#nereids #thetis
Reviewing my collection of images of Nereids and Thetis it suddenly occurred to me how odd it is that they are shown riding "sidesaddle".
The Nereids are usually the only examples we see of females swimming and yet they do not !
They cling to or ride seahorses or tritons!
Yet other goddesses and women on land or sea are not shown riding any form of mount except for some Amazons.
So why the side saddle position perhaps to show they had feet rather than fins unlike their male cousins the Tritons?
This selection of images covers several centuries and areas of Greek art.
I have never yet seen an image of a nereid on a seahorse or Triton in which they are in an actual riding position. Okay so goddesses have perfect balance but the artists would have seen male riders on cavalry and surely known how impossible the positions they depicted were?
Unless they had seen some women riding side saddle perhaps sitting in a white horse in some kind of procession of priestesses or royalty? I note also hippocampi are rarely dark or speckled usually white.
These may all just be matters of style but possibly what else?
Ideas anyone ?
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