Stanhope

John Roddam Spencer Stanhope is considered by some to be a “second wave Pre-Raphaelite”. He was influenced by Edward Burne-Jones, and he was a close friend of Dante Gabrielle Rossetti. He was also uncle to Evelyn De Morgan, whom I have featured previously in this category.

Love and the Maiden by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope

Let’s jump right in. This above painting is another example of allegorical art in which Love has been personified in a mythological way. Shown below is a photograph of the artist next to a portrait painted by his niece, Evelyn De Morgan.

  

Stanhope was evidently willing to explore themes from Greco Roman Mythology to Christianity. The following painting (for which I did not find a title) apparently depicts the quote from Luke 2: 24 (“Why seek you the living among the dead?”) in which an angel proclaims the resurrection of Christ to the women who have visited his empty tomb on the third day.

 

Here is a portrayal of an angel expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden:

Stanhope, John Roddam Spencer; The Expulsion from Eden; Walker Art Gallery; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/the-expulsion-from-eden-97032

I will show one more. This is taken from the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, another wacked-out lovers’ tragedy from Roman mythology. Guess what? They both die.

Orpheus and Eurydice on the Banks of the Styx by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope

I will feature some more paintings from this artist next week.

Mythological Beasts And Spirits: Chimera

The original Chimera is a creature from Greco Roman mythology which has the head of a lion, the head (or body) of a goat, and the tail of a serpent (often represented with a serpent’s head). The earliest reference we have is from the Iliad by Homer. Shown below is an intriguing Etruscan bronze, the Chimera of Arezzo, from the 4th Century, A. D.

Going back even further, there is this Greco Roman mosaic from Palmyra, 3rd Century, A. D. It depicts the battle in which Bellerophon slays the Chimera while riding on Pegasus, the winged horse which he tamed with the help of the goddess, Athena.

As is often the case in mythology, it all started with a woman. Bellerophon resists the efforts of Sthenoboea, the wife of King Proteus, to seduce him. Angry at being jilted, she levels accusations against him. This is reminiscent of the tale of Joseph resisting the efforts of Potiphar’s wife to seduce him. The latter is found in the book of Genesis from the Old Testament and is, incidentally, the older account.

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife by Miklos Mihalovits.

Anyway,  King Iobates of Lycia, the father of Sthenoboea, assigns Bellerophon a number of heroic tasks, including the slaying of the Chimera. Athena gives our hero a golden bridle which will enable him to mount and ride Pegasus. In this next painting, Athena can be seen standing in the background.

Bellerophon by Alexander Ivanov.

I will end this post with another depiction of the ensuing battle.

Bellerophon and the Chimera by Samuel Moore-Sobel

 

Ancient To Modern: Borrowed Gods (6)

Poseidon

In Greek mythology, he is the god of the sea. His name in Roman mythology is Neptune. Here are some representations in painting and sculpture from various centuries:

Shown on a Corinthian plaque (550-525 B. C.).

Poseidon from Milos, 2nd Century B. C. (National Archaeological Museum of Athens).

Andrea Doria as Neptune by Angelo Bronzino.

Neptune and Amphitrite by Jacob Gheyn II.

He has been borrowed and modified for inclusion in the Marvel Universe where he interacts with Namor, the Submariner…

Credit: Marvel Comics

Credit: Marvel Comics

Credit: Marvel Comics (Personally, I’m cheering for the Hulk.)

… as well as the DC universe. Of the images I examined, I didn’t like the mean-spirited tone of most of them (Poseidon going rogue, hitting Wonder Woman, bloody noses, bloody mouths, etc.), so I included only one for this post. This is the best I found for my purposes, and it shows an angry Poseidon battling an angry Aquaman.

Credit: DC Comics

DC characters are so angry so much of the time. It strikes me as rather one-dimensional. This is definitely not the DC comics of my childhood.

More examples of shameless borrowing continue next week.

Mythology In Space: Part 6

I found Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis to be an intriguing mix of Greco Roman mythology, Christianity, and science fiction. The pacing is slower than what contemporary readers have been conditioned to expect, but this is an example where I believe patience will be rewarded. The prosaic style for me was reminiscent of science fiction classics from the nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries.

Early on, the story introduces three characters. Dr. Weston and Dick Devine are of the villainous sort and apparently exemplify what the author saw as wrong (or “bent”) in the way of modern ethics. Dr. Elwin Ransom is the focal point, and he begins a transformation which reaches its culmination by the third story of the space trilogy.

The descriptions of the landscape and inhabitants of Mars are clearly inaccurate, but they work for the kind of story this is: a fantasy. What are hrossa, pfifltriggs, sorn, and hnakra? Read the book to find out. It’s a pretty good ride.

What grabbed my attention the most were the spiritual beings of Mars. C. S. Lewis invents a new nomenclature for them as well as some abstract philosophy on their properties and on the nature of space and motion. If you have not yet read this book, would you like to know the identities of and meanings behind Oyarsa and eldil? Good. I’m not going to tell you. I wouldn’t want to destroy the pleasure of gradual discovery during a journey on Mars.