseus myth Pegasus is ridden away, while in others, Perseus flees the gorgon upon his winged sandals.  Pegasus appears in another hero myth, being tamed and ridden by the hero Bellerophon to kill the fire breathing beast; Chimera. Later, Bellerophon attempted to ride Pegasus to Olympus, but Zues caused him to fall. Pegasus continued on to Olympus, joining the King of gods as his thunderbolt bearer, and receiving a constellation in the horses honor.

Pegasus’ brother Chrysaor means “golden-blade.” Some variations tell of him as a giant, while others say he was a winged boar. Chrysoar went on to lay with an oceanid nymph to father a three bodied, four-winged Giant named Geryone. During Hercules quest to perform 12 tasks, his 10th task is to collect the cattle of Geryone. But… that’s a tale for another time.

Coming next…a certain sea serpent and princess in peril!

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“The Gaze of Medusa”, by me (#6 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

Part 6: With his winged sandals, Perseus flies over the sea finally coming to the barren lands of the three Gorgon sisters; the immortals- Stheno and Euryale, and the mortal sister-Medusa. Passing amongst the stony victims of animals and mortals alike, he stealthily descends deep into their lair where they sleep. Using Athena’s shield as a mirror, and invisible due to hades helmet, he quietly floats over to Medusa, rising his Adamantine sickle high for the death stroke. But she hears him! She awakes in rage, unleashing the full terrible power of her gaze upon the intruder!

In the oldest, archaic representations of the gorgon in Greek art (tombs, coins, breastplates, rooms,) the frightening head seems to function as an “apotropaic” symbol (protective amulet) to ward off evil, known as a “Gorgoneian. A fascinating aspect of the portrayal of the gorgon head in Ancient Greek art is that she uniquely portrayed as front facing, strikingly meeting the viewer’s gaze head on. While most other God’s and mortal character’s faces and bodies are shown in side profile views.

There are multiple sources for the stories involving Medusa. In Homer’s Odyssey, the gorgon is vaguely referred to as a frightening head from the underworld. In Hesiod’s “Theogany,”(700 B.C. Greece) increases the number to three sisters, with Medusa being a monster from birth who willingly lays with Poseidon, and resides in the far lands with her Gorgon sisters. It’s not until 700 years later, in the Roman Poet Ovid’s "Metamorphosis” (8 A.D.) that Medusa is completely reinvented as a beautiful mortal, and chaste priestess of Athena, who, after being raped by Poseidon in Athena’s temple, is cruelly cursed by Athena with snake for hairs and a stony gaze, and then exiled. In fact, although the gorgon was always associated with snakes, it seems to be Ovid who first makes Medusa’s hair actually be snakes. The Gorgon head is also shown on Athena’s breastplate or shield as her “Aegis” for protection, (which we’ll see and revisit in more detail at the end of Perseus myth.) The Medusa character in Myth is a great example of Myths having fluidity and variations, and citing your literary sources when discussing myths is important for us all to know which time period and culture we are alluding to.

So, what do you guys think of Medusa and Gorgon’s history and development? Am i missing any important info?

Coming next…the beheading of medusa!

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“The gifts of the gods” (image #5 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

Part 5:

Perseus is guided to the coast where the “Nereids” (sea nymphs) offer sacred objects to assist the boy in his quest; winged sandals for flight, Hades’ helmet (or cap) of invisibility, and a knapsack called a “Kibisis” to hold the severed head of the Gorgon.

In ancient Greek art the Nereids are typically portrayed as long dressed maidens riding dolphins or Hippocampi (half-horse half-fish creatures) or even having lower fish bodies (aka the mythic precursors to mermaids). The Nereids were known to help sailors in distress, and some mortals on mythic quests, such as Thetis, Achilles mother, who delivered Hephaestus’ sacred armor to her son, Achilles at Troy. The Nereids also famously assisted Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece. The sea nymphs had a darker side as well, when they and Poseidon send a sea monster to ravage the coast of a kingdom, which will intertwine with Perseus’ Myth soon.

Above right, Hermes, to behead Medusa, offers a sickle sword of “Adamantine” which was said to be an indestructible, diamond like metal. Athena offers a shimmering, bronze shield, so that Perseus might use it as a mirror and avoid looking directly into the Gorgon’s eyes. So, now with his sacred boons attained, Perseus is now ready to fly to the land beyond Oceanus, to the cursed land of the gorgons to take the head of Medusa.

What do you guys think of the Nereides? Are they allies or enemies to mortals?

And can you think of other examples of gods or deities giving mortals weapons or tolls for sacred quests in greek mythology?

Coming next…into the gorgon lair for the beheading of medusa!!!

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This is a test image as I’m experimenting with another style of simple linework. Sometimes I want to do more linework variety in a simple, faster and graphic style. Maybe I could pepper these types of images into my book alongside the color paintings. What do you guys think?

part 4:

As Perseus was the son of Zeus, the gods heard his prayers. Athena answered, offering strategic information on the only ones who knew the locations of the The Gorgon sisters, were in fact, another set of three sisters; the sisters Graeae. These are three gray haired old hags with swan like bodies, who share but one eye and tooth between them. Hermes, God of travelers and ally to mortals, also offered his guidance to the distant realm. After many weeks of difficult trekking, Perseus found himself on the island of Cisthene, in the craggy land of the sisters Graeae. Sneaking upon the women, he waited until they passed their one eye between them, snatching it away, and threatening to heave it into the sea. The Graeae gave in, revealing the location of the Gorgon sisters. But it would be no easy task. The gorgon sisters had golden wings, bronze hands, snakes for hair, and worst of all, their gazes turned men to stone. Perseus would need sacred weapons for such a mission. And, according to Athena, there was only one group who could provide them: the sea nymphs.

With the 3 sisters we can the first of many examples of the “triple goddess” archetype in Old world mythology. Some are represented with one body and three forms (triple bodied Hekate) while most are three individuals. (i.e. “The Morai” (fates), “the Horai” (seasons) “The Furies,” “The Hesperides,”(graces) and “the Gorgons.”) We can see other examples from other ancient cultures, like the Norse “Norns” or the Christian holy trinity of the father, son, and holy spirit. Even Shakespeare, a student of Greek myth and poetry, chose three witches to prophecy to Macbeth.

Karl Kerenyi explains the connection with the moon phases; “With Hera the correspondences of the mythological and cosmic transformation extended to all three phases in which the Greeks saw the moon: she corresponded to the waxing moon as maiden, to the full moon as fulfilled wife, to the waning moon as abandoned withdrawing women” While, according to Erich Neumann the triple deity archetype refers to “…the three temporal stages of all growth (beginning-middle-end, birth-life-death, past-present-future).“

**if you have any further thoughts to add to this concept of the “triple goddess” archetype-Please comment below!

Here we can also see the variations of myths in ancient Greek written works. Hesiod mentions two sisters, But Psuedo-Appolodorus mentions three, And Aeschylus, in his lost “Perseus trilogy”, refers to them as having swan like features. So while most art portrays them as old, human crones, I chose to lean into the swan like features for something a bit more horrific. Their sisters are the Gorgons after all.

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part 3:

Perseus was lovingly raised into a fine young man by the fisherman who found him and his mother. Amazingly, the fisherman’s brother was King Polydectes, the ruler of Seriphos. One evening Perseus is invited to a secret banquet within the king’s hall. It is revealed the party is for guests to offer gifts to the king for a dowry to marry a neighboring princess. Many aristocrats lead fine horses before the king in generous offerings, until finally, Perseus is called up to present his contribution. The boy, unprepared, stands empty handed. Eager to prove his worth, the young man offers to acquire anything the king wishes, even “the Head of a dreaded gorgon”, he jokingly adds. The hall echoes in chuckles. But the king does not laugh. For king Polydectes, secretly desiring Perseus’ mother Danae, has cleverly devised this trap to dispose of the boy. The king immediately agrees to Perseus’ impossible suggestion. Perseus, keeping his composure, gracefully bows and retires. But how on earth can he ever hope to accomplish such an unimaginable task? He will need help. Help from the gods.

Here we have an example of what Joseph Campbell deems the “Call to adventure.” This is the point in a myth or fairytale where the protagonist is either offered or forced into a quest. Sometimes the hero will turn down the call, but in the end, the journey must commence, or else we have no story.

(*I didnt really know what else to discuss in this plot point, so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. :)

“Castaways”, Illustrated by me, (#2 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)

After the miraculous conception, Danae gives birth to a demi-god son she names Perseus. King Akrisios, not believing the child to have been born of Zeus, and to punish her, places her and the child into a chest and casts them into the sea. Through the will of Zeus, the pair find safe passage to the shore of Seriphos. Here they are rescued upon the coast by a fisherman, Diktys, who raises Perseus. But Diktys brother is king Polydektes, who, becoming enamored with Danae, seeks to remove the protective Perseus from his path of desire.

What I find fascinating about this plot point is it being an early example of the “child surviving sure death to fulfill destiny as the chosen one” archetype. From the Book of Exodus (600 B.C.) we have a similar structure of abandonment, rescue from water, and adoption by royalty. In Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh ordered the slaughter of Israelite children, so Moses’ mother placed him within a basket, and cast him off into the Nile, to later be discovered and adopted by the Egyptian royal family.

It also brings to mind another similar structure used by Sophocles in his famous tragedy “Oedipus Rex.” (429.B.C.) Queen Jocasta, hearing a prophecy that her son will kill his father (her husband) gives the baby away to a shepherd to leave out exposed on a mountain side, but the shepherd saves the baby’s life, thus allowing Oedipus to live on to fulfill the prophecy. But that’s a tale for another time.

In the first plot point of the “Perseus Quests for the Gorgon head” myth we begin with a dark prophecy, a cruel king, and a miraculous birth. A cracking good start! King Akrisios of Argos receives an ominous warning from the oracle that his daughter, Danae, will give birth to a child that will slay the king. These pesky father slaying prophecies pop up again and again in Greek myth; Cronus being overthrown by his son (Zeus) and Zeus in turn being overthrown by his offspring with Metis.

So what does our King Akriosis do with his daughter? Well, he imprisons her into an underground Bronze chamber of course! keeping her and her womb far from any pesky suitor’s libidos. But Zeus, never one to let such barriers prevent him from copulation, is the ultimate shapeshifter here. He visits Danae, and morphs into a gaseous cloud, penetrating into the cracks of the chamber, seducing Danae with warmth and wonder, pouring his favor upon her in the form of a golden rain. The symbolism is clear here, as rain fertilizing crops is standard symbolism for intercourse in Greek erotic poetry.

There is much debate through a modern lens at Zeus’s conquests; is he raping or seducing? Well, it depends on the myth, the source, and translation. He, and many other gods, do both. In certain tales, they seduce the willing, and in others, they rape the unwilling. With Danae, it was left open to my artistic interpretation. I decided that Danae, having been chained in a bronze dungeon cell by her own father, in her isolation and confinement, welcomes the deity and a child into her womb as a miracle. But when Danae gives birth to her son, a little boy she names Perseus, the King has a cruel plan for them both. Stay tuned for the next titillating episode!

*for anyone that followed my “Olympians” series, i want to let you know that I’ll be illustrating the main heroic myths over the next 6-8 months, with the goal of compiling these into a book later in the year. If you want to come on board into this process with me, please join me over on my discord server, where ill be posting my work-in-progress images, and even be making my manuscript available to folks for feedback, beta reading, advice, etc. In fact. my text posts accompanying these images are a sort of rough draft to the types of commentary i hope to accompany these images in my book. Anyways, I hope to see you over there :)

https://discord.gg/wBc47nYr

If you wish to see more of my Greek Myth art, please click on my link tree in my bio to see insta, Etsy print shop, etc. Thanks! xoxo

I got a bunch of people lovingly chastising me for not including Hestia in my original line up, and upon reflection I realized I had left out a very important goddess. Perhaps not important within the heroic dramas and tragedies we are accustomed to, but Hestia was incredibly important for the average Greek citizen. Hestia was the virgin goddess of the home and hearth fire, where the families ate and congregated. She  oversaw cooking of meals, and sacrificial food for feasts. In my image she sits aside a giant hearth fire. In her right arm she holds a chaste-tree, (signifying chastity and virginity) while in her left hand she holds the sacred hearth flame. Under her golden wreath sits a veil upon the top of her head. to the left we can see the cooking pot and roasting meat, as well as mortals below offering and sacrificing food and wine in her honor. below her chair is a greek family.
And as always, if you want to share this image I would appreciate it!

Dionysus, the god of wine, vegetation, festivity, and on a darker note, madness and frenzy. Here we see our jovial deity riding a leopard and wearing a leopard skin, holding aloft his sacred wine chalice in one hand, and his pine cone tipped staff “Thyrsus”. Below him dance his attendants in the cult of Dionysus, the sileni,satyr, centaur, woman dancer, and bull and woman, with a centaur playing the two head flute pip (AULOS)  further back. In the upper right hand background we can see hanging grapes for the wine, and below; a darker representation of Dionysus; the mad frenzy. Here we see the MAENADs;(“raving ones" ), women followers who drink and dance into violent frenzies. In Euripedes play, "the Bacchae”, the Maenads, in a state of delusion, tear apart their own king Pentheus, limb from limb, thinking him a lion. Even poor Orpheus, the greatest lyre player of all, was torn apart when he refused to play for them in a state of mourning after returning from the underworld without his wife, Eurydice). 

 If you've been following along for the last 6 weeks, then you get a free cup of ambrosia! cheers! I’m currently deciding what to do next, but it will either be “heroes and monsters" or "the Tragedies.” So please stay tuned for lots more artwork in the coming weeks and months. which i’m hoping to compile into a book later in the year! ;)

And as always, if you want to share this image I would appreciate it!