"He was red with blood as if he were slaying living men, and he stood in his chariot. Beside him stood Deimos and Phobos, eager to plunge amidst the fighting men."
Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 191
🏛️ #Ares among Greeks and #Amazons, detail of an Apulian volute krater, 5th century BCE. Today in the National Archaeological Museum Jatta, Ruvo di Puglia.
"Swelled like young Mene's [Selene's] arching chariot-rail when high over Okeanos' fathomless-flowing stream she rises, with the space half filled with light betwixt her bowing horns."
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 1.147
Continuously inhabited for five millennia, and at one point the most powerful city in Ancient Greece, Thebes has been overshadowed by its better-known rivals, Athens and Sparta.
It was destroyed on the orders of Alexander the Great.
Not just men can party - not even in #ancientGreece - as this female reveller proves. She is playing the popular party game kottabos, flinging drops of wine sediment at a target not seen here.
🎨 Red-figure kylix attributed to Onesimos ca 490 BCE: woman reveller playing kottabos
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 🌹
A long, elegant gold hairpin adorned with #Aphrodite and her son #Eros. Eros offers support to his mum who appears to adorn herself, adjusting one of her anklets to complement the snake-shaped arm bracelets she already wears.
🏛️ Gold Aphrodite Hairpin, 1st century BCE, Greece
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
For #AllHallows, have a relief of #Hermes in his role as #psychopomp. Hermes guides the souls of the dead to the underworld. Here, he takes the hand of a dead woman named Myrrhine on the way down to Hades.
🏛 Relief on Myrrhine's lekythos, ca 420-410 BCE, National Archaeological Museum, #Athens
The goddess of the night in all her shadowy glory as depicted by Gustave Moreau. It is said by Homer than even Zeus fears to upset this primordial divinity who rules the darkest of times.
Hephaestus’ capacity in creative endeavours in metal working and carpentry sees him become the go to Olympian for armour. Here Hephaestus presents the new for Achilles' armor to Thetis (Iliad 18.617).
The death of Orpheus has fascinated artists. Although not as famous as the story involving the fate of his wife Eurydice, Orpheus’ death is notable. He was thought to have been torn apart limb-from-limb by Maenads in a Bacchic frenzy…
Ovid tells an infamous tale of Midas’ ‘golden touch’ wherein the king’s wish - granted to him by Dionysus - becomes the bane of his life. The tragedy bound up in Midas’ wish.
This painting captures Midas’ sense of feeling his wish become a curse…
If you know the artist, do let me know so I can appropriately credit them!
After decades of war, mighty Athens has been ravaged— its navy destroyed, its city walls toppled, its army disbanded. The fierce military state of Sparta has triumphed, but passions and hate linger on.
A powerful figure from Greek myth here depicted by Tyler Miles Lockett slaying two centaurs after they attempted to rape her. Atalanta was a devotee of Artemis and like the huntress herself sought a life of independence.
A powerhouse woman from myth with exceptional skills in pharmaka, Circe looms large in Homer’s Odyssey. This tale sets in motion a reception of Circe that endures even now. This painting by Waterhouse is superb: her power so clear.
Hesiod’s account of Pandora and her role in opening the pithos which contained all the evils that plague humanity sets the scene. Here Sebastian Becker captures the malign nature of the contents slowly drifting out of an opened box…
It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
#Mosaic of #Hermes-Mercurius, easily recognisable by the wings on his head, representing the planet Mercury or the fourth day of the ancient Roman week, diēs Mercuriī (Wednesday).
🏛 #Mercurius as Planet Mercury in The House of the Planetarium, Italica, #Spain