Mythological, Allegorical and Historical Themes Page: 1 / 125 Themes of Mythology, Ancient History and of Allegories in the Art of Painting René Jean-Paul Dewil Copyright © René Dewil May 2008 Mythological, Allegorical and Historical Themes Page: 2 / 125 Copyright Clause Copyright © René Jean-Paul Dewil 2008 René Jean-Paul Dewil is identified as the sole author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be altered without the written permission of the author. The ebook may be copied in electronic or other forms for personal use only. It may not be printed, introduced in any retrieval system, electronic or otherwise, photocopied or otherwise recorded without the prior written permission of the author. The only system where the ebook may be retrieved from is the Internet website www.theartofpainting.be, which holds the only and original text acknowledged by the author. This publication remains under copyright. Copyright © René Dewil May 2008 Mythological, Allegorical and Historical Themes Page: 3 / 125 Introduction Painters have used many mythological themes as well as themes of history. The aim of the following is to classify the paintings according to those themes and sub-themes. The paintings are classified according to main themes, called macro themes, and then they are further classified within each macro theme to micro themes. The themes have been discovered by the classification of tens of thousands of paintings presented in the main museum of the world. A list of these paintings, plus their classification in macro themes and micro themes is available in Microsoft Excel © spreadsheet format (see the Internet site www.theartofpainting.be ). In this list, very many examples of paintings are given for each theme. When the reader therefore looks up a theme, it is best at the same time to use the ‘Filter’ feature of Microsoft Excel © on the mist and thus have a filtered view of the examples of paintings for that theme (macro theme and micro theme). Moreover, one of the sheets of the spreadsheet provides a list of all the macro and micro themes used. Ancient and modern painters knew well Greek and Roman mythology, ancient history and plays and poems. We found approximately 240 themes and numerous more micro themes that have been used by artists. The explanations of the themes have been taken on some instances from the Wikipedia free encyclopaedia, although with personal notes added to. Permission to reproduce content under the license and technical conditions applicable to Wikipedia has been granted to everyone without request. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Copyright © René Dewil May 2008 Mythological, Allegorical and Historical Themes Page: 4 / 125 1.- Achelous Achelous was in Greek mythology the god of the Achelous River, the largest river of Greece, and thus the head of all river gods, every river having its own river spirit. He may have been the son of Gaia and Helios, or Gaia and Oceanus, or most probably of Thetys and Oceanus, the parents of all the river gods of Greece. Achelous fell in love with Deianira, the daughter of Oeneus king of Calydon, but he was defeated in combat by Hercules, who married Deianira himself. See the themes ‘Deianira’ and ‘Hercules’. Ovid describes Achelous in his ‘Metamorphoses’. He described the cave of Achelous, which was used in late Renaissance as the example of grottoes in gardens. The banquet served by Achelous in Ovid became a prototype for Italian diners in cool garden grottoes. Therefore, painters sometimes depicted this banquet of Achelous. Macro theme: Achelous 2.- Achilles Achilles was born as the son of Peleus, the King of the Myrmidons, a mortal man, and the immortal sea-nymph Thetis. Thetis made her son immortal by plunging him in the Styx, but she held the baby Achilles by his heel and did not wet him there, so Achilles had a weak point. Later, Achilles was educated by the Centaur Chiron. Achilles was one of the main heroes of Homer’s Iliad. When Agamemnon, the King of Sparta, declared a war on the city of Troy, Achilles refused to participate and he hid on the island of Skyros at the court of King Lycomedes, disguised as a woman among Lycomedes’ daughters. Ulysses found Achilles, however. Achilles finally did participate in the Trojan War, accompanied by the Myrmidons and by his friend Patrocles. After a dispute with Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek expedition, a dispute over a captured Trojan woman, Achilles refused to fight on. This was very detrimental to the Greeks, who could not defeat the Trojans anymore. Achilles’ friend Patrocles put on Achilles’ armour and attacked the Trojans. The Trojan prince Hector killed Achilles. Achilles was very angry over Patrocles’ death, buried his friend and sought revenge. He challenged Hector and killed him. During the Trojan War Achilles also handed over the prize of wisdom to Nestor. Macro Theme: Achilles Micro Themes: Achilles plunged into the Styx Achilles educated by the Centaur Chiron Achilles on Skyros, recognised among the Daughters of Lycomedes Copyright © René Dewil May 2008 Mythological, Allegorical and Historical Themes Page: 5 / 125 Achilles gives the Prize of Wisdom to Nestor The Wrath of Achilles The Funeral of Patrocles The Death of Achilles 3.- Acis and Galatea Galatea was a sea-nymph, a Nereid. Acis’s father was the son of Faunus and his mother the river-nymph Symaethis, daughter of the spirit of the River Symaethus. Acis fell in love with Galatea, but the Cyclops Polyphemus was jealous and sought revenge. Polyphemus killed Acis with a boulder. Galatea then turned Acis’ blood into the River Acis, which flowed in Sicily near Mount Etna. The tale is from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Acis and Galatea are usually painted in a landscape, sometimes accompanied by Polyphemus. Macro Theme: Acis and Galatea Micro Theme: Acis and Galatea Acis and Galatea with Polyphemus 4.- Adonis Adonis was an annually-renewed vegetation god, a god of life, death and rebirth. His cult belonged mainly to women. He was worshipped in mystery religions. Painters hence usually either depicted his life or his death. Aphrodite urged Myrrha to commit incest with her father, Theias, the King of Smyrna. Myrrha's nurse helped in the conspiration, so Myrrha coupled with her father in the darkness. When Theias discovered the deception by a lamp, he flew into a rage, and wanted to kill his daughter. Myrrha fled and Aphrodite turned her into a myrrh tree. Theias shot an arrow into the tree and as a result Adonis was born from it. Adonis was a very beautiful young man. He was so beautiful that Aphrodite and Persephone wanted him. The argument by Zeus, with Adonis spending four months with Aphrodite, four months with Persephone and four months of the years to himself. Macro Theme: Adonis Micro Themes: Adonis The Birth of Adonis The Death of Adonis Copyright © René Dewil May 2008 Mythological, Allegorical and Historical Themes Page: 6 / 125 5.- Aeneas Aeneas’ father, Anchises, was the cousin of King Priam of Troy. His mother was the goddess Aphrodite (Venus). Aeneas was in Homer’s Iliad the leader of the Dardanians and an ally of Troy. He was a hero of the Trojan War, a friend of Priam’s son Hector. Virgil wrote is his ‘Aeneid’ that Aeneas escaped from Troy when the Greeks conquered the city, led by his mother Aphrodite, and founded Rome. Aeneas then carried his father Anchises on his shoulders. Aeneas first sailed into a port on the island of the Harpies. The Harpies were sent by the Gods to torment a man called Phineus, a blind man. Whenever Phineus wanted to eat the Harpies stole his food. The Harpies attacked Aeneas and he slew many. While Aeneas sailed in the Mediterranean, storms blew him to Carthago where the city’s Queen Dido fell in love with him. She asked Aeneas to stay with her in Carthago. But Zeus and Aphrodite sent the messenger Mercury to remind Aeneas of his objectives. Aeneas left Carthago and Dido secretly. Dido then ordered her sister Anna to construct a great fire, to burn the possessions that Aeneas had left behind in his hurry. On the pyre, Dido threw a curse on Aeneas that would forever pit Carthago against Rome. She then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met. Juno, moved by Dido's plight, sent Iris to make Dido's passage to Hades quicker and less painful. When Aeneas later travelled to Hades, he called to her ghost but she refused to speak to him. When Aeneas arrived after many adventures in Italy, he sought the advice of the Cumaean Sibyl. The Sibyl instructed him to seek a tree with a golden branch, to pluck of that branch and to offer it to Proserpine. Aeneas later made war against the city of Falerii. Latinus, king of the Latins, welcomed Aeneas and allowed him with his companions to live in Latium. Latinus’ daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, but Latinus received a prophecy that Lavinia would be betrothed to a man from a foreign land. Turnus therefore made war on Aeneas, who received the help of King Tarchon of the Etruscans and Queen Amata of the Latins. Aeneas' forces prevailed. King Turnus was killed and his people were captured. Livy wrote that Latinus died in the war. Aeneas later founded the city of Lavinium, named after his wife. Aeneas was the father of Ascanius with Creusa, and of Silvius with Lavinia. Ascanius was also known as Iulus (or Julius), hence the founder of the Roman family of the Julii (among which Julius Caesar).