Tag Archives: Greek mythology

In Greek Mythology, Who is Peitho?

Peitho is the goddess of rhetoric, persuasion, and seduction, and in ancient depictions, she tends to accompany Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Why Aphrodite? Because it is by artful and pretty words that your rational defenses—especially against love—are overcome and conquered (as in Gorgias’s “Encomium for … Continue reading

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Socrates in Kansas

This Kansas song seems to me packed to the brim with Western literary and religious allusions, from Greek figures like Diogenes, Socrates, and Odysseus—accompanied by a Greek chorus!—to an obvious biblical allusion (the Prodigal Son). Oh, and notice Icarus in the third … Continue reading

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The Greek God Pan

Then: Now:

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Love is Worth Fighting For: A Little Life Lesson from Perseus and the Medusa

  I took this picture at the Getty Museum in Westwood on Saturday. It is a photo of a painting (from the first decade of the 1700s) by Sebastiano Rici, and depicts Perseus holding the head of Medusa in combat against … Continue reading

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Truth, Carrying a Torch, and Justice, Carrying a Sword, Pursue a Person Who Has Violated the Moral Law

In this case, committing a murder:   The painting, by the way, is part of the Getty Museum’s permanent collection. It’s titled, “Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime”. I snapped the above image of it this weekend, while in Westwood. The painter’s … Continue reading

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The Higher Self and the Lower Self: Theseus and the Minotaur

An 1843 sculpture, by Antoine-Louis Barye, of Theseus slaying the Minotaur: Theseus’s entering the center of the Labyrinth at Knossos and slaying the Minotaur has sometimes been associated with Apollonian order and culture overcoming the bestial elements of body and psyche. And in … Continue reading

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Heracles, Alcestis, and the Determined Human Heart’s Heroic and Relentless Path Through This World

Below is a fourth century Roman catacomb image of two courageous people who followed their hearts right into the very jaws of death: Heracles and Alcestis. The basic story from Greek mythology (and which Euripides made into a play) goes like this: … Continue reading

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Creepy Siren Selling Swedish Shampoo (or Something)

At least, at the end, her head didn’t spin.

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A LIBERAL AND HUMANIST Mythic Hero: Out of Compassion for Our Suffering and Ignorance, He Stole Fire from Heaven and Gave It to Mankind—and For This He Endured the Punishment of Zeus. An Image of PROMETHEUS Bound to a Rock, and a BIRD Plucking at His Liver

He fought the gods and, by exposing their injustice, delegitimized them, and won.

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Eros and Thanatos: A Gorgeous Image of Dionysus, Discovered at Pompeii, Standing Alongside a Tranquil Vesuvius BEFORE It Had Exploded

A two thousand year old image of Dionysus, discovered at Pompeii. Dionysus giveth, and Dionysus taketh away:

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Greek Antiquities Under Glass with Mercury Statue Across the Room (Los Angeles County Museum of Art 2008)

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