The Greek Gods In Art

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Léo Caillard, Hipster in stone XXII, Aphrodite, 2017

While people were creating art, they were depicting their gods—however, some of the most timeless in Greek mythology’s canon of art history. Let’s find out how artists portrayed these deities.

Aphrodite

Perhaps the most famous depiction of Aphrodite is Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. Venus is the Roman name for Aphrodite. But the

Goddess of Love and Beauty also serves as a contemporary muse. Leo Caillard takes a Hellenistic sculpture of Aphrodite and gives her modern robes. Her modernization proves that aesthetic beauty will always be in trend in art history.

The Birth of Venus by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1879

Erinyes

Erinyes are the goddesses of revenge in Greek mythology, generated by the goddess of the earth Gaia, who absorbed the blood of castrated Uranus or, according to other options, Nikto, the goddess of the night, and lived in Hades. They are sometimes depicted as dogs or snakes, which preserves their chthonic character. They personify remorse and express the idea that a crime gives rise to forces that sooner or later destroy the guilty.

Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1862)

Iris

Iris in Greek mythology is the personification of the rainbow that connects heaven with earth, the messenger of the gods, the mediator in their relations with each other and with people. This is the messenger of Zeus and Hera and the servant of the latter. According to the ancient Greeks, the rainbow was the bridge that connected heaven and earth.

Iris and Morpheus. Pierre-Narcis Guerin

Apollo

In Greek mythology, Apollo is the god of the bow, music, and light, who loved Daphne, a mortal woman. Apollo pursued Daphne, but love was unrequited. When he finally caught her, she turned into a bay tree.

The artist Marco Araldi depicted the famous sculpture of Apollo and Daphne by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. This is a modern representation of an ancient myth.

Marco Araldi, Apollo & Daphne, 2022

Artemis

Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Lethe, is the sister of Apollo, among the female deities in Greek mythology, is the same as her brother the male ones. She gives light and life, she is the goddess of childbirth and the goddess-nurse; accompanied by forest nymphs, hunts in forests and mountains, and guards herds and game.

She never submitted to the power of love, and, like Apollo, does not know the bonds of marriage. In Roman mythology, her name is Diana.

Diana and Cupid – Pompeo Batoni

Zeus

The almighty Greek god in Greek mythology, Zeus, known as the strongest of the Olympians, has always been a symbol of power. Usually, Zeus is depicted as old, bearded, and with lightning.

It can be assumed that, in the depiction of Alekos Fassianos, Zeus awaits his fate as the leader of the Olympians before defeating the Titans. Here the deity is depicted as young and strong on a horse. He holds lightning bolts and what may be an image of Mount Olympus, his divine home.

Alekos Fassianos, Zeus, 2003

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