Poetry Discussion Group: Ovid's Metamorposes

[ftil]

Oh, it is synchronicity as I have found this tread. Several moths ago, I started reading mythology and I begun to connect mythology with paintings. Actually, paintings guided me to read Homer or Ovid as well as the Bible I have never read. I was curious why so many master painters chose the same themes. I have asked a question if art is an expression of thoughts, feelings, or experience or perhaps not in many instances. The more I have explored the themes in art, the more I have started to read paintings symbolically and metaphorically. I have discovered that paintings contain the esoteric meaning and have its own language. It is a matter and challenge of decoding the hidden meaning.

[stlukesguild]

Obviously the artists chose Biblical subjects... or rather the artists had Biblical subjects chosen for them for the simple reason that until the Enlightenment, the Church was the single largest patron of the arts, and the primary purpose of art was to reinforce the Biblical narratives to a largely illiterate audience.

Beginning with the Renaissance we find a rediscovery of Greco-Roman culture (literature, art, philosophy, science, etc...). Many recognized that in some ways the Greco-Roman culture was more advanced than the medieval Christian culture they had inherited... but to simply absorb or borrow from a Pagan culture was a clear no-no. Efforts were thus made, by various scholars to paint the Greco-Roman culture as the precursor to the Christian culture. It didn't take much effort to suggest that the Roman Empire was the precursor of the Holy Roman Empire... and that Greece... through the Trojan War and through its influence upon the culture of Rome was ultimately a precursor of both the Roman and the Holy Roman Empire. The challenge was to present individual narratives as precursors to Christianity.

In Virgil's Aeneid the author speaks in prophetic form of an individual to come who shall be the greatest of rulers... an king of kings... who will unify the world. Neo-Platonism (or the philosophy of merging Greco-Roman and Christian thought) suggested that Virgil was prophesizing the coming of Christ, rather than sucking up to Augustus Caesar. The tale of Aeneid was interpreted by many as akin to that of Christ and Moses... leading his people to the promised land, entering into hell and returning, etc...

In many instances, the Greco-Roman themes were suggested because they mirrored and reinforced Christian narrative. Ultimately, however, the Neo-Platonic philosophy simply provided a justification for the real subject... especially the nude. Artists frequently employed the Adam and Eve narrative, or the Last Judgement, Bathsheba, or Susanna and the Elders as an excuse for painting the beautiful nude female (or male... in the case of Adam) body. Greco-Roman mythology brought so many more narratives: Venus and Adonis, Venus and Mars, Diana at her Bath, the Rape of Prosperpine, Apollo and Daphne, the Rape of Europa, etc... etc...

[ftil]

stlukesguild wrote:

In many instances, the Greco-Roman themes were suggested because they mirrored and reinforced Christian narrative. Ultimately, however, the Neo-Platonic philosophy simply provided a justification for the real subject... especially the nude. Artists frequently employed the Adam and Eve narrative, or the Last Judgement, Bathsheba, or Susanna and the Elders as an excuse for painting the beautiful nude female (or male... in the case of Adam) body. Greco-Roman mythology brought so many more narratives: Venus and Adonis, Venus and Mars, Diana at her Bath, the Rape of Prosperpine, Apollo and Daphne, the Rape of Europa, etc... etc...

Hm…. We have been told that..... Is it the only explanation of the themes painted by many painters through centuries?
Why do the same themes from mythology are painted by contemporary artists? We can't say that they choose those themes as an excuse to paint naked body. We are bombarded with nudity whenever we turn our heads.
Perhaps, there is another reason and explanation. We can only see what we have learned.

[stlukesguild]

Hm…. We have been told that..... Is it the only explanation of the themes painted by many painters through centuries?

Obviously, there is no simple single explanation for what artists over the course of history have done, because we are speaking of thousands of unique individuals with different goals, experiences, motivations, etc...

Why (are) the same themes from mythology... painted by contemporary artists?

Again... that would depend upon the individual artist. Quite often the artist work within a given tradition or employ a given theme as a means of looking at that theme in a new light. If we take this painting by Max Beckmann entitled Departure:



You will find in the central panel an image of a mother and child that suggests the Madonna and Child. This is reinforced by the artist's use of the triptych format that was commonly reserved for altarpieces. Looking at the two flanking panels we see cramped and enclosed spaces filled with noise (the drum), violence (the naked man whose hands have been cut off, the woman tied up, and the ax-wielding executioner), and captivity (the tied woman again, and the man and woman tied together.

Knowing the period in which Beckmann painted this painting we may surmise that the two side panels represent the horrors of fascism that he sought to escape. We might point out the uniformed figure ala the storm-troopers accompanied by the drums of war. We might interpret the man whose hands have been cut off as perhaps representing the artist banned from creating and placed within the dustbin like so much garbage.

Looking then to the central panel we see the figures in a boat on the open seas. No longer locked up, they look toward the horizon. As such, the mother and child/Madonna and Child might be seen as refugees. As we think on the subject and ponder just what the Madonna and Child represent we recognize that one thing they represent is Hope... the Future.

Looking toward the left panel we notice the ponderous classical columns and the still life of fruit. Might the artist also be suggesting a departure from the confines of the stagnant traditions as he looks forward to an escape to America? (Unfortunately, Beckmann could not acquire the needed paperwork to gain admission to the US and so he sat out the entire war in Holland).

Looking at the right panel we might interpret the couple tied together as a comment upon sexual relations and the manner in which men and women are bound that can become rather like a form of captivity.

Looking again to the center panel, we see two major flanking male figures which appear as if protectors. The figure on the left in his Greek mask immediately calls to mind Odysseus and Aeneas and their great voyages... especially Aeneas voyage with the refugees of Troy destined for a new world to establish a new nation. The figure on the right bears a crown (a king) and holds a net laden with fish. What is immediately suggested is Jesus, the "fisher of men" and the King. The manner in which this king figure raises his right hand as if in blessing or to reveal his wounds (a common pose of Jesus in Renaissance painting) reinforces the Madonna and Child theme further.

We can't say that they choose those themes as an excuse to paint naked body. We are bombarded with nudity whenever we turn our heads.

Of course... and some artists will simply elect to paint the nude without any thought to anything beyond what they see before them. Others will fell the need to "justify" a subject that is still taboo in many circles by placing it within a classical garb. Others will recognize, as Renoir did, that "some subjects are eternal. The naked woman rising from her bath is Venus rising from the sea..."

We can only see what we have learned.

No... there is always room to question what we have been taught. In my five years of life drawing I was repeatedly told that the artist merely looked upon the nude in formal terms... seeking out the relationships of form and line and shadow and space. There was no emotional and certainly no sexual thoughts involved in this process. From the very start I recognized this to be nonsense.

[YesNo]

Oh, it is synchronicity as I have found this tread. Several moths ago, I started reading mythology and I begun to connect mythology with paintings. Actually, paintings guided me to read Homer or Ovid as well as the Bible I have never read. I was curious why so many master painters chose the same themes. I have asked a question if art is an expression of thoughts, feelings, or experience or perhaps not in many instances. The more I have explored the themes in art, the more I have started to read paintings symbolically and metaphorically. I have discovered that paintings contain the esoteric meaning and have its own language. It is a matter and challenge of decoding the hidden meaning.

Do you have a link to a particular painting with a subject from Ovid that you find interesting from the metaphorical perspective? It might give us a focus in reading this large work.

[Buh4Bee]

I'm still in book 3, but I am astounded at how cruel Juno is and how her jealous fuels her satisfaction. I understand that she feels her throne is threatened, but it still seems so harsh.

[ftil]

stlukesguild wrote:

We can only see what we have learned.

No... there is always room to question what we have been taught. In my five years of life drawing I was repeatedly told that the artist merely looked upon the nude in formal terms... seeking out the relationships of form and line and shadow and space. There was no emotional and certainly no sexual thoughts involved in this process. From the very start I recognized this to be nonsense.

Yes, but you can only speak for yourself. I try avoiding making assumptions what others think because I am most of the time wrong. Secondly, you said, “I was repeatedly told”. When we were told and accepted it ….there is no space to arrive to own conclusions and to engage own perception. Those people can’t stay in other artists head and they can only make assumptions what artists think and feel. I wouldn’t take it seriously if somebody has tried to make assumption what I think or feel.
You said, “ this to be nonsense” but you don’t know what I mean. How can you say that it is nonsense, then.

Do you have a link to a particular painting with a subject from Ovid that you find interesting from the metaphorical perspective? It might give us a focus in reading this large work.

I don't have a link because I move from Ovid to Homer to paintings or artifacts.
But I can show you how I work with it.

Let's look at Psyche myth.

PSYCHE was the goddess of the soul, wife of Eros the god of love.

She was once a mortal princess whose astounding beauty earned the ire of Aphrodite when men turned their worship from goddess to girl. Aphrodite commanded Eros make Psyche fall in love with the most hideous of men, but the god himself fell in love with her and carried her away to his secret palace. However Eros hid his true identity, and commanded her never to look upon his face. Psyche was eventually tricked by her jealous sisters into gazing upon the face of god, and he abandoned her. In her despair, she searched throughout the world for her lost love, and eventually came into the service of Aphrodite. The goddess commanded her perform a series of difficult labours which culminated in a journey to the Underworld. In the end Psyche was reunited with Eros and the couple wed in a ceremony attended by the gods.

Psyche was depicted in ancient mosaics as a butterfly winged goddess in the company of her husband Eros. Sometimes a pair of Psyche are portrayed, the second perhaps being their daughter Hedone (Pleasure.)
http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Psykhe.html

EROS & PSYCHE

Antakya Museum, Antakya, Turkey Date: C3rd AD
Period: Imperial Roman

SUMMARY

Butterfly-winged Psyche (Soul) steals the bow and arrows of the sleeping dove-winged god Eros (Love).






EROS & PSYCHE

Antakya Museum, Antakya, Turkey,Date: C3rd AD


SUMMARY

The winged god Eros (love personified) stands on the butterfly wings of two Psykhai (Souls) flitting across the sea, driving them with a whip. The two Psykhai of myth were named Psykhe and Hedone.

Psyche in Greek mean soul.


The Abduction of Psyche Adolphe William Bouguereau



Pan and Psyche, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...and_Psyche.jpg


Angelica Kauffmann, The Legend of Cupid and Psyche



Michael Parkes



Let's look at paintings of other artists.

Soul in Bondage, Elihu Vedder We see a butterfly again.




Let's look at Morgan art.

The Kingdom of Heaven Suffereth Violence and the Violent Take it by Force, Evelyn De Morgan




Queen Katherine's Dream 2 William Blake





Jacob's Ladder, William Blake




Edward Burne-Jones, The Golden Stairs




The Captives, Evelyn de Morgan



Let's look at Parkes art.

We have a butterfly again and a man with horn. There is a frog on the top of his head. In Egyptian religion the eight deities were arranged in four female-male pairs, the females were associated with snakes and the males were associated with frogs: Naunet and Nu, Amaunet and Amun, Kauket and Kuk, Hauhet and Huh.





Look at butterfly, and a girl with a chain. Who is keeping the key?

















Good and Evil Angels Struggling for the Possession of a Child, William Blake







An Angel and a Devil Fighting for the Soul of a Child, Giacinto Gimignani







The Snake Charmer, Jean Léone Gérôme






The Nude Snake Charmer, Paul Desire Trouillebert



So who is the person with a flute?

Let's look at mythology at god Pan and Satyr.

THE SATYROI (or Satyrs) were rustic fertility daimones (spirits) of the wilderness and countryside. They were close companions of the gods Dionysos, Rheia, Gaia, Hermes and Hephaistos; and mated with the tribes of Nymphai in the mountain wilds.

Satyroi were depicted as animal-like men with the tail of a horse, assine ears, upturned pug noses, reclining hair-lines, and erect members. As companions of Dionysos they were usually shown drinking, dancing, playing tambourines and flutes (the instruments of the Bacchic orgy) and sporting with Nymphai. Men dressed up as Satyroi formed the choruses of the so-called Satyr-plays which were performed at the festivals of the god Dionysos.

Some other closely related rustic spirits include the Panes (goat-legged satyrs), Seilenoi (elderly satyrs), Satyriskoi (child satyrs), and Tityroi (flute-playing satyrs).
http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Satyroi.html

DIONYSOS & SATYR
Date: ca 500 - 480 BC

SUMMARY

Dionysos reclines beside a flute playing Satyros. The god holds a drinking cup in his hands and is crowned with a wreath of ivy. The Satyros has the usual features of his kind: horse's tail and ears, pug nose, balding head.

PAN was the god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. He wandered the hills and mountains of Arkadia playing his pan-pipes and chasing Nymphs. His unseen presence aroused feelings of panic in men passing through the remote, lonely places of the wilds.

The god was a lover of nymphs, who commonly fled from his advances. Syrinx ran and was transformed into a clump of reeds, out of which the god crafted his famous pan-pipes. Pitys escaped and was turned into a mountain fir, the god's sacred tree. Ekho spurned his advances and fading away left behind only her voice to repeat forever the mountain cries of the god.

Pan was depicted as a man with the horns, legs and tail of a goat, and with thick beard, snub nose and pointed ears. He was often appears in the retinue of Dionysos alongside the other rustic gods. Greeks in the classical age associated his name with the word pan meaning "all". However, it true origin lies in an old Arkadian word for rustic.

Pan was frequently identified with other similar rustic gods such as Aristaios, the shepherd-god of northern Greece, who like Pan was titled both Agreus (the hunter) and Nomios (the shepherd); as well as with the pipe-playing Phrygian satyr Marsyas; and Aigipan, the goat-fish god of the constellation Capricorn. Sometimes Pan was multiplied into a host of Panes, or a triad named Agreus, Nomios, and Phorbas.
http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Pan.html

PAN & PITYS

Museum Collection: Antakya Museum, Antakya, Turkey
Period: Imperial Roman

SUMMARY

The goat-legged god Pan sneaks up on a sleeping Nymph, probably either Ekho or Pitys. Above her flits a winged Eros (love god).


God pan has changed his appearance, hasn't he ?



SUMMARY

Detail of Pan picking grapes from a vase depiction of Dionysos and his retinue.


PAN
Date: C1st AD
Period: Imperial Roman

SUMMARY

The rustic god Pan sits on a mountain rock, playing a set of his namesake pan-pipes. The god is shown with the horns of a goat, but is otherwise human in form. He has an animal skin cloak draped over one arm





James Pradier : Satyr and Bacchante






Satyr also looks differently.

Apollo And Marsyas Satyr, Pietro Vannucci




modern art

Micheal Cheval, Magic flute








Let's look at god Pan

Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer.


Alexander Pope

Windsor-Forest

Not proud Olympus yields a nobler sight,
Tho' gods assembled grace his tow'ring height,
Than what more humble mountains offer here,
Where, in their blessings, all those Gods appear.
See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd,
Here blushing Flora paints th' enamel'd ground,
Here Ceres' gifts in waving prospect stand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand;
Rich Industry sits smiling on the plains,
And peace and plenty tell, a STUART reigns.


Arnold Böcklin, Nymph on Pan's Shoulders 1874








Peter Paul Rubens, Pan and Syrinx, 1617-1619








Julio Romano









Nicolas Poussin, Pan and Syrinx 1637-38







I don't know the name of the artist but it comes from http://witchcraft-supplies.com/Statues_Gods.html

Pan Dancing with Nymphs



So , let's look at transition of god Pan, Satyr and Cupid.

So, Cupid became a dark angel.

Cupid and Psyche, by Jean Baptiste Regnault, (1828)




Cupid and Psyche by ORAZIO GENTILESCHI




Cupid and Psyche by ORAZIO GENTILESCHI


Cupid and Psyche, by Benjamin West




Cupid and Psyche by ORAZIO GENTILESCHI





Pan has transformed into a little angel.

Whoever you are, here is your master (or Love the Conquerer) So, Pan/Satyr has become our master????






Sir Burne was more open. Satyr and Pan were was depicted with flute. So, Satyr and Pan became dark angel with red hairs.


Angel, Sir Edward Burne-Jones







Venus and Cupid, Evelyn de Morgan







Angel of Death, Evelyn de Morgan





Love, the Misleader Evelyn De Morgan




So, we may ask about dark angel.

I can post for hours but let's look at Zeus as another example.

ZEUS was the king of the gods, the god of sky and weather, law, order and fate. He was depicted as a regal man, mature with sturdy figure and dark beard. His usual attributes were a lightning bolt, royal sceptre and eagle.
http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Zeus.html

1.10 EUROPA & THE BULL

Museum Collection: The J Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, Date: ca 340 BC
Period: Late Classical

SUMMARY

Side A: Detail of Europa riding across the sea on the back of the bull-shaped god Zeus.







EUROPA & THE BULL

Museum Collection: Musée de L'Arles Antique, Arles, France
Period: Imperial Roman

SUMMARY

Europa is carried across the sea by the bull-shaped god Zeus.



Rembrandt: THE ABDUCTION OF EUROPA




Titian The Rape of Europa (1562)





Giovanni Battista Palumba

1500-1510
The rape of Europa, who lies along the back of the bull who charges through the sea with a landscape behind





René Boyvin, 1545-1555
The rape of Europa: Europa on the back of the bull which is taking her away; both are seen from behind. c.1545/55
Engraving




Huge marble statue of Europe and the bull from the 19th century in the midst of Hyde Park, London. She represents one of the four continents on the base of the Albert Memorial erected in the Hyde Park in 1876. The sculptor is by P. MacDowell





Karl Hänny (1879-1972): Skulptur "Europa auf dem Stier" (1915-1918), Rosengarten, Bern, Schweiz.




Hannes Grobe
Europa carried away by a bull (bronze sculpture by Lilli Finzelberg). Present given by American citizens to captain Johnssen after completing the maiden voyage of the express-steamer EUROPA in 1930. Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum, Bremerhaven, Germany









Whats about the Bankers & there Wall-street cable with there bull & Horn Symbolics?




California




Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida

St. Luke.The Four Evangelists. 1464/65. Fresco. Vault of Apsidal Chapel of Sant' Agostino, San Gimignano, Italy

[YesNo]

I'm still in book 3, but I am astounded at how cruel Juno is and how her jealous fuels her satisfaction. I understand that she feels her throne is threatened, but it still seems so harsh.

I was thinking the same thing about Juno.

Also she doesn't stop with Jove's lover or rape victim, but goes after the entire family. This morning I was thinking that something similar happened with Adam and Eve. They ate the fruit Yahweh told them not to eat and so Yahweh removed them from paradise. All their descendents were punished with them. I've never understood why eating the fruit was such a problem, but I can sort of see why being involved, even unwillingly, in a marital dispute between two chief Gods might cause some problems.

I wonder if part of the story is to explain why unfortunate things happen.

I can post for hours but let's look at Zeus as another example.

Thanks, ftil! I'll get back with a comment when I have digested this. I think I'll start with Europa and the Bull.

I hadn't thought of the Wall Street bull statue as being related to this before.

We have a butterfly again and a man with horn. There is a frog on the top of his head. In Egyptian religion the eight deities were arranged in four female-male pairs, the females were associated with snakes and the males were associated with frogs: Naunet and Nu, Amaunet and Amun, Kauket and Kuk, Hauhet and Huh.

The only thing that makes me think the Wall Street bull has nothing to do with the Europa legend is the absence of Europa in the figure, but I do wonder why a bull and bear are chosen for the rising and falling trends of the market.

I found it interesting that the butterfly represents the soul, and that males are associated with frogs and females with snakes in Egyptian religion. The frog idea reminds me of the princess kissing the frog in the fairy tale.

I liked the following image, but I didn't even realize there was a key in it until you asked the question of who was holding it.

Look at butterfly, and a girl with a chain. Who is keeping the key?

[stlukesguild]

Titian's Rape of Europa may be the finest interpretation of this myth... indeed it may just be the finest Italian Renaissance painting in America... but really!! It must be seen in all it's glorious color! This is what makes the painting... the contrast of the opulent sensuality of color and brushwork in contrast to the violence of the scene:



My personal favorite interpretation, however, must be that of Titian's slightly later Venetian compatriot, Paolo Veronese:



Rather than suggesting the fear of Europa and the violence of the drama, Veronese transforms the scene into a celebration... an Epithalimion... as the "bride" of Jove is decked in flowers and rich, glowing satin gowns by attending handmaidens, while cupids crown her with wreaths of roses and laurels and more flowers are strewn before her path. The painting suggests elements of a rich tapestry... not unlike Botticelli's Primavera... and tapestries would have been well-known in Venice where the flood-waters and humidity had long made large paintings an impossibility until the recent development of oil on canvas.

Among the more Modern interpretations, I quite like the German Expressionist, Max Beckmann's:



Beckmann was continually fascinated with the sexual relationship between men and women. Europa's face suggests her fear, but as usual with Beckmann, her muscular body suggests anything but a helpless damsel. The bull thrusts his phallic head forward at us while Europa's body is wrapped naked around him.

In looking at the bull imagery one must remember that there are multiple bull narratives in Greco-Roman mythology, including the Minotaur and Io. The tale of Io, seduced by Zeus, is very similar to that of Europa... although it is poor Io who is turned into the bull (or heifer) and driven half-mad by the gadflies set upon her by the ever jealous Hera. Intriguingly, both Europa's and Io's names have been assigned to moons of Jupiter.

I always thought the bull was chosen in connection with the old adage "a bull in a china shop" suggesting the reckless behavior of "Buy! Buy! Buy!"

[ftil]

stlukesguild wrote:

In looking at the bull imagery one must remember that there are multiple bull narratives in Greco-Roman mythology, including the Minotaur and Io. The tale of Io, seduced by Zeus, is very similar to that of Europa... although it is poor Io who is turned into the bull (or heifer) and driven half-mad by the gadflies set upon her by the ever jealous Hera. Intriguingly, both Europa's and Io's names have been assigned to moons of Jupiter.

Hm......as a female I question using a word "seduce" Zeus transformed himself into a bull or a swan, for example. I think that many painters were correct when they tilted their paintings The rape of Europa. He was a quite promiscuous god. The same applies when we look at Bathsheba and king David. The Bible use the same word that king David saw Bathsheba and seduced her. No, he raped her. I think that it is a very important distinction and we need to ask why so many painters were fascinated with the myth of Leda, Europa, Bathsheba, Susanna and elderly, or Lot and his daughters, Lot who raped his daughters.

Let's look at Zeus mortal lovers.

MORTAL LOVES (WOMEN)
ALKMENE A Lady of Thebes in Boiotia (Central Greece) who was seduced by Zeus in the form of her own husband. She bore twins: Herakles by Zeus and Likymnios by her husband Amphitryon.

ANTIOPE A Lady of Thebes in Boiotia (Central Greece) who was seduced by Zeus in the shape of Satyros. She bore him twin sons Amphion and Zethos which were exposed at birth.

DANAE A Princess of Argos (in Central Greece) who was imprisoned by her father in a bronze tower. Zeus seduced her in the form of a golden shower, and she gave birth to a son, the hero Perseus.

DIA A Queen of the Lapith tribe of Thessalia (in Northern Greece), wife of King Ixion. According to some, she was seduced by Zeus, and bore him a son Peirithoos (but others say, the father was her husband Ixion). [see Family]

ELARE A Princess of Orkhomenos (in Central Greece) who was loved by Zeus. In fear of the wrath of Hera, he hid her beneath the earth, where she gave birth to a son the Gigante Tityos.

EUROPA A Princess of Phoinikia (Phoenicia in West Asia) who was abducted to Krete )in the Greek Aegean) by Zeus in the form of a bull. She bore him three sons: Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthys.

KASSIOPEIA A Lady of Krete (in the Greek Aegean) who bore Zeus a son named Atymnios. [see Family]

LAMIA A Queen of Libya (in North Africa) who was loved by Zeus. When the jealous Hera stole her children by the god - Herophile and Akhilleus - she was driven mad with grief.

LAODAMEIA A Princess of Lykia (in Asia Minor) who was loved by Zeus and bore him a son, Sarpedon. [see Family]

LEDA A Queen of Lakedaimonia (in Southern Greece) who was seduced by Zeus in the form of swan. She laid an egg from which were hatched the Dioskouroi twins - one Polydeukes was the son of Zeus, the other Kastor the son of her husband Tyndareus. According to some, she was also the mother of egg-hatched Helene (though others say this egg was given her by the goddess Nemesis).

LYSITHOE A woman who bore Zeus a son named Herakles (a man with the same name as the famous hero). [see Family]

NIOBE A Princess of Argolis (in Southern Greece). She was the very first mortal woman loved by Zeus, and bore him two sons: Argos and Pelasgos (though according to others Pelasgos was a son of Poseidon or Earth-Born).

OLYMPIAS An (historical) Queen of Makedonia, and mother of Alexandros the Great. According to legend, her son was fathered by the god Zeus.

PANDORA A Princess of the Hellenes, one of the daughters of King Deukalion, surviver of the Great Deluge. She was loved by Zeus and bore him sons Latinos and Graikos. [see Family]

PROTOGENEIA A Princess of the Hellenes, one of the daughters of King Deukalion, surviver of the Great Deluge. She was loved by Zeus and bore him a son Aithlios. [see Family]

PYRRHA The wife of King Deukalion of the Hellenes, who with her husband survived the Great Deluge. According to some, her first born son, Hellen, was fathered by Zeus rather than Deukalion. [see Family]

PHTHIA A girl from Aegion in Akhaia (southern Greece). Zeus seduced her in the guise of a pigeon or dove.

EURYMEDOUSA A Princess of Phthiotis (in Northern Greece) who was seduced by Zeus in the form of an ant. Their son was named Myrmidon (Ant-Man).

KALLISTO A Princess of Arkadia (in Southern Greece) who was seduced by Zeus in the guise of the goddess Artemis. She was transformed into a bear by a wrathful goddess into a bear and in this form bare a son named Arkas.

KALYKE A Queen of Elis (in Southern Greece), the wife of King Aithlios. She was the mother by Zeus (or by her husband Aithlios) of Endymion. [see Family]

SEMELE A Princess of Thebes in Boiotia (Central Greece) who was loved by Zeus, but through the machinations of Hera was consumed by the heat of his lightning bolts. Zeus rescued their unborn son, Dionysos, from her body and sewed him up in his thigh until he was old enought to be born.

THYIA A Princess of the Hellenes, one of the daughters of King Deukalion, surviver of the Great Deluge. She was loved by Zeus and bore him sons Magnes and Makedon. [see Family]

(4) MORTAL LOVES (MEN)
GANYMEDES A Prince of Troy (in Asia Minor) who was abducted to Olympos by Zeus in the form of an eagle to be his lover and the cupbearer of the gods.
http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/ZeusLoves3.html

But has a long list of SEMI-DIVINE LOVES (NYMPHAI)

I always thought the bull was chosen in connection with the old adage "a bull in a china shop" suggesting the reckless behavior of "Buy! Buy! Buy!"

The bull or the cow theme is quite interesting. It is present is many cultures, for example in Egyptian religion, Hindu, or ancient world.




Sculpture of Hathor as a cow.

The worship of the Sacred Bull throughout the ancient world is most familiar to the Western world in the biblical episode of the idol of the Golden Calf made by people left behind by Moses during visit to mountain peak and worshipped by the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus). Marduk is the "bull of Utu". Shiva's steed is Nandi, the Bull. The sacred bull survives in the constellation Taurus. The bull, whether lunar as in Mesopotamia and Egypt or solar as in India, is the subject of various other cultural and religious incarnations, as well as modern mentions in new age cultures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_(mythology)

Hm......I have noticed that Europa is depicted as a mermaid. I have never seen that in other paintings.

In Greek mythology, Pasiphaë (English: /pəˈsɪfə.iː/; Greek: Πασιφάη Pasipháē), "wide-shining" was the daughter of Helios, the Sun, by the eldest of the Oceanids, Perse;

She was also the mother of "starlike" Asterion, called by the Greeks the Minotaur, after a curse from Poseidon caused her to experience lust for and mate with a white bull sent by Poseidon.[4] "The Bull was the old pre-Olympian Poseidon,"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasipha%C3%AB

I think about Jupiter And Olympia painting by Giulio Romano. Olympia doesn't exist in mythology as a woman. Zeus is not human, either. I am wondering if the same theme was painted by other artists.

I let my associations fly free.


A very strange paintings.


Arnold BöcklinSwiss, 1827 - 1901
Naiads at Play




Arnold BöcklinSwiss, 1827 - 1901
Idyll of the Sea




Arnold BöcklinSwiss, 1827 - 1901
Playing in the Waves







Nereid riding a sea-bull (latter 2nd century BC)






Sea thiasos Nerid






Sea thiasos Nereid





Sea thiasos Neried






Hippocamp Art Deco fountain, Kansas City, Missouri, (1937)

[stlukesguild]

No... she is wearing a gown or robe on her lower body, but her toes are visible beneath the bull's neck. What might be mistaken for her fish tail is the bull's tail.

What I see when looking at her is something akin to the engraving by René Boyvin. There is a similar muscularity of both the bull and the girl. She has the same gold armband... and there is a similar forshortening... in Beckmann's case the bull thrusts forward in space, in the Boyvin he moves away from us. In both instances there is a sense of powerful sexuality in both Europa and the Bull.

[ftil]

No... she is wearing a gown or robe on her lower body, but her toes are visible beneath the bull's neck. What might be mistaken for her fish tail is the bull's tail.

What I see when looking at her is something akin to the engraving by René Boyvin. There is a similar muscularity of both the bull and the girl. She has the same gold armband... and there is a similar forshortening... in Beckmann's case the bull thrusts forward in space, in the Boyvin he moves away from us. In both instances there is a sense of powerful sexuality in both Europa and the Bull.

LOL! Toes ? Like in The Sirens Arnold BöcklinSwiss, 1827 - 1901





It is interesting that you have mentioned bull's tail. I don't see powerful sexuality but I see that she was violated and abducted against her will.

I am trying to find René Boyvin work. But to be honest, I think that you fell a victim of programming by seeing women as a sex object. Yes, women have powerful sexuality but it doesn't mean that it is available to all men. It is a violation of women's will. I feel very uncomfortable that you can't see it.

Thanks, ftil! I'll get back with a comment when I have digested this. I think I'll start with Europa and the Bull.

I hadn't thought of the Wall Street bull statue as being related to this before.

I have moved my posts to my tread as I have a very different approach to art than OP. Paintings have own language and it is more than we have been told.
I will add more paintings to the old posts.
http://www.online-literature.com/for...=1#post1049351

[OrphanPip]

Human beings have been obsessed with cows likely since the domestication of the animal, it's understandable that the animal would become associated with prosperity and fertility. The cow is odd in one sense that it stuck around within a lot of cultures as an important symbol as animistic worship declined. Likely because it played such a prominent economic role in the lives of many people.

[Buh4Bee]

When I was a resident in the city of NY, there were life size cows all over the city. Once they were displayed for a time, they were then auctioned off for charity. You can read about the organization that hosts this event through the link below. In the link there is an explanation telling why the cow is used as the painters' canvas (life size cows are painted by different artists). Mainly, they summarize that the cow is universally recognized and loved across the planet.

www.cowparade.com/AboutUs.php

[YesNo]

When I was a resident in the city of NY, there were life size cows all over the city. Once they were displayed for a time, they were then auctioned off for charity. You can read about the organization that hosts this event through the link below. In the link there is an explanation telling why the cow is used as the painters' canvas (life size cows are painted by different artists). Mainly, they summarize that the cow is universally recognized and loved across the planet.

www.cowparade.com/AboutUs.php

I remember seeing these cows in Chicago as well. I don't understand why they were made but they were interesting.