Part 2
Hercules is a sun hero, born of the sky (Jupiter) and the dawn (Alcmene). His twelve great tasks are interpreted to represent either the twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve months of the solar year, or the twelve hours of daylight.
ART.
“Great Alcides stooping with his toil Rests on his club.”
--_Pope._
This colossal statue, called the Farnese Hercules, was found in 1540 in the ruins of the baths of Caracalla, Rome, and is now one of the chief attractions of the Naples Museum, where it was placed by the Farnese family in 1790. There has been much dispute as to its origin, but the conclusion to which criticism is now pointing is that it was executed by Glycon in the first century.
The anatomy of the figure, though exaggerated to be in keeping with the character of the hero, is well worth study.
Venus de Medici.
A large proportion of the statues of Praxiteles represented the idealized beauty of women, and with common consent it is admitted that he created the type of Venus in his celebrated statue called the Venus of Cnidus. There is a story that he made two statues of her, one clothed and the other unclothed. The choice between the two was offered to the people of Cos, who, more modest than artistic, selected the draped statue. The Cnidians most joyfully bought the nude Venus and it was said to have made the seaport town so attractive that people flocked thither from all parts to view the beautiful marble goddess. But this statue has perished. It was seen in its beauty probably about 150, A. D. All that remain are but feeble echoes of its grace. Pausanius tells us that it was a portrait of Phryne, who was much beloved by Praxiteles and often served him as a model.
“Phryne, thy human lips shall pale, Thy rounded limbs decay; Not love nor prayer can aught avail To bid thy beauty stay.
But there thy smile for centuries On marble lips shall live; For art can grant what love denies And fix the fugitive.
And there upon the silent face Shall unborn ages see Perennial youth, perennial grace And sealed serenity.”
--_W. W. Story._
INTERPRETATION.
The moral conception of Venus as goddess of the higher and purer love, especially wedded love and fruitfulness as opposed to mere sensual lust, was but slowly developed in the course of ages.
ART.
The Venus de Medici claims direct descent from the Venus of Cnidus, and preserves some of the sweet unconsciousness which must have been the special charm of the original. It belongs to the Græco-Roman period of sculpture and was executed by Cleomenes. It was found in the ruins of Portico Octavio, passed at once into the possession of the Medici family, and is now in the Tribuna of the Uffizi, Florence. Its “divinity has vanished; the beautiful humanity alone remains.”
Hercules and Lichas.
“_And Lichas from the top of Œta threw Into the Euboic sea._”
--MILTON.
STORY.
DEATH AND DEIFICATION.
“Till the god, the earthly part forsaken, From the man in flames asunder taken, Drank the heavenly ether’s purer breath. Joyous in the new unwonted lightness, Soared he upwards to celestial brightness, Earth’s dark, heavy burden lost in death. High Olympus gives harmonious greeting To the hall where reigns his sire adored; Youth’s bright goddess, with a blush at meeting, Gives the nectar to her lord.”
--_Schiller._
When Hercules’ twelve labors were ended he married Dejanira and lived in peace with her for three years. One day when they were traveling, in crossing a river, the ferryman, a Centaur by the name of Nessus, endeavored to carry away Dejanira, but Hercules heard her cries and pierced the Centaur through the heart with one of his poisoned arrows. With dying accents Nessus professed repentance and begged Dejanira to take his robe and keep it for its magic power.
“Take This white robe. It is costly. See my blood Has stained it but a little. I did wrong: I know it and repent me. If there come A time when he grows cold--for all the race Of heroes wander, nor can any love Fix theirs for long--take him and wrap him in it And he shall love again.”
--_Wm. Morris._
Soon afterwards the news was brought to Dejanira that Hercules was in love with Iola and she sent to him by his page, Lichas, the robe given her by the Centaur. When Hercules donned the robe poison seized upon his frame.
“Clasping each limb the tunic racked each joint, Convulsive pains, but when he felt the accurst Fell serpents’ venom batten in his flesh He cried aloud for Lichas, the ill-starred.”
Lichas vainly denied all knowledge of the treacherous deed, but Hercules, maddened by his agony, seized him by the foot and hair and hurled him into space. “Lichas congealed like hail in mid air and turned to stone, then falling into the Euboic sea became a rock which still bears his name and retains the human form.” Hercules wrenched off the garment, but it stuck to his flesh and with it he tore away whole pieces of his body. In this condition he ascended Mt. Œta, where he built a funeral pyre, and laying himself upon it, commanded his son to apply the torch. The flames soon put an end to his suffering and his spirit passed in a thunder cloud to Olympus. Dejanira, seeing the calamity she had unwittingly caused, took her own life.
INTERPRETATION.
The slaughter of the Centaur by Hercules signifies the dissipation of vapors by the sun. Dejanira, “the destroying spouse,” is daylight, Iola the beautiful twilight, and the bloody robe a sun cloud, now concealing, now revealing, the mangled body of the sun. Hercules ends his career in one grand flame, the emblem of the sun setting in a framework of blazing crimson clouds.
ART.
This spirited group by Canova, in the Torloni Palace, Rome, represents Hercules throwing Lichas into the sky. The poisoned garment clings most painfully to his body. The lion skin and club have slipped to the base of the altar upon which he was about to offer sacrifice.
Winged Victory.
“Nike the Victorious.”
“_The herald Nike first, From the dim resting place unfettered burst Winged victory over fate and time and death._”
STORY.
A HEAVENLY MESSENGER.
The Goddess of Victory was the daughter of the giant Pallas and the Oceanid nymph Styx. Her attributes were a wreath, a palm branch and a trophy of armor. Sometimes she carried a staff as a sign of her power. She floated in the air with outstretched wings or appeared coming down to earth--now pointing the way to a victor, now placing a wreath upon his brow.
“Haste! haste! bring olive-- A people’s tribute for the people’s hour; The gods themselves decree To give the immortal dower.”
--_Annie Fields._
INTERPRETATION.
Victory was embodied in a winged goddess. In beholding this bold and graceful conception we realize how picturesquely the Greek fancy personified even passing events.
ART.
This marble, one of the most noticeable and interesting in the Louvre, is a colossal fragment of a winged Victory discovered in 1863 on the Island of Samothrace. The head, arms and feet are lacking. The statue must originally have been at least twelve feet high.
The figure seems sweeping down through the air and in the very act of alighting. Every fold in the floating garment has a direct purpose, at first indistinctly manifest, then widening and finally lost in the general mass.
The pediment on which the statue stood represents the prow of a ship, and makes it clear that it was executed to commemorate a naval victory of the Athenians off Cyprus, 306 B. C. As restored by Zumbusch, Nike holds in one hand a trumpet and in the other a rod intended to support the trophies.
The Three Fates
“The Weird Sisters.”
“_Twist ye, twine ye! even so, Mingle shades of joy and woe, Hope, and fear, and peace, and strife, In the thread of human life._”
--SCOTT.
STORY.
THE DAUGHTERS OF NIGHT.
“In their dark House of Cloud The three weird sisters toil till time be sped: One unwinds life; one ever weaves the shroud; One waits to cut the thread.”
--_Thomas Bailey Aldrich._
The Fates were three sisters, daughters of Night, and were named Clotho (Spinner), Lachesis (Alotter), and Atropos (Unchangeable).
They exercised a great influence over human life from the cradle to the grave. They spent their time spinning a thread of gold, silver or wool--now tightening, now slackening, and at last cutting it off. This occupation was so arranged that Clotho put the thread around the spindle, Lachesis spun it, and Atropos, the eldest, cut it off--
“Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears And slits the thin spun life.”
--_Milton._
Catullus thus gives a description of their spinning--
“Still as they span, as they span, was the tooth kept nipping and smoothing, And to the withered lips clung morsels of wool as they smoothed it-- Filaments erstwhile rough that stood from the twist of the surface. Close at their feet meantime, were woven baskets of wicker, Guarding the soft white balls of the wool resplendent within them. Thus then, parting the strands, these three with resonant voices Uttered in chant divine, predestined sooth of the future-- Prophecy neither in time, nor yet in eternity shaken.”
INTERPRETATION.
The three Fates are the embodiment of a doctrine of Necessity which has all things within its inexorable grasp. They represent the birth, life and death of every man--Clotho the birth, as she holds unwound the thread on the distaff, Lachesis the life, with the thread just passing through her fingers, Atropos the death, as she waits, holding the shears to cut the thread.
ART.
These figures in pentelic marble were taken by the agents of Lord Elgin from the east pediment of the Parthenon in 1801. They were bought by the English Government and are now in the British Museum, London. There are no restorations.
The “blind decrees of Fate” recline negligently on rocky ground. Two of them seem almost as if about to rise, the third is leaning on the bosom of her companion. Their forms are large and robust, but at the same time supple and graceful and expressing perfect maturity of womanhood. The flowing folds of their garments reveal as well as conceal the charming outlines of their limbs. “The dress is the echo of the form.”
Meleager.
“The Graceful Hunter.”
“_Rock-rooted, fair with fierce and fastened lips, Clear eyes and springing muscles and shortening limb,-- With chin aslant indrawn to a tightening throat, Grave, and with gathered sinews, like a god,-- Aimed at the left side his well-handled spear, Grasped where the ash was knottiest hewn, and smote, And with no missile wound, the monstrous boar Right in the hairiest hollow of his hide, Under the last rib, sheer through bulk and bone, Deep in; and deeply smitten, and to death. The heavy horror with his hanging shafts Leapt, and fell furiously, and from raging lips Foamed out the latest wrath of all his life._”
--SWINBURNE.
STORY.
THE HERO OF THE CALYDONIAN HUNT.
Meleager was the son of Œneus and Althea, the king and queen of Calydon. When he was born the three Fates foretold that the child would live no longer than a brand then burning upon the hearth. The mother carefully quenched the brand and hid it away and Meleager grew to manhood.
Diana, thinking that she was not duly honored by the people of Calydonia, sent a wild boar of enormous size to lay waste the fields. The growing corn, the vines and olive trees were trampled and destroyed; the flocks and herds were driven hither and thither in confusion and slaughtered. Meleager called all the heroes of Greece to aid him in putting this monster to death. When they assembled for the hunt, Atalanta, a famous huntress, appeared, to the surprise of all.
“Arcadian Atalanta, snowy-souled, Fair as the snow and footed as the wind.”
--_Swinburne._
After an exciting chase, with many narrow escapes, Atalanta first pierced the boar which was afterwards slain by Meleager. The hero, enamoured with the lovely huntress, bestowed upon her the head of the animal as a trophy of his success. The two uncles of Meleager, brothers of Althea, were envious of this act and snatched from the maiden the trophy she had received. Meleager, in a rage at the insult, slew them both.
When Althea saw the bodies of her murdered brothers, there came upon her a desire for vengeance on her son, and she brought forth the brand so carefully preserved all the years, and threw the precious bit of wood upon the hearth. The brand was consumed to ashes and as the last spark flickered out, Meleager’s life was “breathed forth to the wandering winds.” In remorse for her deed Althea took her own life.
INTERPRETATION.
Meleager is a solar hero. He slays the boar (drought), loves Atalanta (dawn) and is finally slain by his own mother (twilight). The twilight cannot long survive the setting of the sun.
ART.
Since the taste for classic art has existed this statue has attracted attention. It is said that Raphael and Michael Angelo were filled with admiration when beholding it. There has never been any attempt at restoration of the hand which undoubtedly held a spear. Few heads of the hero type can be compared with this for power of expression. Meleager’s unparalleled virtues and his morbid passion are both represented. The statue is probably a Roman copy in marble of some celebrated Greek original in bronze. It is in the Belvedere of the Vatican.
Apollo Musagetes.
“The Patron of Music.”
“_To the sun-god all our hearts and lyres, By day, by night, belong; And the breath we draw from his living fires We give him back in song._”
--MOORE.
STORY.
THE LEADER OF THE MUSES.
“Whom all the Muses loved, not one alone;-- Into his hand they put the lyre of gold, And crowned with sacred laurel at their fount, Placed him as Musagetes, on their throne.”
--_Longfellow._
Apollo was skilled in the art of music and sang hymns of his composing to an accompaniment of his own upon a wonderful lyre which Hermes had made for him. He was the dearly loved leader of the nine Muses, and was surnamed Musagetes.
That he should be the god both of music and poetry does not appear strange, but that medicine should also be assigned to his province may. Armstrong, a physician as well as a poet, thus explains--
“Music exalts each joy, allays each grief, Expels diseases, softens every pain; And hence the wise of ancient days adored One power of physic, melody and song.”
INTERPRETATION.
As the kindly beams of the “orb of day” (Apollo) spread light and warmth over nature there are heard everywhere happy, joyful sounds, the music of his lyre.
The sun was regarded as the natural restorer of all life and as such his power extended over human ailments and diseases.
ART.
This statue was found in the ruins of the so-called Villa of Cassius in 1774, and was added to the Vatican collection.
The rich and flowing draperies in which Apollo is clothed give the statue an almost feminine fulness of form. Although only indifferently executed, it has a graceful movement which renders it impressive. It is evidently a copy of a famous original, some critics say of Scopas.
The god is represented as gliding forward in the dance in which he leads the Muses.
Calliope.
“The Beautiful Voiced.”
“_Land of the Muse! within thy bowers Her soul entrancing echoes rang. While on their course the rapid hours Paused at the melody she sang-- Till every grove and every hill And every stream that flowed along From morn to night repeated still The winning harmony of song._”
STORY.
THE MUSE OF POETRY.
“Offspring of Jove, Calliope, once more To the bright sun thy hymn of music pour.”
--_Shelley._
Calliope, the fairest of the Muses and their chief representative, often appeared before the gods and many of them fell victims to the charms of her sweet voice and graceful manner. But of them all she loved the bright sun god best, and many were the verses she composed and sang in his honor. He returned her love with ardor. She readily consented to their union and became the proud mother of Orpheus, who inherited from his parents great musical and poetic gifts.
INTERPRETATION.
Calliope, the personification of the light of day and hence associated with Apollo, the sun god, became naturally, as her voice was song, the goddess of harmony and finally the Muse of epic poetry.
ART.
This statue of the Muse, found in 1774 in the ruins of the Villa of Cassius, and now in the Vatican, is graceful and artistically excellent.
Calliope is seated, her figure slightly bent in meditation. She holds a tablet in her left hand; while her right is poised in a manner to enhance the expression of thought. She seems to be debating just how best to word her song.
There are few works of art in which the artist’s conception is more clearly and admirably shown.
Diana.
“The Virgin Huntress.”
“_Oh! Hunter chaste Of riverside and woods, and healthy waste, Where with thy silver bow and arrows keen, Art thou now forested? O woodland queen, What smoother air thy smoother forehead woos? Where dost thou listen to the wide haloos Of thy departed nymphs? Through what dark tree Glimmers thy crescent?_”
--BEN JONSON.
STORY.
THE MOON GODDESS.
“Goddess serene, transcending every star! Queen of the sky whose beams are seen afar! By night heaven owns thy sway, by day the grove, When as chaste Dian, here thou deign’st to rove.”
--_Byron._
Diana was the twin sister of Apollo. She had many lovers, but her heart remained cold to all of them until one calm, clear night, in bending down from her moon-car over the shadowy, dream-like earth, she beheld Endymion sleeping. At once her heart was warmed by his surpassing beauty, and gliding gently from her chariot, she kissed him and watched lovingly over him while he slept.
“Chaste Artemis, who guides the lunar car, The pale nocturnal vigils ever keeping, Sped through the silent space from star to star, And, blushing, stooped to kiss Endymion sleeping.”
--_Boyesen._
Partly awakened, Endymion rested his eyes for an instant upon the bright maiden ere she vanished, but that one glance kindled a great passion in his heart. Diana descended night after night to caress him while he slept, and even while wrapped in slumber he watched for her coming and enjoyed the bliss of her presence. At last she threw over him the spell of eternal sleep and, that none might know of her passion, concealed him in a cave, where she continued always to come and gaze enraptured upon his face and press soft kisses upon his lips.
“Queen of the wide air; thou most lovely queen, Of all the brightness that mine eyes have seen; As thou exceedest all things in thy shrine, So every tale does this sweet tale of thine.”
--_Keats._
INTERPRETATION.
“This story suggests aspiring and poetic love, a life spent more in dreams than in reality, and an early and welcome death.” Mueller, the great authority on philology, says that in ancient language the people said, “Diana kisses Endymion to sleep,” instead of, “It is night.” Some mythologists consider Endymion the personification of sleep.
ART.
This beautiful representation of the gentle goddess of night in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican, was found in the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa, on the Tiber. Diana, in a very graceful attitude, with head bowed and hands outstretched, rapturously gazes at her sleeping lover. The forearms are modern, but the restoration is in admirable keeping with the motive and is undoubtedly correct.
Sleeping Ariadne.
“_High upon the hill of Drios, As the day began to waken, All alone sat Ariadne, Watching, weary and forsaken. And with sighing of the pine-trees By the low wind gently shaken, All day long in mournful snatches Rose the plaint of Ariadne, Watching, weary and forsaken._”
--THOMAS DAVIDSON.
STORY.
THE DESERTED PRINCESS.
Minos, the king of Crete, in revenge for the death of his son, slain by the Athenians, exacted a yearly tribute from them of youths and maidens. Theseus, a valiant youth of Athens, offered himself as one of the victims of this tribute, with the intention of slaying the Minotaur, a hideous monster to whom Minos was in the habit of feeding his captives. The cave in which the Minotaur was confined was a labyrinth so constructed that no man who entered could find means to escape before he was met and devoured.
The king’s fair daughter saw and fell in love with Theseus. She gave him a sword and a clue of thread so that he was enabled to slay the Minotaur and find his way out of the labyrinth.
“And the slender clue Prepared in secret by the enamoured maid, Through the curved labyrinth his steps conveyed.”
--_Catullus._
Fearing the wrath of her father, Ariadne fled with Theseus to the Island of Naxos. But Theseus, ungrateful and selfish, deserted her while she was sleeping, and setting sail to his ship, was soon borne away.
INTERPRETATION.
Theseus is the sun: he slays the Minotaur (the terrible monster of darkness), and carries off Ariadne (dawn). Ariadne is forced to share the woes of all who love the sun god, and must be abandoned.
ART.
The eventful sleep of Ariadne on the Island of Naxos, during which Theseus deserted her, is here represented. It is an unquiet sleep as denoted by the attitude and the disorder of the beautiful but complicated drapery. The uneven surface, upon which the body reclines, causes it to be slightly drawn together, and adds to the idea of unrest. The gentle droop of the head, the relaxed, curving arms, and the languid air of sleep make the figure extremely graceful and feminine, though almost colossal in size.
The statue has been in the Louvre since the time of Pope Julius II.
Ariadne.
“_The daughter of a king, how should I know That there were tinsels wearing face of gold, And worthless glass, which in the sunlight’s hold Could shameless answer back my diamond’s glow With cheat of kindred fire? The current slow And deep and strong and stainless, which has rolled Through royal veins for ages, what had told To them that hasty heat and lie could show As quick and warm and red as theirs? Go free! The sun is breaking on the sea’s blue shield Its golden lances: by their gleams I see Thy ship’s white sails. Go free if scorn can yield Thee freedom! Then alone, my love and I,-- We both are royal: we know how to die._”
--HELEN HUNT.
STORY.
MARRIAGE OF BACCHUS AND ARIADNE.
The island where Ariadne was left when deserted by Theseus was a favorite haunt of Bacchus, the young god of wine. In wandering over the rocks one day, he came across Ariadne as she sat lamenting her fate. Her distress appealed to him, and in consoling her he became charmed with her beauty. His devotion and admiration caused her to forget her faithless lover, and, after a short courtship, Bacchus won her for his wife.
The bridegroom presented the bride with a golden crown adorned with seven glittering gems. Shortly after the marriage, however, Ariadne sickened and died. The broken-hearted Bacchus took the crown and flung it into space, where, growing in brightness, it became a beautiful constellation known as Ariadne’s crown or corona.
“And still her sign is seen in heaven, And, midst the glittering symbols of the sky, The starry crown of Ariadne glides.”
--_Apollonius Rhodius._
INTERPRETATION.