SIDE SADDLE SIRENS

 #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 ? 

THETIS THE MOTHER

 #Thetis #Greekgoddess #Achiles #Hephaestus #mythology 

THETIS THE MOTHER

While THETIS obtaining a new Shield and set of armour for her son Achilleus is a popular theme in Greek Roman and later art let us give some thought as to why Hephaestus was so willing to help her.

Art dealing with this topic seems to have been lost but Thetis and her Nereid sisters acted as a foster mother to both Hephaestus and Dionysious.

It may well be that some art thought to depict the return of Hephaestus to Olympus actually are depictions of Hephaestus riding to Thetis' wedding ? 

Note in this image Hephaestus wears a wreath and his half brother Dionysious is next to him?

She's also shown as the Mother mourning her son 

But let us end again with Thetis the Mother riding her seahorse to carry a new shield to her son.

THETIS

#thetis #greekart #nereid #seagoddess #greekceramics

Greek artists often depicted Thetis as accompanied by dolphins, sea horses or Tritones.

So the female figure riding a sea horse in these two mosaics may very well be Thetis however another popular theme was her Wedding to Peleus.

As Thetis like other sea gods had shapeshifting powers the lion on her shoulder would tell a Greek viewer this is Peleus the mortal father of Achilles wrestling with the goddess.

One aspect of the story rarely pointed out that would explain her resistance  is that Peleus killed her nephew and she seems to have had mixed feelings about her marriage to a mere mortal though given the other choices were being ravished by Zeus or Poseidon ...