1. “Friday is the day between Thursday and Saturday.” 

    “Friday is the day between Thursday and Saturday.” 

  2. Minotaur - his real face! by Walraven on Flickr.

    Minotaur - his real face! by Walraven on Flickr.

  3. Daedalus by ClosedUnsink on Flickr.

    Daedalus by ClosedUnsink on Flickr.

  4. Étienne Maurice Falconet: Pygmalion & Galatee (1763) Hermitage, photography by abakharev, April 2006 Galatea (Γαλάτεια; “she who is milk-white”), like most figures in Greek mythology, has several strands of narrative surrounding her. One attaches her to Pygmalion and says she was his statue. This tradition, however, was a later addition to the original tale by Philostephanus and retold by Ovid. The idea of a statue so life-like it could move can be found throughout antiquity, especially in tales of the city Rhodes. John Dryden translation re-make of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, X: PYGMALION loathing their lascivious Life,Abhorred all Womankind, but most a Wife:So single chose to live, and shunned to wed,Well pleased to want a Consort of his Bed.Yet fearing Idleness, the Nurse of Ill,In Sculpture exercised his happy Skill;And carved in Ivory such a Maid, so fair,As Nature could not with his Art compare… (cf. Galatea of the Spheres, Dali…and I’m drawn back into mythology. Of course.)

    Étienne Maurice Falconet: Pygmalion & Galatee (1763) Hermitage, photography by abakharev, April 2006

    Galatea (Γαλάτεια; “she who is milk-white”), like most figures in Greek mythology, has several strands of narrative surrounding her. One attaches her to Pygmalion and says she was his statue. This tradition, however, was a later addition to the original tale by Philostephanus and retold by Ovid. The idea of a statue so life-like it could move can be found throughout antiquity, especially in tales of the city Rhodes.

    John Dryden translation re-make of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, X:

    PYGMALION loathing their lascivious Life,
    Abhorred all Womankind, but most a Wife:
    So single chose to live, and shunned to wed,
    Well pleased to want a Consort of his Bed.
    Yet fearing Idleness, the Nurse of Ill,
    In Sculpture exercised his happy Skill;
    And carved in Ivory such a Maid, so fair,
    As Nature could not with his Art compare…

    (cf. Galatea of the Spheres, Dali…and I’m drawn back into mythology. Of course.)
  5. “Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite”, detail of a vast Roman mosaic from Cirta, now in the Louvre (ca. 315–325 AD). theoi.com: When Poseidon first sought Amphitrite’s hand in marriage, she fled his advances, and hid herself away near Atlas in the Ocean stream at the far ends of the earth. The dolphin-god Delphin eventually tracked her down and persuaded her to return to wed the sea-king. Perhaps this is why Dickinson notes a drop in the sea might forget Amphitrite. Or perhaps it’s because Amphitrite had a strong following before Greek “cultus” and then was subsumed into the ranks of Poseidon’s wives.

    “Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite”, detail of a vast Roman mosaic from Cirta, now in the Louvre (ca. 315–325 AD).

    theoi.com:

    When Poseidon first sought Amphitrite’s hand in marriage, she fled his advances, and hid herself away near Atlas in the Ocean stream at the far ends of the earth. The dolphin-god Delphin eventually tracked her down and persuaded her to return to wed the sea-king.

    Perhaps this is why Dickinson notes a drop in the sea might forget Amphitrite. Or perhaps it’s because Amphitrite had a strong following before Greek “cultus” and then was subsumed into the ranks of Poseidon’s wives.

  6. Starry Night by DrPhotoMoto on Flickr. Callisto was another familiar of Artemis. Most accounts (as always, they vary) say Callisto’s son Arcas is turned on his mother. Consequently, Zeus, with his characteristic empathy for women of whom he’s “taken advantage.” Is it just me, or is it odd that Artemis had a few figures placed in the heavens?

    Starry Night by DrPhotoMoto on Flickr.

    Callisto was another familiar of Artemis. Most accounts (as always, they vary) say Callisto’s son Arcas is turned on his mother. Consequently, Zeus, with his characteristic empathy for women of whom he’s “taken advantage.” Is it just me, or is it odd that Artemis had a few figures placed in the heavens?

  7. Daniel Seiter’s 1685 painting of Diana over Orion’s corpse, before he is placed in the heavens.

    Daniel Seiter’s 1685 painting of Diana over Orion’s corpse, before he is placed in the heavens.

  8. An engraving of Orion from Johann Bayer’s Uranometria Weird. Orion was famous for hunting prowess and often described as a (platonic…anthropomorphic much?) companion of Artemis, but then she caused his death. Why? Different stories. Kind of vague. Still, got him in the sky.

    An engraving of Orion from Johann Bayer’s Uranometria

    Weird. Orion was famous for hunting prowess and often described as a (platonic…anthropomorphic much?) companion of Artemis, but then she caused his death. Why? Different stories. Kind of vague. Still, got him in the sky.

  9. The Death of Adonis, killed by a wild boar sent by Artemis. Adonis had interactions with several god(esse)s. He is said to have been shared by Aphrodite and Persephone. In some stories, he is struck down by Ares rather than Artemis. In some accounts, he challenges Artemis’ hunting skill. In others, he suffers due to a quarrel between Aphrodite and Artemis. Regardless, it’s interesting a figure like Adonis would be struck down by the virginal Artemis.

    The Death of Adonis, killed by a wild boar sent by Artemis. Adonis had interactions with several god(esse)s. He is said to have been shared by Aphrodite and Persephone. In some stories, he is struck down by Ares rather than Artemis. In some accounts, he challenges Artemis’ hunting skill. In others, he suffers due to a quarrel between Aphrodite and Artemis. Regardless, it’s interesting a figure like Adonis would be struck down by the virginal Artemis.

  10. Apollo and Artemis, Brygos (potter, signed), Briseis Painter These two gods of Greek mythology were twins. What does that mean? It seems their origins are different. So what does it mean for them to have been twinned as practices and cults grew into a mythology? I imagine these ideas, words describing what people do and why, passing from person to person, traded, metaphysical “goods.” Eventually, they congeal into a set of stories, of beliefs. They become part of a canon. The sets of stories within a canon find other sets of stories that they go well with (and this happens, more likelily, as the canon forms). Some sets find they reflect well on each other, that they complement each other and play off of each other. Michael Pollan describes Apollo and Dionysus as forming a kind of dichotomy in Greek thought, but it’s an odd dichotomy when you think about it. Apollo was one of the Olympian deities. Dionysus was not. But perhaps Apollo could be said to represent the otherworldliness, the idealism of the Olympian twelve. Dionysus was of the earth, of the people, a patron saint more than a omnipotent deity. So perhaps Apollo and Artemis can’t be seen as a dichotomy, as one would think twinned gods would do. Instead, maybe they represent a conflation, a parallel of thoughts and practices that ran too thickly through Greek culture to be represented by a single deity.

    Apollo and Artemis, Brygos (potter, signed), Briseis Painter

    These two gods of Greek mythology were twins. What does that mean? It seems their origins are different. So what does it mean for them to have been twinned as practices and cults grew into a mythology? I imagine these ideas, words describing what people do and why, passing from person to person, traded, metaphysical “goods.” Eventually, they congeal into a set of stories, of beliefs. They become part of a canon. The sets of stories within a canon find other sets of stories that they go well with (and this happens, more likelily, as the canon forms). Some sets find they reflect well on each other, that they complement each other and play off of each other.

    Michael Pollan describes Apollo and Dionysus as forming a kind of dichotomy in Greek thought, but it’s an odd dichotomy when you think about it. Apollo was one of the Olympian deities. Dionysus was not. But perhaps Apollo could be said to represent the otherworldliness, the idealism of the Olympian twelve. Dionysus was of the earth, of the people, a patron saint more than a omnipotent deity. So perhaps Apollo and Artemis can’t be seen as a dichotomy, as one would think twinned gods would do. Instead, maybe they represent a conflation, a parallel of thoughts and practices that ran too thickly through Greek culture to be represented by a single deity.

About me

Pursue understanding. Deconstruct systems in order to taste building blocks. Happiness waits else/everywhere. And the heart(h). Do spheres not pull at each other?
Moby-Dick, Forward

Read the Printed Word!
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