Greek Mythology: “The Charites” (“The Three Graces”).-

►Greek Mythology: “The Charites” (“The Three Graces”):

Fresco from Pompeii, House of Titus Dentatus Panthera, ca 65 -79 AD; Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli – Three Graces

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The Charites (Three Graces) were reputed to be the essence of beauty, charm, and grace and were associated with the Nine Muses, who presided and inspired arts and sciences. 

The Charites were three goddesses, who were sisters between them: Aglaia (Αγλαια Brightness), Euphrosyne (Ευφροσυνη Joyfulness), and Thalia  (Θαλια Bloom). 

The character and nature of the Charites are sufficiently expressed by the names they bear: they were conceived as the goddesses who gave festive joy and enhanced the enjoyments of life

Pindar, Olympian Ode 14: “Kharites (Charites, Graces) three . . . Euphrosyne, lover of song, and Aglaia (Aglaea) revered, daughters of Zeus the all-highest . . . with Thalia, darling of harmony.”

They are said to be daughters of Zeus and Hera (or Eurynome, daughter of Oceanus) or of Helios and Aegle, a daughter of Zeus.

The Charites were also joined in the banquets, celebrations by the Horae who were the keepers of the gates to Mount Olympus.

Aglaia was the charis goddess of beauty, adornment, splendor and glory. Aglaia was a the wife of the god Hephaistos and like her she represented the creation of objects of beauty and artistic adornment.

Homer, Iliad 18. 382: “Kharis (Charis) of the shining veil . . . the lovely goddess the renowned strong-armed one [Hephaistos] had married.”

Euphrosyne was the charis goddess of good cheer, joy, mirth and merriment

Thalia was the charis goddess of festive celebrations and rich and luxurious banquets. 

Frequently the Graces were taken as goddesses of charm or beauty in general and hence were associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love; Peitho, her attendant; and Hermes, a fertility and messenger god. 

As attendants of Aphrodite they were goddesses of personal beauty and the adornments which enhanced this: makeup, oils, perfumes, fine clothing and jewellery.  

Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite: “She [Aphrodite] went to Kypros (Cyprus), to Paphos, wher her precinct is and fragrant altar, and passed into her sweet-smelling temple. There she went in and put to the glittering doors, and there the Kharites (Charites, Graces) bathed her with heavenly oil such as blooms upon the bodies of the eternal gods–oil divinely sweet, which she had by her, filled with fragrance.”

Sometimes they were depicted as companions of Apollo and the Muses:

Hesiod, Theogony 53: “There [on Olympos] are their [the Muses’] bright dancing-places and beautiful homes, and beside them the Kharites (Charites, Graces) . . . live in delight.”

The Charitesia were annual competitions and games in honor of the Graces. There were athletic competitions, literary, musical and dramatic contests (which took place in the theater). The Charitesia festival was held at Orchomenos near the modern town of Kalpaki.

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►Slideshare: “The Charites” (“The Three Graces”):

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►Links post

http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Kharites.html

http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/nymphs/three-graces.htm

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/240434/Grace

http://www.mythography.com/myth/welcome-to-mythography/greek-gods/spirits-1/graces/

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►Last but not Least: One Lovely Blog Award (x2): 

One Lovely Blog Award.

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I want to thank Shehanne Moore for nominating me for a Lovely Blog Award. Shehanne is an scottish blogger and author of “Smexy Historical romance”, “the Unraveling of  Lady Fury” and “Loving Lady Lazuli”, among others. Meet Shehanne at her blog.

I also want to thank D.G. Kaye for nominating me for this same Award. Please make sure to check out her author blog. She is a canadian author and has published “Conflicted Hearts”, “Meno-What?, a Memoir” and “Words We carry”. You can also take a peek on my latest post in which I featured her new book “Words we Carry”. 

►Here are the Award Ruless:

1) The nominee shall display the respective logo on her/his blog and link to the blogger that has nominated her/him.

2) The nominee shall nominate ten (10) bloggers she/he admires, by linking to their blogs and informing them about the nomination.

In this occasion, I will nominate -in no particular order- new followers and/or great bloggers I have recently met or that I haven’t nominated yet.

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►So without further ado, these are my nominees for the Lovely Blog Award:

1. Medgekorne 2. Kely has a Blog 3. Sacred Touches 4. A Universal Life 5. Dennis’ Diary of Destruction 6. Strings of Soulfulness 7. Meditation Travelogue 8. Ombreflessuose 9. Tavolozza di Vita 10. Dotedon.

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Thanks D.G Kaye and Shehanne Moore for this Award. 

By the way, I love the way Shehanne Moore featured my Lovely Blog Award nomination at her blog. 

Thank you for that, Shehanne and Hamstahs!. Aquileana 😀

Source: “One lovely Blog Award”. At: http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/one-lovely-blog-award/

Source Hamsters Images: Source: http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/one-lovely-blog-award/. The third one is mine (moi).

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Greek Mythology: “The Horae”.-

 ►Greek Mythology: “The Horae”:

“Apollo and the Hours” by Georg Friedrich Kersting (1822).

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The Horae were the goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time. 

They were originally the personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects, but in later times they were regarded as goddesses of order in general and natural justice.

Pursuant to Homer, who neither mentions their parents nor their number, they are the Olympian divinities of the weather and the ministers of Zeus; and in this capacity they guard the doors of Olympus, and promote the fertility of the earth, by the various kinds of weather they send down. Thy were also the ones who discovered Aphrodite soon after her sea-foam birth and saved her.

The Horae are mentioned in two senses in Hesiod’s “Theogony” and the Homeric Hymns.

►First Triad: In one variant emphasizing their fruitful aspect, Thallo (Spring or new shoots), Auxo or Auxesia (Spring Growth, which equals to Summer), and Carpo (Autumn). 

These three Horae, (Thallo, Auxo and Carpo) were the daughters of Zeus and Themis. Thus they were also sisters of the Three Fates (or Moirai)

They were the goddesses of the three seasons the Greeks recognized: Spring (Thallo), Summer (Auxo) and Autumn (Carpo).

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Detail of an attic vase, depicting the Three Horae (Seasons). Period: Late Archaic (500 BC).

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As the Horae were conceived to promote the prosperity of every thing that grows, they appear also as the protectresses of youth.

Jane Ellen Harrison asserts the existence of female trinities, discusses the Horae as chronological symbols representing the phases of the Moon and goes on to equate the Horae with the Seasons, the Graces and the Fates and the three seasons of the ancient Greek year.

The Hora of Spring, Thallo, accompanied Persephone every year on her ascent from Hades’ Underworld to meet his mother Demeter. According to one of the Homeric Hymns, the attributes of spring-flowers, fragrance, and graceful freshness are accordingly transferred to the Horae; thus they adorned Aphrodite as she rose from the sea, made a garland of flowers for Pandora, and even inanimate things are described as deriving peculiar charms from the Horae. 

►Second Triad: In this variant, emphasising the “right order” aspect of the Horae. They were three Goddesses called Dike, Eunomia, and Eirene.

These three Horae were law-and-order goddesses that maintained the stability of society and were worshipped primarily in the cities of Athens, Argos and Olympia.

•Eunomia was the goddess of law and legislation. The same or a different goddess may have been a daughter of  Hermes and Aphrodite.

•Dike was he goddess of moral justice: she ruled over human justice, as her mother Themis ruled over divine justice. According to myths,  Zeus placed her on earth to keep mankind just, he quickly learned this was impossible and placed her next to him on Olympus, as the Greek constellation called The Maiden.

•Eirene was the personification of peace and wealth.

•Note regarding the number of Horae: The number of the Horae differs according to the sources, though the most ancient number seems to have been two (Thallo and Carpo). But afterwards their common number was three. 

Quintus Smyrnaeus makes Helios and Selene (the Sun and Moon) the parents of the Horae, goddesses of the seasons.

In this account of Helios’ myth, the Horae were the four handmaidens of Hera (Zeus’ wife). According to this version, their names were: Eiar (Spring), Theros (Summer), Phthinoporon (Autumn), and Cheimon (Winter).

Hyginus (Fab. 183) is in great confusion respecting the number and names of the Horae, as he mixes up the original names with surnames, and the designations of separate seasons or hours. In this manner he first makes out a list of ten Horae (Titanis, Auxo, Eunomia, Pherusa, Carpo, Dice, Euporia, Eirene, Orthosia, and Thallo), and a second of eleven (Auge, Anatole, Musia, Gymnasia, Nymphes, Mesembria, Sponde, Telete, Acme, Cypridos, Dysis). 

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►Villa Dar Buc Ammera (Rome): Mosaic depicting the Seasons:

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►In another different variant the Horae were not related with seasons but to the portions of time of the Day, twelve hours for the Ancient Greeks.

The ancient Greeks divided the hours of daylight into twelve portions, identified by the position of the sun in the sky. 

In this sense, the Twelve Horae were Goddesses of the hours of the day and perhaps also of the twelve months of the year.

These Horae oversaw the path of the Sun-God Helios as he travelled across the sky, dividing the day into its portions.

The Twelve Horae were not always clearly distinguishable from the Horae of the Seasons, who were also described as overseeing the path of the sun.

Their names were:

•Auge, first light.

•Anatole, sunrise.

•Mousika, the morning hour of music and study.

•Gymnastika, the morning hour of gymnastics/exercise.

•Nymph, the morning hour of ablutions (bathing, washing).

•Mesembria, noon.

•Sponde, libations poured after lunch.

•Elete, prayer, the first of the afternoon work hours.

•Akte, eating and pleasure, the second of the afternoon work hours.

•Hesperis, evening.

•Dysis, sunset.

•Arktos, night sky, constellation.

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“Apollo and the Continents. Details of Frescoes in the Würzburg Residenz (1751-53)
by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1752-53 ). Description: Apollo (Helios) has left his palace and is floating slowly downward, accompanied by two of the Horae, while the rising sun shines out behind him. Sun rising over the Earth, symbolized by the surrounding Continents. The sun appears as a life-giving force which determines the course of the days, months and years.

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►Two Paintings by Sandro Botticelli (1444/1510), featuring the Seasons (Greek Horae):

1)”The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli (1486):

“The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli (1486).

“The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli (1486). Detail. On the Right: One of the Greek Horae waits for Aphrodite with a flower covered robe .

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Description: The wind gods Boreas and Zephyrus waft the Goddess of Love to shore. There, one of the Horae, probably Thallo, who represented Spring, waits to receive Aphrodite (Venus) as she spreads out a flower covered robe in readiness for the Love Goddess’ arrival.

The picture hung in the country villa of the Medici along with “Primavera” (see painting below), indicating that the work was commissioned by the Medici family.

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2) “Primavera”, by Sandro Botticelli (1482):

“Primavera” by Sandro Botticelli (1482).

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Description: This painting depicts a tale from the fifth book of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” in which the wood nymph Chloris‘ charms attracted the first wind of Spring, Zephyr.

Zephyr pursued her and as she was ravished, flowers sprang from her mouth and she became transformed into Flora, goddess of flowers.

Aphrodite presides over the garden – an orange grove (a Medici symbol). She stands in front of the dark leaves of a myrtle, which was a sacred plant to her.  

According to Botticelli, the woman in the flowered dress is Primavera (a personification of Spring thus probably link to Thallo) whose companion is Flora.

The Three Graces accompanying her are being targeted by Eros (Cupid in Roman Mythology).

In Greek Mythology, the Three Graces represent beauty, joy and plenty.

They are usually shown holding hands, smiling at each other or dancing, forming a close-knit group.

Hermes, the Greek god of herds and herald of the gods, keeps the garden safe from threatening clouds. 

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“Primavera” by Sandro Botticelli (1482). Details. On the Left: Mercury (Hermes). On the Right: Chloris and Zephyrus.

“Primavera” by Sandro Botticelli (1482). Details. On The Left: Flora, the goddess of flowers. In the Middle: Venus (Aphrodite) standing in her arch. And according to Botticelli, The Goddess of Spring, which in Greek Mythology was one of the Horae: Thallo. On the Right: The Three Graces.

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►Links Post:

http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Horai.html 

http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Horai.html 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horae 

http://www.greek-gods.info/ancient-greek-gods/horae/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primavera_(Painting)

http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Birth-of-Venus.html

http://noellevignola.com/2014/11/02/horae/ (Thoughts on the Horae By Noelle)

http://toritto.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/channeling-botticelli-2/  (A poem By Toritto)

http://www.livius.org/vi-vr/villa/villa_dar_bur_ammera_seasons.html

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►Worth Reading:

“A Great Post on Malala Yousafzai at When Women Inspire“:

I want to thank Christy Birmingham for letting me be part of her very special tribute to Malala Yousafzai… A girl who is an example of resistance and overcoming, who fights against extremism and inequality and who has recently become the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Please make sure to check out the post here: Spotlight on Women’s Rights Activist Malala Yousafzai

Malala Speaks out loud. Read the post here: http://whenwomeninspire.com/2014/10/24/malala-yousafzai-womens-activist/

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►Last but not Least: Challenge Workplace Blog Hop:

I have been invited for this Blog Hop by Kevin from Kev’s Blog and by Inese from Inesemjphotography.

The main idea here is to spot the place where you usually blog. It aims to give other bloggers a general overview on your blogger workspace (just to satisfy their curious minds)… 

So, with that purpose, I took some photos and attached them below. 

Finally I’d like to invite the following five bloggers to join the challenge. Of course, as all the blog challenges, this one is not compulsory either… 

1) Verónica from “En Humor Arte” 2) Irina from “Irina’s Poetry Corner” 3) Dulcinea from “Hodgepodge4thesoul” 4) Angie From “Family Life is More” 5) Francis from “Qhapaq”.

The rules are basically to spot your personal blogging space through a few photos, to link back to the blogger who invited you and to invite a bunch of bloggers to join you. Enjoy it!, Aquileana 😀

 

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Greek Mythology: “Selene, Goddess of the Moon” / Poetry: “Selene Awakens”, by Christy Birmingham.-

►Greek Mythology: “Selene, Goddess of the Moon”:

►Poetry: “Selene Awakens”, by Christy Birmingham:

“Luna” by Evelyn De Morgan (1885).

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Selene is the Greek Goddess of the Moon. She is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia.

Besides, Selene is sister of the Sun-God Helios, and Eos, Goddess of the Dawn.

In classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo.

Just as Helios, from his identification with Apollo, is called Phoebus (“bright”), Selene, from her identification with Artemis, is also commonly referred to by the epithet Phoebe (feminine from the name is of Greek origin, it is likely connected to the word selas (σέλας), meaning “light”.

Both Selene and Artemis were also associated with Hecate, and all three were regarded as Lunar Goddesses, although only Selene was regarded as the personification of the moon itself. Her Roman equivalent is Luna.

Like her brother Helios, the Sun god, who drives his chariot across the sky each day, Selene is also said to drive across the heavens.

The moon chariot is often described as being silver^. And while the sun chariot has four horses, Selene’s usually has two, described as “snow-white” by Ovid, or was drawn by oxen or bulls.

Selene is commonly depicted with a crescent moon, often accompanied by stars; sometimes, instead of a crescent, a lunar disc is used. Often a crescent moon rests on her brow, or the cusps of a crescent moon protrude, horn-like, from her head, or from behind her head or shoulders. From the Hellenistic period onwards, she is sometimes pictured with a torch.

Several lovers are attributed to Selene in various myths, including her brother Helios, with whom she had four daughters, known as the Horae, the four Goddesses of the seasons. The Horae were Goddesses of time, seasons and natural cycles. They were originally the personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects, but in later times they were regarded as goddesses of order in general and natural justice. 

Also Pan, the God of the wild, shepherds and flocks, was Selene’s lover. 

Even Zeus, the God of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods, was her lover.  As a matter of fact, some sources report that the Nemean lion, which fell to the earth from the moon was the result of an affair of Zeus and Selene.

However, among all of them, the mortal Endymion was Selene’s most well known  lover.

Selene fell in love with the shepard, Endymion, and seduced him while he lie sleeping in a cave. Her seduction of Endymion resulted in the birth of fifty daughters, one of which was Naxos.

Their daughters represented the fifty lunar months of the Olympiad, or period of four years marking the beginning of the Olympic games in ancient Greece.

But Endymion was human, and so susceptible to aging and eventually death. Selene could not bear that fact. According to one of the most well known versions of the myth, she made certain that Endymion would remain eternally youthful by casting a spell that would cause him to sleep forever. In this way, Endymion would remain alive for always, sleeping eternally.

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►Gallery: “Selene and Endymion”:

“Selene and Endymion” (detail) at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen by Erasmus Quellin (1897).

“Selene (AKA Artemis) and Endymion” by Victor Florence Pollet (mid-19th century).

“Selene and Endymion” by George Frederic Watts (1872).

“Selene and Endymion” by Filippo Lauri (1650).

“Selene and Endymion” by Sir Edward John Poynter 1901

“Selene and Endymion” by Nicolas Poussion (1630).

“Selene and Endymion” by Francesco Trevisani (18th Century).

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►A Poem By Christy Birmingham:

“Selene Awakens”: 

Drive.

Selene is moving fast,

Driving across the heavens in a

Lane of her own, behind the reins, in a

Moon chariot that lights up with her determination,

Pulled by two horses and a faith in Greek spirits larger than Earth.

 

Watch for Selene overhead, with her head shining brightly, bearing

A crescent moon that reaches from her forehead to

Your heart, as you watch her in hopes that

She will know the secret to why the

Sun chooses to sleep at night,

While she awakens and

You yearn for

Dreams.

 ©2014 Christy Birmingham.-

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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►About Christy Birmingham:

Christy is a canadian freelance writer, poet and author.

She is the author of the poetry collection “Pathways to Illumination” (2013), available  at Redmund Productions.

You can check out Christy Birmingham´s writer portfolio here. 

She also hosts two great blogs: Poetic Parfait and When Women Inspire. 

Feel free to connect with Christy at  Twitter too. 

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Christy Birmingham. Author, Poet, Freelance Writer.

Poetic Parfait: http://poeticparfait.com/ When Women Inspire: http://whenwomeninspire.com/

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“The Moon and the Stars”(series) by Alphonse Mucha (1902).

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►Links Post:

http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html 

http://www.maicar.com/GML/Selene.html 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selene 

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/selene.html 

http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Horai.html

 http://www.muchafoundation.org/gallery/browse-works/object/245

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Greek Mythology: “Phaeton, Helios’ Son”.-

►Greek Mythology: “Phaeton, Helios’ Son”:

“Phaeton” by Gustave Moreau (1878).

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Phaeton (derived from the greek verb phaethô, “to shine: “the shining” or “radiant one”)  was the young son of Helios and Clymene

According to the roman poet, Ovid, Phaethon was the son of Helios, the god of the Sun, and Clymene, an Oceanid Nymph,who was also mother of the Seven Heliad Nymphs (Paethon’ sisters) .

It was not until Phaethon reached a certain age, however, that he learned that his father was indeed the Sun-god. When he realized who  his father was, Phaethon decided to meet Helios. He therefore went on a journey to the East, where he found his father’s grand palace.

Phaeton begged his father to let him drive the chariot of the sun. 

Helios tried to talk him out of it by telling him that not even Zeus would dare to drive it, as the chariot was fiery hot and the horses breathed out flames.

But Phaeton insisted and at the end Helios reluctantly conceded to his son’s wishes.

When the day came, the fierce horses that drew the chariot felt that it was empty because of the lack of the sun-god’s weight, and went out of control, setting the earth aflame

Zeus quickly realized that this was a dangerous situation. So the ruler of the Greek gods threw a thunderbolt directly at Phaethon, hurling his flaming body into the waters of the river Eridanos.

His sisters, the Heliades, gathered on the banks, and in their mourning with transformed into amber-teared poplar trees.

After his death, Phaethon was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Auriga (“The Charioteer”).

Plato used a similar analogy to the one of Phaeton’s myth in his dialogue “Phaedrus”. There, Plato presents the Analogy of the Chariot to explain the tripartite nature of the human soul.

In Plato’s Phaedrus, the charioteer joins a procession of gods, led by Zeus, on this trip into the heavens and have to try to successfully pilot the chariot, controllin and balancing the black and white horse.

When the chariot plummets to earth, the horses lose their wings, and the soul becomes embodied in human flesh. The degree to which the soul falls, and the “rank” of the mortal being it must then be embodied in is based on the amount of Truth it beheld while in the heavens.

As stated by this analogy, the  rational part of the soul is represented by the charioteer. The spirited part (Thymos) is represented by the white horse while the black horse symbolizes the appetitive part of the soul.

Besides, Phaeton’s myth has similarities with Icarus’ myth, which tells the tragic story of  Dedalus’ son, a young man who is driven to prove himself by reaching the Sun with waxed wings, regardless of the consequences. 

As in Icarus’ myth, Phaeton´s moral is to “take the middle way” by warning against heedless pursuit of instant gratification (represented in both myths by the horses. And, strictly following Plato’s definition in the “Phaedrus”, by the black horse, which represents man’s appetites ). 

The implicit aristotelian idea in these myths is that virtue is “a kind of moderation as it aims at the mean or moderate amount” (Aristotle’s Golden Mean). In this last sense both myths highlight the greek idea of Sophrosyne, which etymologically means healthy-mindedness and from there moderation guided by knowledge and balance. 

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“The Fall of Phaeton” by Peter Paul Rubens (1605).

On the Right: “The Fall of Phaeton” by Peter Paul Rubens (1605). On the Left: “The Sun, or the Fall of Icarus” by Merry-Joseph Blondel (1819).

“Phaeton driving the sun-chariot” by Nicolas Bertin (1720).

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 ►Gallery: “Phaeton, Helios’ Son”:

“The Fall of Phaeton”: From Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” by Gabriel Babonneix (1776).

“Helios and Phaeton with Saturn and the Four Seasons” by Nicolas Poussin (1635).

“Fall of Phaeton” by Sebastiano Ricci (1703/1704).

“The Fall of Phaeton” by Joseph Heintz (1596).

“The Fall of Phaeton” by Johann Liss (1624).

“The Fall of Phaeton” by James Ward (1829).

“The Fall of Phaeton” by Jan Eyck (17th Century).

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“The fall of Phaeton” : From the series “The Metamorphoses” (Ovid) by Hendrik Goltzius (1588).

“The Fall of Paethon” by Michelangelo (1533).

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►Michelangelo Buonarotti, “The Fall of Phaeton”, a drawing based on Phaeton’s Myth (Last drawing above):

Description: At the top of the sheet, Jupiter sits on his eagle and hurls a thunderbolt at Phaethon, son of Apollo, who plunges from a horse-drawn chariot. Phaethon had asked to drive the chariot of the sun, but he lost control and to save the earth Jupiter destroyed him. Underneath, his sisters, the weeping Heliades, are changed into poplar trees while another relation, Cycnus, has become a swan. The reclining male figure is the river god, Eridanus into whose river (the River Po in Italy) Phaethon fell.

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►Suggested Poem “The Key to Unity” By Uncle Tree:

Click on the Image above to read Uncle Tree’s Poem.

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►Links Post:

http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Phaethon.html

http://www.theoi.com/Titan/AsterPhaethon.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaethon

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Phaethon

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pd/m/michelangelo,_fall_of_phaeton.aspx

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►Last but not Least: Three Awards: 

►Here are the Award Rules, which are the same for all the awards:

1) The nominee shall display the respective logo on her/his blog.

•Note: To get the logo just click on the one which corresponds among the ones appearing in the Gallery below.

This time I will nominate new followers and/or bloggers I have recently met or that I haven’ t nominated before.

2) The nominee shall nominate ten (10) bloggers she/he admires, by linking to their blogs and informing them about it.

►Aquí están las reglas comunes a todos los Premios:

1) Ubicar el logo del Premio que le corresponda en su blog.

2) Nominar a otros diez (10) bloggers, enlazando a sus respectivos blogs e informándolos de la nominación.

•Nota: Para obtener el logo, hacer click en la imagen que corresponda al mismo, de entre todas las que aparecen debajo.

En esta oportunidad nominaré a nuevos seguidores y/ a bloggers que conocí recientemente o que aún no he nominado.

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The Versatile Blogger Award.

Black Wolf Blogger Award .

Wonderful Team Member Readership Award.

Premio Dardos.

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I) Black Blogger Award: I have received this award from Gorrión de Asfalto and Profecías Mayas del Fin del Mundo.Both Blogs worth checking out. The first blog features Cultural events, Poetry, Guests Posts, among the main categories. The second one has as its most important topics: Anthropology, Archeology and Mexico’s Ancient Civilizations Culture.

►My nominees for the Black Wolf Blogger Award are/Mis nominados para el Black Wolf Blogger Award son:

1.Ensayos y Poemas  2. Aquí no sobran las Palabras 3. Té, Chocolate, Café 4. Tintero y Pincel 5. Ser un Ser de Luz 6. Reescrituras 7. Ya Baki Entel Baki 8. Indahs 9. Toritto 10. Lens and Pens by Sally.

II) The Versatile Blogger Award: Micheline Walker nominated me for this award. Her blog truly stands out and it includes posts related with Art, Middle Age Literature, symbolism in art and texts and their interpretation.

I was also nominated for this award from the poetry blog Condena, Mis Poemas. If you like spanish you’d better check out poems over there (You can also use the translator!). Last but not least, I also got this one from the blog called Ritual de las Palabras, with interesting contents that include mainly brief stories and Literature in general.

►My nominees for the Versatile Blogger Award are/Mis nominados para el Versatile Blogger Award son:

1. 21 Shades of Blue 2. Lady Sighs 3. Anna: Prostor 4. Feline Alchemy 5. ABC of Spirit Talk 6. Word Dreams 7. Valentina Expressions 8. Les Rêves d’ Eugenie 9. Ramo di Parole 10. Geiko Usume.

III) Wonderful Team Member Readership Award: I got this nomination from the blog Ensayos y Poemas, which includes posts on Writing, reviews of books, Poetry and Sociology.

►My nominees for the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award are/Mis nominados para el Wonderful Team Member Readership Award son:

1. Micheline Walker  2. Gorrión de Asfalto 3. Profecías Mayas del Fin del Mundo 4.Condena, Mis Poemas 5. Sonu Duggal 6. Espace Perso de Georges 7. Family Life is More 8. Ruka de Colores 9. Le Bon Côté des Choses 10. Willowdot21

IV) Premio Dardos: He sido nominada para este Premio desde los blogs amigos en Castellano, Ser un Ser de Luz, Aquí no sobran las Palabras, Reescrituras, Tintero y Pincel y Té, Chocolate, Café. Todos estos son excelentes espacios, mayormente de Literatura, pero también de Arte, Meditación y cuestiones relacionadas con el Universo.

►Mis nominados para el Premio Dardos son:

1. Compartimos 2. De Partida 3. Postales del Futuro 4. Natan Vue 5. Corriendo en la Niebla 6. Clínica Creativa 7. Blog de Jack Moreno 8. Nascaranda 9. Debe de Haber 10. Personajes y Leyendas.

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Thanks a lot for dropping by. Best wishes to everyone, Aquileana 😀

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Greek Mythology: “Helios, the God Sun”.-

►Greek Mythology: “Helios, the God Sun”:

“Helios on His Chariot” (Detail) by Hans Adam Weissenkircher (17th century).

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Helios was the Greek God Sun. He was also the guardian of oaths and the god of gift of sight. 

Around the time of Euripides, the sun of Helios became identified with Apollo. Helios was known by the names Sol and Phoebus in Roman mythology.

Helios was depicted as a handsome, and usually beardless, man clothed in purple robes and crowned with the shining aureole of the sun. His sun-chariot was drawn by four steeds, sometimes winged. 

As stated by Hesiod, Helios was the son of two Titans: Theia and Hyperion. In Hesiod’s “Theogony”, therefore, Helios was also the brother of Eos (the goddess of Dawn) and Selene (the goddess of the Moon). It is interesting to note that the Dawn goddess Eos began the procession of morning, followed closely by her brother Helios.

According to the original myth, Helios dwelt in a golden palace located in the River Okeanos at the eastern ends of the earth. From there he emerged each dawn driving a chariot drawn by four, fiery winged steeds and crowned with the aureole of the sun. When he reached the the land of the Hesperides  (Evenings) in the West he descended into a golden cup which carried him around the northern streams of Okeanos back to his rising place in the East.

Helios was first married to his sister, Selene. Quintus Smyrnaeus makes Helios and Selene the parents of the Horae, the four Goddesses of the seasons. 

but overall he had many wives, among them the Oceanid Perse; from their union, Helios became the father of king Aeetes, Circe and Pasiphae, the wife of Minos and mother of the Minotaur.

Clythie was also included among Helios’ lovers. 

Clymene (Phaeton’s mother) was probably also identified with Clytie. Both of their names mean “the famous one”, and Clymene’s title Merope (“with turning face”) aptly describes the behaviour of the flower.

Helios, having loved her, abandoned her for another nymph, called Leucothea. 

Clythie was so angered by his treatment that she told Leucothea’s father, Orchamus, about the affair. Since Helios had defiled Leucothea, Orchamus had her put to death by burial alive in the sands.

Thus Clytie intended to win Helios back. She remained mourning Helios’ departure with neither food nor drink, for nine days on the rocks, staring at the sun, Helios. After nine days she was transformed into a heliotrope flower, the turnsole, which turns its head always to look longingly at Helios’ chariot of the sun. Modern traditions substitute the turnsole with a sunflower, which is said to turn in the direction of the sun.

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On the Left: “Clytie: Sorrow and Sunflowelite” by Frederic Leighton (1895). On the Right: “Clytie” by Evelyn De Morgan (1887).

“Clytie Transformed into a Sunflower” by Charles de Lafosse (17th century).

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By the Oceanid Clymene, Helios had a son Phaeton and maybe Augeas, and three daughters, Aegiale, Aegle, and Aetheria. These three daughters and two Helios had by Neaera, Lampetie and Phaethusa, were known as the Heliades.

Phaethon was, as we said, Helios’ and the sea-nymph Clymene’ s son. In one ocassion, he drove his father’s chariot and, as he rode it alternately too close to the earth, he set the earth on fire. To stop it, Zeus killed him with a bolt of lightning. 

Another wife of Helios was the Nymph Rhode (meaning “rose” in the Greek language).

Rhode gave her name to the famous Greek island of Rhodes and Helios was the island’s patron deity and the Rhodians worshipped Helios. As a matter of fact, one of the island’s main attractions, the Colossus of Rhodes, was built in his honor.

►The Colossus of Rhodes, statue built in Helios’ honor by Chares of Lindos:

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek titan-god of the sun Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name, by Chares of Lindos.

Being considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes’ victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus.

The construction began in 292 BC and finished twelve years later, in 280 BC. The statue itself was over 30 meters tall.

Ancient accounts, which differ to some degree, describe the structure as being built with iron tie bars to which brass plates were fixed to form the skin. The interior of the structure, which stood on a 15-meter high white marble pedestal near the Mandraki harbor entrance, was filled with stone blocks as construction progressed.

The statue stood for 56 years until Rhodes was hit by the 226 BC Rhodes earthquake. By then, it fell over onto the land.

King Ptolomey III offered to pay for the reconstruction of the statue, but the Oracle of Delphi made the Rhodians afraid that they had offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it.

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On the Left: Colossus. Illustration by Sidney Barclay in de Lassus’ Book “Voyage aux Sept merveilles du monde” (1880). On the Right: Unknown Artist’s misconception of the Colossus of Rhodes from the Grolier Society’s 1911 “Book of Knowledge”.

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►The Sun God Helios featuring Other Greek Myths:

•Helios in Persephone’ Myth:

Helios saw Hades abducting Persephone. Demeter didn’t think to ask him about her missing daughter, but wandered the earth morosely for months until her friend, the witchcraft goddess Hekate suggested that Helios might have been an eye witness.

•Helios’ role when Aphrodite and Ares were caught by Hephaestus:

Helios owed Hephaestus for the cup that carries him to his morning daily starting point, which the smithy god had made for him, so when he witnessed an event of importance to Hephaestus, he didn’t keep it to himself. He hurried to reveal the affair between Hephaestus’ wife Aphrodite and Ares.

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‘Apollo in His Chariot with the Hours” by John Singer Sargent (1922-25).

“Apollo in His Chariot with the Hours” (Details) by John Singer Sargent (1922-25).

“Phoebus Driving his chariot” by Karl Briullov (1821).

“Apollo in his Chariot” by Luca Giordano (1683).

“Apollo” by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini (18th century).

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►Links Post:

http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Helios.html

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/greek-mythology/articles/7768/title/god-sun-helios-apollo

http://www.mythography.com/myth/welcome-to-mythography/greek-gods/spirits-1/helios/

http://www.greek-gods.info/ancient-greek-gods/helios/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clytie_(Oceanid)

http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheKlymene.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/hgodsandgoddesses/g/Helios.htm

http://jssgallery.org/paintings/mfa/Apollo_in_His_Chariot_with_the_Hours.htm

http://www.mythography.com/myth/welcome-to-mythography/greek-gods/spirits-1/helios/

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