Tag: myths

Tantalus

Artist Unknown, (Tantalus Wading Through the Pool of Water), Computer Graphics, Animation Gifs

Tantalus was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his eternal punishment in Tartarus, the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans.  He was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink.

Tantalus was the father of Pelops, Niobe and Broteas, and was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Thus, like other heroes in Greek mythology such as Theseus and the Dioskouroi, Tantalus had both a hidden, divine parent and a mortal one.

Many thanks to http://thesatyrsglade.tumblr.com for the great gif.

The Midgard Serpent

Artist Unknwon, (The Midgard Serpent Jormungandr: Disguised in the New Age), Computer Graphics, Animation Gifs

Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, was one of three children fathered on the giantess Angroba by Loki, the Norse god of mischief and trickery. The Midgard Serpent was cast by Odin into the ocean where she grew so huge that with her tail in her mouth she soon encompassed the whole world, and the churnings of her coils raise the tsunami and tempests that drown sailors.

Thor is destined to destroy Jormungandr at the time of Ragnarok, the end of the world, when heaven, earth and the underworld will be destroyed. Then the world will tremble and the oceans leave their beds. The heavens will be torn apart and eagles will feed upon humans still writhing in their death throes. Thor will crush the skull of his old enemy, the Midgard Serpent, but will himself be slain by her dying struggles. Creation and Time itself will be shattered in the last battle, but afterwards a new heaven and earth will rise out of the sea, in which humans and gods will live in perfect harmony and ease forever.

My many thanks to http://3leapfrogs.tumblr.com from whom I reblogged this gif. One of my favorite blogs.

Sköll and Hati

Dobie, “Sköll and Hati”

In light of the super blood moon eclipse from this week, here’s the Norse mythological tale about two wolves who wish to eat the Sun and Moon.

The monstrous wolf Fenrir had two sons; Sköll (Old Norse for “Treachery”) and Hati (“He Who Hates, Enemy”).

Sköll chases the Sun, and Hati, running ahead of the Sun, goes after the Moon. When either are caught, there is an eclipse. When this happens, Vikings used to rush to rescue the Sun or Moon by making as much noise as they can in hopes of scaring off the wolves.

Illustration by Dobie

Max Klinger

Etchings by Max Klinger

Max Klinger was a German Symbolist painter, sculptor, printmaker, and writer. Klinger was born in Leipzig and studied in Karlsruhe. An admirer of the etchings of Menzel and Goya, he shortly became a skilled and imaginative engraver in his own right. Klinger began creating sculptures in the early 1880s. From 1883–1893 he lived in Rome, and became increasingly influenced by the Italian Renaissance and antiquity.

Klinger was cited by many artists (notably Giorgio de Chirico) as being a major link between the Symbolist movement of the 19th century and the start of the metaphysical and Surrealist movements of the 20th century. Asteroid 22369 Klinger is named in his honor.

Images from Top to Bottom: “Pursuit of the Centaur”, 1881, “The Titans”, 1892, Metropolitan Museum of Art; “Abduction of Prometheus”, 1894. “Prometheus Unbound”, 1894

John Wood

John Wood, “Narcissus”, Date Unknown, Oil on Canvas

An early version of the “Narcissus” story by Conon, a contemporary of Ovid, tells the tale of Narcissus and Amines . In it, a young man named Aminias fell in love with Narcissus, who had already spurned his male suitors. Narcissus also spurned him and gave him a sword.

Before Aminias committed suicide at Narcissus’s doorstep, he had prayed to the gods to give Narcissus a lesson for all the pain he provoked. Narcissus walked by a pool of water and saw his reflection, became entranced by it, and killed himself because he could not have his object of desire.

The Werewolf

Artist Unknown, (The Werewolf), Digital Art

Something inhuman has come to Tarker’s Mills, as unseen as the full moon riding the night sky high above. It is the Werewolf, and there is no more reason for its coming now than there would be for the arrival of cancer, or a psychotic with murder on his mind, or a killer tornado.

—Stephen King, “Cycle of the Werewolf”, Chapter 1, January, p. 14.

Stephen King’s “Cycle of the Werewolf” was adapted for the 1985 movie “Silver Bullet”, directed by Daniel Attia.

Carlos Barahona Possollo: “Pelops and Poseidon”

Carlos Barahona Possollo, “Pelops and Poseidon”, 2012, Oil and Gold Leaf on Wood, 120 x 120 cm, Private Collection

Born in Lisbon in 1967, Carlos Barahona Possollo studied from 1986 to 1989 in the department of architecture at the Technical University of Lisbon. He graduated with a Degree in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon University. In 1995, Possollo accepted an invitation to become a faculty member in Lisbon University’s art department.

Possollo has worked with the Portuguese Mail in its production of original images for their commemorative stamp series honoring the 500th anniversary of explorer Vasco da Gama’s arrival in India. He also created paintings commissioned for the first nine issues of the Portuguese edition of the National Geographic Magazine.

The painting “Pelops and Poseidon” represents the love Poseidon had for Pelops, the son of Tantalus. Poseidon fell in love with Pelops and taught him to drive a chariot. Poseidon later gave Pelops a chariot of his own  drawn by winged horses so Pelops could win the hand of Princess Hippodamia, whom Pelops loved.