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Demeter, Persephone, Triptolemus & the lesser mysteries of Eleusis [380-360]
Benevent Campanien - London BM F68
Side (a)
Initiation of *Heracles* and the *Dioscuri* into the lesser mysteries at Agrae (or Eleusis): In the centre is *Persephone* standing half-turned to right, with long hair, beaded ampyx, earrings, necklace, bracelets, transparent white chiton with looped-up sleeves, himation held up in left hand, sandals, and torch in right hand; at her feet is *Demeter* seated to left, looking back at her. Demeter has long hair, beaded ampyx, earrings, necklace, bracelets, long chiton with diploidion, and sceptre in right hand; below her are a footstool and two uncertain objects of oblong shape; the flesh of both figures is painted white, with ornaments and features in yellow.
Persephone looks back at *Triptolemos*, who is seated to left looking up at her, in his winged carriage drawn by two white serpents; he is beardless, with long curls, laurel-wreath, and himation over left shoulder. Above him is *Eumolpos*, acting as μυσταγωγός (mystagogos, instigator to the mysteries) he moves to left, looking back, and is beardless, with long curls, fillet and laurel-wreath, girt chiton reaching to the knee with embroidered band on bosom, endromides, and torch in right hand; he leads up one of the Dioscuri, who is beardless, with wreath, chlamys over shoulders, and a large torch painted white in right hand; in front of his head is a star of nine points. On the left *Iachos* approaches, beardless, with fillet and laurel-wreath, chiton as Eumolpos, beaded girdle, chlamys over right arm, endromides, torch in right hand, left extended; he is followed by *Heracles*, and, on a higher level, the other of the Dioscuri.
Heracles looks back, and is beardless, with short curly hair, wreath, chlamys over shoulders, torch in right hand and club in left; the Dioscuros is beardless, with wreath, himation over left shoulder, and torch in right hand. Behind, over an uneven line indicating a hill, appear six Doric columns, over four of which is a white architrave, possibly representing the temple of Demeter at Agrae.
Source: London BM F78
This is an Egyptian depiction of Isis that had been reworked into a bust of the Roman goddess Demeter.
Gregorian Egyptian Museum, Rome; July 2019
CAT:
Demèter, dea mare, és la deessa grega de l'agricultura, substància pura de la terra verda i jove, protectora del matrimoni i la llei sagrada.
ENG:
Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law. Some cults interpreted her as "Mother-Earth". Demeter embody aspects of a pre-Hellenic Mother Goddess.
(Fuente/Font/Source: Wikipedia)
OR
Otro título sería ORGULLO DE MUJER Y MADRE
Un altre títol seria ORGULL DE DONA I MARE
Another title for this picture would be: PRIDE OF BEING WOMAN AND MOTHER
Model: Erin Jordan (MM# 1630028)
Hair stylist: J Michael Nichols (MM# 1812449)
Makeup by Evelyn (MM# 1668740)
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From left, Hermes, Dyonisos, Demeter and Ares facing the procession.
The twelve figures of the East Pathenon Frieze representing the Olympian gods are seated in two groups of six with a junger standing attendant. These are the four leftmost figures of the first group of deities. All sit on simple four-legged stools known as “diphoroi”, except Zeus, who sits on a throne. With exception of Dyonisos they are all facing the procession. The most reliable clues to their identities are the carved attributes: the petasos (traveler’s cap) and the boots for Hermes, the torch for Demeter. The gestures too are useful to identify the carved deities. The brooding pose helps to identify the third character as Demeter mourning for her daughter Persephone. The restless knee-grabbing pose is a well-known iconography of Ares. As for the second male character, because of damage to the head it is not known whether he was bearded or not, but by a process of elimination he is taken to be Dionysos, although Herakles has been proposed. The fact that he is seated on a cushion and leans back onto another god, unlike the other deities except Aphrodite, suggests the god of the symposium. His intimacy with Hermes supports this hypothesis: it refers not only to their relationship as stepbrothers but also to the care Hermes took of the baby Dionysos when he placed him under the protection of the Nymphs. The fact that the god of viniculture has his legs interlocked with those of another agrarian deity, Demeter, also might support this identification.
Source: Neils J., “The Parthenon Frieze”
Greek marble relief
About 438 – 432 BC
Parthenon’s East frieze
London, The British Museum
In the summer of 2000, one of the great frontier cities of the Roman Empire, the city of Zeugma, all but disappeared from the face of the Earth under the flood waters of a dam. In a bid to modernise, the Turkish government has embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering projects in the world, building a series of dams on the Euphrates over the past twenty years. Almost every dam threatens ancient remains that lie below in one of the most archaeologically rich regions of the world. The completion of the Birecik dam, featured in this film, has flooded the valley where Zeugma is buried. The city on the flat plain has entirely disappeared and the waters have now risen to cover 30% of the city on the hillside.
'Horizon' tells the story of the archaeologists' fifth and final visit, struggling to save what they could before the dam waters rose. It witnesses the uncovering of some of the most beautiful examples of Roman art ever found. The team’s discoveries at Zeugma caused an international outcry and further excavations were hurriedly put together.
Since 1995, French archaeologists Pierre Leriche and Catherine Abadie-Reynal have taken up the challenge to save what they can from the city before the dam is finished. The archaeologists have two main tasks - to uncover the history of this desperately under-excavated region of Turkey and to remove what treasures they could from the site before they were lost forever. On this, their final excavation, they had to work against the clock: they only had a permit to dig for six weeks
Zeugma was founded by one of Alexander the Great’s generals, Seleucia Nicator, and prospered under later Roman rule. It became one of the major cities of the Roman eastern frontier with a garrison of over 6,000 soldiers. The city’s bridge across the Euphrates made it one of the most critical trading cities in the region, on the silk routes to the East. The archaeologists know that the city contains vital clues to the history of the region. Previously looted exquisite mosaics have hinted at the treasures of its past that must be buried somewhere in the vast site.
The part of the old city on the Euphrates flood plain, Apamea, was the first to go. But the archaeologists didn’t stand a chance of excavating it in such a short amount of time. So using a technology originally developed for finding oil and mineral deposits, they instead generated a picture of the buried city just as it lies below ground. They discovered a preserved ancient Greek city, laid out in a perfect grid. Meanwhile, in the remains of a Roman villa across the river, the archaeologists had an extraordinary stroke of luck.
With only five days left on the excavation permit, Catherine Abadie-Reynal unearthed a masterpiece: a beautiful Roman mosaic floor. The discovery caused an international outcry and hit the headlines across the world. The archaeologists were granted more days to excavate, but they could not stem the tide of the dam project.
With time running out, they uncovered more stunning mosaics in the villa. They were dug out from the site and sent to a local museum at Gaziantep - just in time. By mid June 2000, the newly uncovered fourteen room villa disappeared underwater. By October, the level of the water finally settled to form a vast, still lake in the valley. All excavations at the site ceased.
There's recently been a move by the Turkish government to declare Zeugma a site of special archaeological interest. The remainder of the ancient city on the hillside could, in theory, still be explored.
Votive Relief of a Funerary Banquet of Demeter, Persephone and a God - Marble 350-325 BC.
When I was there, the Museum had an exhibit on Ancient Greece.
After visiting the Lew Wallace Study and Museum, I returned to Indianapolis, to connect with the friend I was visiting there. When planning my visit to the area, I discovered the Indianapolis Children's Museum, which boasts of being the world's biggest children's museum. Later, I was happy to find that my friend wanted to come with me to this place. We visited it on October 24, 2019.
I am in the midst of a series about the myth of Demeter and Persephone. Here is an early image... more to come!
Model: Erin Jordan (MM# 1630028)
Hair stylist: J Michael Nichols (MM# 1812449)
Makeup by Evelyn (MM# 1668740)
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La mission de Triptolème
Cratère en cloche attique attribué au peintre d’Hector (groupe de Polygnote), Athènes, Trouvé dans une nécropole de Cumes peu avant 1842, 440-430 av J.-C..
Céramique à figures rouges. H. 38,9 cm ; D. 41,7 cm ; L.47,5 cm. Inscriptions : A : KALE - KALOS
BnF, Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques, Luynes.684 – De Ridder.424
English:
Among the sisters of Zeus, Demeter was the goddess of crops and agriculture. She had a daughter, Persephone, who was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld, while she was picking flowers with her companions. Inconsolable, Demeter sought her in vain all over the earth, until Zeus intervened and annually divides Persephone's time between a few months with her husband underground (it is then winter), and a few months with his mother ( thanks to its return, growth resumes in the spring). During her search, Demeter stopped at Eleusis, where she was greeted generously by the locals. In gratitude, she founded a cult there and gave them agriculture with the mission for Triptolemus, the son of the king of Eleusis, to teach men how to grow wheat.
The main scene of this vase evokes the departure of the hero. Demeter and her daughter stand on the left: the first holds a plow, the instrument used to plow the earth, the second two lit torches, indicating that the scene is taking place at night or in darkness (Hades). Triptolemus is about to climb here in his winged chariot, a veritable throne adorned with the head of a griffin, to roam the land, ears and scepter in hand.
Français:
Parmi les sœurs de Zeus, Déméter était la déesse des moissons et de l’agriculture. Elle a eu une fille, Perséphone, qui fut enlevée par Hadès, dieu du monde souterrain, tandis qu’elle cueillait des fleurs avec ses compagnes. Inconsolable, Déméter la chercha vainement sur toute la terre, jusqu’à ce que Zeus intervienne et partage annuellement le temps de Perséphone entre quelques mois avec son mari sous terre (c’est alors l’hiver), et quelques mois avec sa mère (grâce à son retour, la croissance reprend au printemps). Pendant sa recherche, Déméter s’était arrêtée à Éleusis, où elle avait été accueillie généreusement par les habitants. En remerciement, elle y fonda un culte et leur donna l’agriculture avec pour mission pour Triptolème, le fils du roi d’Eleusis, d’aller enseigner aux hommes la culture du blé.
La scène principale de ce vase évoque le départ du héros. Déméter et sa fille se tiennent à gauche : la première tient un araire, l’instrument servant à labourer la terre, la seconde deux torches allumées, indiquant que la scène se déroule de nuit. Triptolème s’apprête ici à monter sur son char ailé, véritable trône orné d’une tête de griffon, pour aller parcourir la terre, épis et sceptre en mains.
Severan, ca. A.D. 190-200
Carved with Demeter holding a torch and driving a two-horse chariot, Iris in the background with billowing drapery, a reclining figure of Tellus below, Persephone kneeling in the foreground gathering flowers in a basket, and a group of goddesses, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena attempting to restrain Hades from carrying off Persephone to the underworld on his chariot; the right end of the scene, including the horses of Hades and the leading figure of Hermes, now missing.
39 by 69 3/4 in. 99 by 177.16 cm
Provenance
Robert and James Adams (1728-1792, and 1732-1794), Rome
Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798), Rome, acquired from the above circa 1775
Sir William Petty Fitzmaurice (1737-1805), 2nd Earl of Shelburne and later 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, Lansdowne House, acquired from the above in 1776
by descent to Henry Petty Fitzmaurice (1872-1936), 6th Marquess of Lansdowne (Christie, Manson & Woods, London, Catalogue of the Celebrated Collection of Ancient Marbles the Property of the Most Honourable The Marquess of Lansdowne, March 5th, 1930, no. 66)
Arthur Sambon Collection, Paris, as of 1931
Adolph Loewi, Loewi-Robertson, Inc., Los Angeles, California (seen there by Cornelius Vermeule in early 1970)
Los Angeles private collection, acquired from the above in 1970
by descent to the present owner
Exhibited
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, May 1993 to January 1998
Literature
letter from Gavin Hamilton to Townley, October, 7th, 1775 (Ilaria Bignamini and Clare Hornsby, Digging and Dealing in 18th Century Rome, vol. I, New Haven and London, vol. II, 2010, p. 75)
letter from Gavin Hamilton to Lord Shelburne, July 13th, 1776 (Christie, Manson & Woods, 1930 sale catalogue, pp. 95-96; Bignamini and Hornsby, op. cit. p. 89)
K.O. Müller, in Böttiger's Amalthea, vol. III, 1825, pp. 247ff.
Gerhard, Akad. Abh., II, p. 484
Foerster, Der Raub und die Rückkehr der Persephone und ihrer Bedeutung für die Mythologie, Litteratur- und Kunst-Geschichte, Stuttgart, 1874, pp. 198-199, no. 5
Adolf Michaelis, Archäologischer Zeitung, vol. 32, 1874
Johannes Adolf Overbeck, Griechische Kunstmythologie, II, 4: Demeter und Kora, 1873-1878, p. 633, no. 31
Adolf Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, Cambridge, 1882, p. 460, no. 77
Foerster, Philologus, Suppl.-Bd. IV, 1884, p. 703
Carl Robert, Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs. Einzelmythen. Niobiden bis Triptolemos. Ungedeutet (ASR 3, 3), Berlin, 1919, pp. 490-491, no. 411,1
Arthur Sambon, Aperçu général de l'évolution de la sculpture, Paris, 1931, p. 30, pl. 31,2
Guntram Koch, "Verschollene mythologische Sarkophage. Ein archäologischer Steckbrief," Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1976, p. 110-111, fig. 23
Guntram Koch and Hellmut Sichtermann, Römische Sarkophage, Munich, 1982, p. 178
Ruth Lindner, Der Raub der Persephone in der antiken Kunst, Würzburg, 1984, p. 82, cat. no. 110
Jonathan Scott, The Pleasures of Antiquity: British Collectors of Greece and Rome, New Haven, 2003, p. 166, fig. 129
Ilaria Bignamini and Clare Hornsby, Digging and Dealing in 18th Century Rome, vol. I, New Haven and London, vol. I, 2010, p. 225
Arachne. Datenbank und Kulturelle Archive des Forschungsarchiv für Antike Plastik Köln, no. 51202
Catalogue Note
For a closely related example, most likely from the same workshop, in the Villa Albani (inv. no. 139) see Carl Robert, op. cit., 1919, no. 410 (G. Gasparri, in P.C. Bol, ed., Forschungen zur Villa Albani. Katalog der antiken Bildwerke, vol. III, Berlin, pp. 46-47, no. 262, pls. 15-20).
According to Ovid's poetic account, "Proserpina was playing, gathering flowers, violets, or white lilies, and so many the basket would not hold them all, but still she was eager – the other girls must never beat her at picking blossoms! So in one moment, or almost one, she was seen, and loved, and taken in Pluto's rush of love. She called her mother, her comrades, but more often for her mother... and the earth opened, and the chariot plunged through the new crater down to Hell" (Metamorphoses, 5.389-458, transl. Rolfe Humphries). The subsequent story tells of an irate Demeter withdrawing the gifts of fertility from the earth, searching frantically for her daughter, and finally obtaining from Hades a promise that Persephone spend at least half of each year with her on earth, thus making the earth flower in rebirth. This important myth, with its emphasis on death and renewal, was particularly appropriate for sarcophagus decoration. It was at the center of the Greek fertility cult known as the Eleusinian mysteries, which promised their initiates a better fate in the afterlife, and lasted well into the Roman period (see Walter Burkert, Greek Religion, Cambridge, Mass., 1985, pp. 289-290).
About a year prior to selling the present relief to Lord Shelburne, the Rome-based English painter and antiquities dealer Gavin Hamilton offered it first to Charles Townley: "I have got now restoring a bassorelievo of the rape of Proserpine being the front of a sarcophagus. The subject is common, and the sculpture the usual style of those sort of monuments, though of the best kind, and a good deal fragmented. There wants the horses of Pluto and several other small parts. The head of Ceres and two of the Nymphs I have replaced with antique heads. You may probably remember this piece as you saw it in Rome in one of my rooms on the ground floor. The price of it completely restored is 75 pounds, which considering restoration and original cost only saves me; if this can be of any service to you pray acquaint me by the return of the post, that I may secure the licence" (letter of Oct. 7th, 1775, in Bignamini and Hornsby, op. cit., p. 75; punctuation and spelling modernized). Less than a year later Hamilton offered several marbles to Lord Shelburne "for your Lordship's summer house or garden," including the present relief, for about the same price he gave to Townley: "I gave Adams formerly a hundred crowns for the bas-relief of the rape of Proserpine. What restoration is done costs me 60 crowns, for which price I send it, and hope it will be acceptable, though it still wants part of one end" (letter of July 13th, 1776, in Bignamini and Hornsby, op. cit., p. 89).
SNY06081145
UTOPIA / Heftreihe
José Antonio Rossellé / Hände weg von Demeter
(El Zorro del Espacio)
cover: Rudolf Sieber-Lonati
Erich Pabel Verlag
(Rastatt / Deutschland; 1961)
ex libris MTP
High reliefs stele of Artemis Poseidon and Demeter, from the Nerva – Antonine dynasty period. Only the lower torso and legs of Artemis have survived. These fragmentary sculptures are believed to have come from a large altar dedicated to Zeus, located in the center of the Smyrna agora.
Marble high relief
Height 220 cm, width 270 cm
Antonine period (138-193 AD)
From Smyrna Agora
Smyrna, Archaeological Museum
I was surprised to see this sculpture of either Demeter (Greek goddess of agriculture) or Ceres (Roman equivalent) in a pub, but this particular pub is quite unusual. It features objects (e.g. doors) taken from others owned by Joules brewery, and a lot of thought has gone into the decor.
Relief of Demeter, Persephone and Hades - Marble 200-100 BC.
When I was there, the Museum had an exhibit on Ancient Greece.
After visiting the Lew Wallace Study and Museum, I returned to Indianapolis, to connect with the friend I was visiting there. When planning my visit to the area, I discovered the Indianapolis Children's Museum, which boasts of being the world's biggest children's museum. Later, I was happy to find that my friend wanted to come with me to this place. We visited it on October 24, 2019.
The scene takes the entire left panel of the frieze section E of the podium. Demeter, facing the viewer, stands on her two-wheeled wagon pulled by two snakes – today largely damaged - towards right. Her head is turned slightly to the left in the direction opposite to the chariot’s movement. She wears a chiton, which, according to the charioteer’s iconography, is held tight just below her chest by the broad belt of the wagons. The chariot’s velocity swells her cloak, loosely slung over her head. In each hand she held a torch, of which only poor traces are visible. In front of the Demeter’s chariot, above the dragging snakes, Eros flies in the same direction. Below, on the ground, a squat animal, probably a pig, Demeter’s attribute, crouches. In front of the chariots there is a female figure facing the viewer. She wears chiton and coat; her hands and face are lost. This character can’t by identified because the attribute that she held in her hands is lost.
Three characters are carved on the next panel. The female figures represent respectively Demeter and Kore. The daughter of Demeter emerges from a cornfield represented in low relief by a bank of soil and two rows of stalks sprouted from the ground. The male figure closing the trio is Hermes with petasos, mantle descending from his shoulder and wrapping his hips, and kerykeion.
Source: Ruth Lindner, “Mythis und Identität”
Theater stage frieze
2nd quarter 1st cent AD. - 200 AD.
Nysa, Caria, Turchey
Crafted by the Muses for Apollo, the God of the Arts, this Lyre will supposedly give divine inspiration to all who heard its melodies.
The lyre is largely shaped using plate, SNOTted (ew) together to give an advanced curvature that brick wouldn't necessarily allow. Let us know what you think of the build!
The Lyre of Apollo was made as part of our touring show Mythical Beasts, which at the time of posting is debuting at Milestones Museum in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Be sure to follow us on social media to see when Mythical Beasts, or any of our other tours, are coming your way.
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LOG OF THE "DEMETER"
Varna to Whitby
Written 18 July, things so strange happening, that I shall keep accurate note henceforth till we land.
On 6 July we finished taking in cargo, silver sand and boxes of earth. At noon set sail. East wind, fresh. Crew, five hands . . . two mates, cook, and myself, (captain).
On 11 July at dawn entered Bosphorus. Boarded by Turkish Customs officers. Backsheesh. All correct. Under way at 4 p. m.
On 12 July through Dardanelles. More Customs officers and flagboat of guarding squadron. Backsheesh again. Work of officers thorough, but quick. Want us off soon. At dark passed into Archipelago.
On 13 July passed Cape Matapan. Crew dissatisfied about something. Seemed scared, but would not speak out.
On 14 July was somewhat anxious about crew. Men all steady fellows, who sailed with me before. Mate could not make out what was wrong. They only told him there was something, and crossed themselves. Mate lost temper with one of them that day and struck him. Expected fierce quarrel, but all was quiet.
On 16 July mate reported in the morning that one of the crew, Petrofsky, was missing. Could not account for it. Took larboard watch eight bells last night, was relieved by Amramoff, but did not go to bunk. Men more downcast than ever. All said they expected something of the kind, but would not say more than there was SOMETHING aboard. Mate getting very impatient with them. Feared some trouble ahead.
On 17 July, yesterday, one of the men, Olgaren, came to my cabin, and in an awestruck way confided to me that he thought there was a strange man aboard the ship. He said that in his watch he had been sheltering behind the deckhouse, as there was a rain storm, when he saw a tall, thin man, who was not like any of the crew, come up the companionway, and go along the deck forward and disappear. He followed cautiously, but when he got to bows found no one, and the hatchways were all closed. He was in a panic of superstitious fear, and I am afraid the panic may spread. To allay it, I shall today search the entire ship carefully from stem to stern.
Later in the day I got together the whole crew, and told them, as they evidently thought there was some one in the ship, we would search from stem to stern. First mate angry, said it was folly, and to yield to such foolish ideas would demoralise the men, said he would engage to keep them out of trouble with the handspike. I let him take the helm, while the rest began a thorough search, all keeping abreast, with lanterns. We left no corner unsearched. As there were only the big wooden boxes, there were no odd corners where a man could hide. Men much relieved when search over, and went back to work cheerfully. First mate scowled, but said nothing.
22 July.--Rough weather last three days, and all hands busy with sails, no time to be frightened. Men seem to have forgotten their dread. Mate cheerful again, and all on good terms. Praised men for work in bad weather. Passed Gibraltar and out through Straits. All well.
24 July.--There seems some doom over this ship. Already a hand short, and entering the Bay of Biscay with wild weather ahead, and yet last night another man lost, disappeared. Like the first, he came off his watch and was not seen again. Men all in a panic of fear, sent a round robin, asking to have double watch, as they fear to be alone. Mate angry. Fear there will be some trouble, as either he or the men will do some violence.
28 July.--Four days in hell, knocking about in a sort of malestrom, and the wind a tempest. No sleep for any one. Men all worn out. Hardly know how to set a watch, since no one fit to go on. Second mate volunteered to steer and watch, and let men snatch a few hours sleep. Wind abating, seas still terrific, but feel them less, as ship is steadier.
29 July.--Another tragedy. Had single watch tonight, as crew too tired to double. When morning watch came on deck could find no one except steersman. Raised outcry, and all came on deck. Thorough search, but no one found. Are now without second mate, and crew in a panic. Mate and I agreed to go armed henceforth and wait for any sign of cause.
30 July.--Last night. Rejoiced we are nearing England. Weather fine, all sails set. Retired worn out, slept soundly, awakened by mate telling me that both man of watch and steersman missing. Only self and mate and two hands left to work ship.
1 August.--Two days of fog, and not a sail sighted. Had hoped when in the English Channel to be able to signal for help or get in somewhere. Not having power to work sails, have to run before wind. Dare not lower, as could not raise them again. We seem to be drifting to some terrible doom. Mate now more demoralised than either of men. His stronger nature seems to have worked inwardly against himself. Men are beyond fear, working stolidly and patiently, with minds made up to worst. They are Russian, he Roumanian.
2 August, midnight.--Woke up from few minutes sleep by hearing a cry, seemingly outside my port. Could see nothing in fog. Rushed on deck, and ran against mate. Tells me he heard cry and ran, but no sign of man on watch. One more gone. Lord, help us! Mate says we must be past Straits of Dover, as in a moment of fog lifting he saw North Foreland, just as he heard the man cry out. If so we are now off in the North Sea, and only God can guide us in the fog, which seems to move with us, and God seems to have deserted us.
3 August.--At midnight I went to relieve the man at the wheel and when I got to it found no one there. The wind was steady, and as we ran before it there was no yawing. I dared not leave it, so shouted for the mate. After a few seconds, he rushed up on deck in his flannels. He looked wild-eyed and haggard, and I greatly fear his reason has given way. He came close to me and whispered hoarsely, with his mouth to my ear, as though fearing the very air might hear. "It is here. I know it now. On the watch last night I saw It, like a man, tall and thin, and ghastly pale. It was in the bows, and looking out. I crept behind It, and gave it my knife, but the knife went through It, empty as the air." And as he spoke he took the knife and drove it savagely into space. Then he went on, "But It is here, and I'll find It. It is in the hold, perhaps in one of those boxes. I'll unscrew them one by one and see. You work the helm." And with a warning look and his finger on his lip, he went below. There was springing up a choppy wind, and I could not leave the helm. I saw him come out on deck again with a tool chest and lantern, and go down the forward hatchway. He is mad, stark, raving mad, and it's no use my trying to stop him. He can't hurt those big boxes, they are invoiced as clay, and to pull them about is as harmless a thing as he can do. So here I stay and mind the helm, and write these notes. I can only trust in God and wait till the fog clears. Then, if I can't steer to any harbour with the wind that is, I shall cut down sails, and lie by, and signal for help . . .
It is nearly all over now. Just as I was beginning to hope that the mate would come out calmer, for I heard him knocking away at something in the hold, and work is good for him, there came up the hatchway a sudden, startled scream, which made my blood run cold, and up on the deck he came as if shot from a gun, a raging madman, with his eyes rolling and his face convulsed with fear. "Save me! Save me!" he cried, and then looked round on the blanket of fog. His horror turned to despair, and in a steady voice he said,"You had better come too, captain, before it is too late. He is there! I know the secret now. The sea will save me from Him, and it is all that is left!" Before I could say a word, or move forward to seize him, he sprang on the bulwark and deliberately threw himself into the sea. I suppose I know the secret too, now. It was this madman who had got rid of the men one by one, and now he has followed them himself. God help me! How am I to account for all these horrors when I get to port? When I get to port! Will that ever be?
4 August.--Still fog, which the sunrise cannot pierce, I know there is sunrise because I am a sailor, why else I know not. I dared not go below, I dared not leave the helm, so here all night I stayed, and in the dimness of the night I saw it, Him! God, forgive me, but the mate was right to jump overboard. It was better to die like a man. To die like a sailor in blue water, no man can object. But I am captain, and I must not leave my ship. But I shall baffle this fiend or monster, for I shall tie my hands to the wheel when my strength begins to fail, and along with them I shall tie that which He, It, dare not touch. And then, come good wind or foul, I shall save my soul, and my honour as a captain. I am growing weaker, and the night is coming on. If He can look me in the face again, I may not have time to act . . . If we are wrecked, mayhap this bottle may be found, and those who find it may understand. If not . . . well, then all men shall know that I have been true to my trust. God and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints help a poor ignorant soul trying to do his duty . . .
Thanks CroWolf for the grit and dust.
Thanks to all the donators in the Textures for layers group
To destroy the Magic check out the original and unedited photo in my stream
Created for
~ Brenda’s Bounty ~ Challenge #14
~ dA Stock Users Gallery Challenge #1 ~ Autumn Mucha
~ The StockYard Autumn/Fall Challenge
~
Challenge image ~Model with thanks to mizzd-stock
Challenge Texture ~ Brenda Starr
Background purchased from PNGTubes com with thanks to FrozenStarRo
Cat with thanks to Cynnalia-Stock
Moon with thanks to Petr Kratochvil
Texture 2 is my own.
~
Upper register, Gigantomachy: from the left, Ares fully armed with helmet, shield and spear, Poseidon with trident and Demeter successfully engaged in the battle against giants.
Lower register: Dionysus is depicted with a kantharos and the thyrsus; the god is moving toward an altar, while he is turning his head back in order to see the cortege of satyrs and maenads moving behind him.
Made in Athens
Attic red figured calyx-krater
Attribute to “the Niobid Painter”
About 475-425 BC
From Spina Necropolis
Ferrara, Archaeological Museum
Off an unmarked dirt path somewhere near the road to Branson, Missouri - skipping the touristy stops and scenic overlooks on my drives to just breathe.
(This time I was reminded that we share these woods with more than deer and enormous hawks, and underbrush often covers 3-ft holes...which was an incredibly dopey thing for a resident & veteran camp counselor to forget; also why the focus is a wee bit off. Unedited/unretouched to remind me.)
King Acrisius of Argos was warned by an oracle that he would be killed in time by a son born to his daughter Danae. So he promptly locked Danae up in a tower and threw away the key. But the god Zeus got in, disguised as a shower of gold, with the result that Perseus was born. So Acrisius straightaway stuck daughter and infant into a brazen chest and pushed it out to sea. Perhaps he expected it to sink like a stone, but instead it floated quite nicely, fetching up on a beach on the island of Seriphos. Here a fisherman named Dictys came upon the unusual bit of flotsam and adopted a protective attitude toward its contents. Thus Perseus had the advantage of a pure and simple role model as he grew to young manhood. Then one day Dictys's brother, who happened to be king in those parts, took a fancy to Danae and pressed his attentions upon her.
"You leave my mother alone," insisted Perseus, clenching a not-insubstantial fist. And the king, Polydectes by name, had no choice but to desist. Or, rather, he grew subtle in the means of achieving his desires.
"Okay, okay, don't get yourself into an uproar," he said to Perseus, though not perhaps in those exact words. He put it out that, instead, he planned to seek the hand of another maiden, one Hippodameia.
"And I expect every one of my loyal subjects to contribute a gift to the bride price," he said, looking meaningfully at Perseus. "What have you to offer?"
When Perseus did not answer right away, Polydectes went on: "A team of horses? A chariot of intricate devising? Or a coffer of gems perhaps?"
Perseus fidgeted uncomfortably. "If it meant you'd leave my mother alone, I'd gladly give you anything I owned - which unfortunately is precious little. Horses, chariot, gems, you name it - if I had 'em, they'd be yours. The sweat of my brow, the gain of my strong right arm, whatever. I'd go out and run the marathon if they were holding the Olympics this year. I'd scour the seas for treasure, I'd quest to the ends of the earth. Why, I'd even bring back the head of Medusa herself if I had it in my power."
Pausing for a breath against the pitch to which he'd worked himself up, Perseus was shocked to hear the silence snapped by a single "Done!"
"Come again?" he queried.
"You said you'd bring me Medusa's head," Polydectes replied. "Well, I say fine - go do it."
And so it was that Perseus set out one bright October morn in quest of the snake-infested, lolling-tongued, boar's-tusked noggin of a Gorgon whose very glance had the power to turn the person glanced upon to stone.
Clearly, then, Perseus had his work cut out for him. Fortunately he had an ally in Athena. The goddess of crafts and war had her own reasons for wishing to see the Gorgon vanquished, so she was eager to advise Perseus. Why, exactly, Athena had it in for Medusa is not entirely clear. The likeliest explanation is that the Gorgon, while still a beautiful young maiden, had profaned one of Athena's temples. For this sacrilege Athena turned her into a monster, but apparently this wasn't punishment enough. Now Athena wanted Medusa's head to decorate her own shield, to magnify its power by the Gorgon's terrible gaze. Athena told Perseus where he could find the special equipment needed for his task.
"Seek ye the nymphs who guard the helmet of invisibility," she counseled the young hero.
And where, Perseus inquired, might he find these nymphs?
"Ask the Gray Sisters, the Graeae, born hags with but an eye between them. They know - if they'll tell you."
And where were the Graeae?
"Ask him who holds the heavens on his back - Atlas, renegade Titan, who pays eternally the price of defying Zeus almighty."
Okay, okay, and where's this Atlas?
"Why, that's simple enough - at the very western edge of the world."
Before sending him off on this tangled path, Athena lent Perseus her mirrored shield and suggested how he make use of it. And while her directions were somewhat deficient as to particulars, Perseus did indeed track down Atlas, who grudgingly nodded in the direction of a nearby cave where, sure enough, he found the Graeae. Perseus had heard the version of the myth whereby these Sisters, though gray-haired from infancy and sadly lacking in the eyeball department, were as lovely as young swans. But he was disappointed to find himself taking part in the version that had them as ugly as ogres. Nor was their disposition any cause for delight.
Sure, they knew where the nymphs did dwell, but that was, in a manner of speaking, theirs to know and his to find out. With cranky cackles and venomous vim, they told him just what he could do with his quest. But the hero had a trick or two up his sleeve, and by seizing that which by virtue of its scarcity and indispensability they valued above all else, he made them tell him what he wanted to know about the location of the water nymphs.
At this point Perseus might have paused to consider the extent to which his quest was akin to computer adventure gaming. For starters, there was the essential business of bringing back - as in Jason "bringing back" the Golden Fleece to Colchis where, in the form of a flying ram, it had carted off a young maiden and her brother on the point of sacrifice. How remarkably similar to a gamer acquiring a particularly hard-sought icon for his or her inventory. Or so Perseus might have reflected had he been born in the era of compact discs and read-only memory. And then, in furtherance of his Medusa quest, there was the laundry list of other "inventory" that had to be acquired first, beginning with the shield with the mirrored surface and the helmet of invisibility.
Some versions of the myth have it that the water nymphs in question were pretty much garden variety. Properly referred to as naiads, they were minor deities of a far-less-than Olympian order, mildly powerful in their own limited way, but not even immortal, and confined in their scope of operation to a given body of water. For just as dryads are fairy creatures attached to trees, and Nereids are ocean-going, naiads are nymphs that live in ponds and pools.
Thus when the handsome youth Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in the surface of a pool, he broke the heart of the nymph who dwelled therein, who was condemned only to repeat Narcissus's sighs and murmurs like an echo. In fact, Echo was her name. And thus when the handsome youth Hylas strayed while fetching water for his shipmates on the Argo, some nymphs at the water hole were so smitten that they yanked him beneath the surface to dwell with them forever - much to the despair of Heracles, whose squire he was.
One version of the Perseus myth holds that the naiads he sought were special indeed, having as their domain the dark and lifeless waters of the river Styx, in the deepest Underworld. They were also reputed to have such bad personal habits that they could be smelled from a great distance. Such is perhaps understandable given the dubious cleansing powers of a river in Hell.
At length Perseus found the nymphs and got the gear. This consisted of the helmet of invisibility, winged sandals and a special pouch for carrying Medusa's head once he'd chopped it off. Medusa would retain the power of her gaze even in death, and it was vital to hide the head unless occasion called for whipping it out and using it on some enemy.
The god Hermes also helped out at this point, providing Perseus with a special cutting implement, a sword or sickle of adamant. Some add that it was Hermes, not the nymphs, who provided the winged sandals. Thus Perseus was equipped - one might even say overequipped - for his task. In fact, a careful examination of the hero's inventory leads to the suspicion that we are presented here with a case of mythological overkill.
A quick escape would be essential after slaying Medusa, since she had two equally monstrous sisters who would be sure to avenge her murder, and they had wings of gold or brass which would bear them in swift pursuit of the killer. So at least the winged sandals were a good idea. But if this supernatural appliance guaranteed the swiftest of escapes, why bother with a helmet of invisibility, which made it just about impossible for the Gorgons to find you even if you didn't deign to hurry away? Because it makes for a better myth, that's why.
And so Perseus sought out Medusa's lair, surrounded as it was by the petrified remains of previous visitors, and he found the Gorgon sleeping; Yes, even though he had the good old magic arsenal, Perseus was not so foolhardy as to wake Medusa. And even though her gaze could hardly be expected to turn anyone to stone while her eyes were closed, he used the device provided by Athena to avoid looking at Medusa directly. (This suggests that you could be turned to stone just by gazing at Medusa, though most versions of the myth have it that it was the power of her gaze that counted.)
Entering, then, somewhat unglamorously into the fray - if "fray" is the right word to describe a battle against a sleeping opponent - Perseus whacked Medusa's head off. At just that instant, the winged horse Pegasus, offspring of Medusa and the god Poseidon, was born from the bleeding neck. Then Perseus donned his special getaway gear and departed victoriously before Medusa's sisters could take their revenge. Though these sisters were immortal, Medusa clearly was not. She died when her head was severed, which required the special cutting implement given to Perseus by Hermes.
Even in death Medusa's gaze could turn things to stone, so Perseus quickly stored his trophy in the special sack provided by the water nymphs. Returning to Seriphos, he put it to good use on King Polydectes, who had gone back to pestering the hero's mother just as soon as Perseus was out of sight. Polydectes made the mistake of being sarcastic about Perseus's conquest of the Gorgon. And since he took this truly heroic accomplishment for granted, he himself was ever afterwards taken for granite.