T he Greek sculptor Praxiteles made the sculpture Hermes and the infant Dionysos in ca.340 BCE. The story goes a mortal woman was pregnant by Zeus, she dies while pregnant and Zeus takes the child, and sews the baby into his thigh until he was ready to be born. Many assassins tried to kill Dionysos so Zeus had Hermes take him away to be safe. This sculpture shows Hermes resting in the forest during a journey to deliver Dionysos to Papposilenos and the nymphs, who will raise the child. Hermes is leaned against a tree trunk, in a shallow ‘S’ curve as he gazes into space while enticing the infant with is said to be a bunch of grapes.
Praxiteles, Hermes and the infant Dionysos ca. 340 BCE
Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral one of the most stunning
This sculpture was given the title, “Dionysus,” and is dated at 50 – 150 A.D. During that period, the Roman Empire went through a civil war, multiple rebellions, a couple disastrous fires, the building of the Colosseum, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the peak of Roman military expansion and thirteen different Emperors. One of which started the Flavian Dynasty, which would bring stability to the empire that was crumbling because of financial strife. With all of these events happening, good and bad, it seems difficult to pin point the inspiration or message behind this sculpture. But if you break that period of time down into parts, it may be easier to get a feel for what the artist was feeling so strongly about, whether it was inspired by
Greek drama was performed in the late 6th century BCE in ancient Greece. Tragedians like Euripides wrote very influential and popular plays such as the Bacchae. Greek tragedies lead to Greek comedies such as Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. Many of the Greek dramas have similar concepts, one of being duality. Without duality, the nature of our lives and the environment around us remains unbalanced.
In “The Odyssey”, composed by Homer, Odysseus’s son Telemakhos sails from Ithaka to Pylos and Sparta searching for information about his lost father. Telemakhos’ experiences on these foreign lands reveal their stark contrasts with his homeland. Pylos and Sparta differ from Ithaka in their respect of elders, hospitality, and piety.
This paper will focus on the Statue of Dionysos leaning on a female figure. Also known as the Hope Dionysos. The statue is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and is located on the first floor Roman and Greek art chamber. Upon entering this sector, you will notice a grand statue that catches your eyes and captivates you as it welcomes you in gracefully. The exhibition is set up in the back center of the room, and is noticeable due to the largeness in scale and the enigmatic yet calming disposition the statue portrays. My first impression of the sculpture was how detailed and realistic the statue is. Since the statue was so defined you would be able to identify what he was wearing and how his body was shaped to how long his hair was during this time period. I was profoundly intrigued by how peaceful the statue of Dionysos embodied and found myself coming back to it and looking in awe. In curiosity, I would choose this statue for my assignment because I wanted to learn more about the history of the Hope Dionysos. In this essay I will be describing my formal analysis of the artwork, the subject matter behind it, the artist and the historical content of the statue of Dionysos.
I find it very useful if I summarize some of the contents of his book, because the position of art is the main theme of this book, he clams that the art gets its growth from both the Apollonian and Dionysian, he also clams that we owe to the Art goddess the Apollo and Dionysus with our knowledge, that there is a dramatic conflict in the Greek world when it comes to the roots and objectives among Apollonian art and the art of Dionysian, Both the Apollonian and the Dionysian are important in the creation of art. Without the Apollonian, the Dionysian lacks the form and structure to make a coherent piece of art, and without the Dionysian, the Apollonian lacks the necessary vitality and passion. Even though they are very opposed, but they are also intimately intertwined, They are taking a complete different directions at the same time they both go hand and hand together, they are somehow Retraction towards rectify more powerful roots which gives to their conflict a nature eternal paradox do not meet only when the term of art is
This work of art is a mix of naturalism and verism. The beautiful perfect skin, the appropriately proportional body and the beauty of young Dionysus are much idealized. The god of wine doesn’t have the body structure of an athlete; however, the body features and muscles are quite in proportion and yet humanized. Dionysus’ face is very humanlike because it displays a certain sense of kindness and relaxedness. There is no sign of stress, discomfort, or detachedness on his face. Dionysus has his left leg crossed over his right leg and he is leaning on Pan on his left. Dionysus’ unique pose is a varied version of contrapposto pose which was so common in the High Classical sculptures. This pose means that the weight of the body is supported by one leg, right leg in this case. This pose illustrates relaxed state of mind and makes the audience feel that Dionysus is at ease. He also has his left hand resting on Pan while holding the wine cup. This shows that Dionysus is trusted by Pan and Pan is also trusted by him because Pan has his right arm around Dionysus’ waist. This close distance mainly
Myths and religious doctrine are generally recognized as two entirely different things. Myths are usually referred to as a fictitious story or a half-truth; often they are stories shared between groups of people that are part of a cultural society. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, and purpose of the universe, and often containing an ethical code dictating appropriate human conduct. Although they differ in certain aspects, they still hold similarities. Comparable to parables within the Bible, myths have different versions which are both motivating, as well as entertaining. There are not only parallels to the idea of the stories but specific tales hold similar morals and equivalent characters.
Dionysus is an important figure of Greek mythology. He is the Olympian god of wine, vegetation, festivity and pleasure. He represents humanity’s longing for pleasure and desire to celebrate. Dionysus is also the god of hallucination, theatre, reincarnation and homosexuality. He is called: “the youthful, beautiful, but effeminate god of wine. He is also called both by Greeks and Romans Bacchus (Bakchos), that is, the noisy or riotous god…” (Roman 201).
Hermes (called Mercury in Roman mythology) was considered the messenger of the Olympic gods. According to legend, he was the son of Zeus, king of Mount Olympus, and Maia, a nymph. As time went on, he was also associated with luck, shepherds, athletes, thieves, and merchants.
Authors, poets, and film directors have all used ancient stories to create new pieces of literature and film works for modern times. The animated Disney film Hercules (1997) and the myth of Hercules share the background of audience-driven narratives; however, Disney's aspiration to fill the theaters and earn money results in an unblemished narrative, while the original myth portrays an imperfect model to a flawed humanity.
The ancient world was comprised of mysteries. There were no scientific explanations for the structure of the world, the existence of humans, or the meaning of life. To explain these dilemmas they turned to religion and mythology. However, as were often isolated geographically there was no universal answer to any of these questions, though many cultures many have derived similar solutions to certain questions, despite being separated by large physical distances, such as the Greeks and Egyptians. Although there are minor differences, Greek and Egyptian mythologies share many similarities.
The myth of the Greek hero Hercules and the one seen in the Disney movie have a lot of differences, but also some similarities. For example, one difference is in the Disney movie Hercules only performed 7 labors, but in the Greek myth Hercules had to complete 12 labors. However, a similarity is that in both versions Hercules had to endure the hero’s journey. There are many other differences and similarities worth mentioning.
Out of the tortoiseshell, he crafts a lyre, this is a metaphor for crafting, as gods take the natural world and are able to put it to use. Once confronted by Apollo, Hermes gives a lying speech, he whistles and winks at Apollo making him laugh. Hermes acts like a child and tells Apollo, “I care for sleep, and milk of my mother's breast, and wrappings round my shoulders … I was born yesterday” (263-264). His playful nature allows him to express his musical skills, as he sings sweet songs with his lyre, and manages to trade it for the cattle. Hermes uses his wits and humour to defuse the situation. He is so charming when lying to Zeus, that even he, the great and powerful who punishes those who misbehave, lets Hermes get away with it.
I have been raised in a family that values logic and reason, but one that also appreciates other people’s morals and beliefs. Among these have been individuals of different Christian denominations, Hindu, and Islamic beliefs. Sense a predominant number of religious beliefs and logical ideas stem from early civilizations, I often wonder the extent to which logical ideas differ from religious tenants-sense both manifest from the human mind. To engage this research question, I have specified my topic to compare and contrast the ideas of Greek philosophers (such as Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and Pythagoras) to the ideas of Greek Mythology. Logically, it makes sense to focus on Greek ideas because they laid the foundation for modern government and religious tenants.
Dionysus, son of Zues and Semele and Apollo, son of Zues and Leto, both were born under strange conditions. Dionysus was born from the thigh of Zues after being fully grown, and Apollo's mother, Leto, was in labor for nine days with him because Hera did not want him to be born and would not give Leto a safe place for the child to be