Amphitrite in Art Two

Amphitrite in Art Two .
Here's two more vase paintings.
The first one features Theseus Athena and Amphitrite.

There is a story that Minos tested Theseus' claim to be a son of Poseidon by throwing a ring into the sea. Theseus dived in after it. Aided by dolphins he swam down to Amphitrite's underseas palace and retrieved not only the ring but also a golden crown.

Given the presence of dolphins and Triton supporting Theseus plus Athena appearing this suggests to me that there may have been another lost version of this story in which Athena sponsors and protects Theseus as he encounters his father's wife and given how mnay dramas did NOT survive even perhaps a play in which Athena argues for the need for wives to be kind to sons their husbands had by other women?

The other story we have about Poseidon and Amphitrite is that she was reluctant to marry him and this image seems to show Iris messenger of the gods acting as a matchmaker between the two gods?

Sometimes when written versions don't surivive as more than summaries in the mythographers vase paintings and other art give us more of the story.

But don't forget the ancients may have perceived these images differently!

Amphitrite in Art One

Amphitrite Goddess of the Sea

There are very few surviving stories featuring her as much more than a name  but her appearances in art suggest there may be missing stories that have not survived.

She is mentioned by Hesiod, Apollodoros, and Ovid and some other writers.

She was an Oceanid a daughter of  the Titans Oceanus and Tethys who married Poseidon and together they ruled the seas. Take a look at these images.

The striking thing about them is that although Poseidon ? Neptune got all the temples in popular art used in homes, mosaics, frescos, and lastly this vase painting, Poseidon and Amphitrite seem to be shown as co-equal consorts?
You rarely seen images of other gods together as married couples.

The other striking feature is how often Amphitrite is semi naked and always from the waist down. This is perhaps not so odd givne other deities being depicted this way but when she is shown as semi naked its always from the waist down.

But there is another way of depicting Amphitrite. There are vase painting images that refer to a story of her meeting her husbands son Theseus.

That's the topic for my next post!

Kosmos the Ordered World

KOSMOS THE ORDERED WORLD

Chaos and Cosmos are two excellent examples of ancient Greek words that have changed meanings over the centuries in both Greek and English usage.

We think of Chaos and Order as being opposites but its more that one comes forth from the other.

Κόσμος has several meaning Order Good order and hence government also mode or fashion and ornamament or decoration and world or universe.

While when we hear the words Cosmos and cosmic we think often of outer space to a Greek κοσμικός meant earthly or worldly.

Cosmos is reality arranged or ordered into beauty.

Note these related verbs κομέω and κομάω the first meaning to take care of or tend and the second to wear or arrange long hair on a human or a horse. In the preclassical period both men and women especially aristocrats arranged their long hair into elaborate curls and plaits and braids and mixture of both.

Chaos the great opening or space (see my previous post) becomes an ordered place the Cosmos.

KHAOS AND CREATION

KHAOS AND CREATION

K^haos is how Χάος was pronounced by the ancientGreeks.

The letter Χ “Chi” was an aspirated / k^{h /.}

We tend to think of Chaos as the opposite to order but the actual word originally meant a wide open open or a wide opening and SPACE might be a more accurate translation.

How do scholars know this?

For those of you who don't have access or ownership of the Lidell online or in print here's some words to consider as proof.

Χάσμα a chasm or gulf then these verbs Χάσκω Χασκάζω Χαίνω open wide gape yawn.

Hesiod in his Theogony wrote first (πρώτιστα ) Chaos came into being γένετ̓ (Line 116) next Gaia widebreasted and her siblings Erebos and Night (123)n Heaven and the Mountains and Ocean and the Titans and much more.

Notice how Hesiod uses geneto not poieo become be born not made.

The world comes into being by change in the earliest Greek myths though later versions such as that in Ovid's metamorphoses means a possible creator. There's a process from a primordial unity into complexity and multiplicity from oneness to many.

You might want to read the beginning of Ovid's metamorphoses and contrast the two.

Hesiod's version judging from authors philosophers and poets between his time and that of Ovid's wasn't the ONLY version known to the Greeks. Mythmaking was an active process. Stories change.

The opposite of Chaos is Cosmos the Ordered arranged world but that's another story!

A Brief History of Hermes in ART

How the Greeks and Romans depicted Hermes in ART.

The earliest images of Hermes show a mature adult with a beard.

but this changes about the beginning of the hellenistic era

Hermes loses his beard and appears younger

then we have the Roman version

finally here's a modern depiction ... ye sit is a page form a comic book EARTH2 but Nicola Scott does excellent art and I wanted to show you a modern use of a mythic image.

Some numi verbs

SOME – νυμι Verbs

Note One Some books print - νυμι verbs without the macron over the upsilon ῡ

Note Two many of these verbs are only used combiend with prefixes.

Note Three

δείκνῡμι

is used for text book paradigms

δαίνῡμι entertain dine stem δαι dai

ἕννῡμι cloth robe stem wes like latin ves-tis

ζώννῡμι gird belt ζω sdoo

ζεύγνῡμι bind yoke join stem ζυγ

κεράννῡμι mix usually liquids stem κερα κρα kera kra

κορέννῡμι satiate satisfy stem κορε kore

κρεμάννῡμι suspend hang stem κρεμα krema

μΐγνῡμι mix mingle stem μιγ mig

οἴγνῡμι open stem oig

ὄλλῡμι stem ol is contracted from olnumi

ὄμνῡμι swear an oath stem ομο or μο om(o)

ὄρνῡμι raise rouse stem ορ or

πήγνῡμι fix stem παγ

πετάννῡμι expand spread stem πετα peta

ῥήγνῡμι break stem ῥαγ rag wrag

ῥώννῡμι strengthen stem ῥω ro

σβέννῡμι extinguish put out smother stem σβε sbe

σκεδάννῡμι scatter stem σκεδα

χρήγνῡμι color

If you missed it scroll back to read my post on δείκνῡμι.

deiknumi

δείκνῡμι

is used for text book paradigms of - νῡμι verbs

δείκνῡμι and other νῡμι verbs have the following inflections

for Active Present Indicative

Singular δείκνῡμι δείκνῡς δείκνῡσι

Dual δείκνυτον

Plural δείκνυμεν δείκνυτε δείκνύᾱσι

For Imperfect you add ῡν ῡς ῡ υτον etc to ἐδείκν

For Subjunctive take a stem of δεικνύ and add the normal endings

Likewise for Optative

Goodwin's Grammar and other works show all the forms.

The main thing to remember is the u final and to watch how the accents shift

The Infinitive is δεικνύναι and the Participle δεικνύς

In Aorist δείκνῡμι has a First Aorist stem of δείξ and a Second Aorist stem of δύ

The Future stem is δείξ the Perfect δέδειχ and the Pluperfect ἐδεδείχ