Mythological Couples: Idas and Marpessa

Greetings everyone!

After quite some time, we're talking about mythological couples again. Marpessa and Idas have quite an interesting story, so let's get right into it! 

Marpessa was a very beautiful and noble girl, daughter of Evenus and Alcippe. Evenus did not want her married to anyone, so he devised a plan to get rid of all aspiring suitors: any man wishing to marry Marpessa would first have to defeat him in a chariot race; if they failed, they would be decapitated.

Evenus was sure of his success, because his horses were strong and fierce, given to him by his father, Ares.

Many men lost their lives in the chariot race; and many did not even dare to compete with Evenus. There was a man though, Idas, the prince of Messene, who though he could win the race; he owned a winged chariot, a gift to him by Poseidon himself, so he figured he stood a pretty good chance against Evenus.

He did win, so naturally he demanded to marry Marpessa, as Evenus had promised. Evenus refused, but Idas would have none of that. He kidnapped Marpessa and set off for his homeland. Evenus went after them, but when he realised he could not stop them, he drowned himself in a nearby river.

Idas and Marpessa eventually reached Messene. They spent the night in a nearby temple, but upon waking up the next morning, Idas realised that Marpessa had gone missing.

Here's Apollo fighting Idas for Marpessa. (more details can be found here)
Surprisingly enough there are very few depictions in art, and this was the only one properly referenced, so we're sharing.

It turned out that Apollo, who had also fallen in love with the beautiful maiden, had stolen her. Idas, completely enraged, ran after them, prepared to fight to death in order to get Marpessa back.

They fought for hours; Apollo might be a god, but Idas was an extremely skilled warrior too so none of them was yielding. Knowing that neither was going to win, Zeus decided to put an end to their battle. He stopped them and asked Marpessa to choose between the two; the choice would be hers alone.

Marpessa was confused. A god wanted her, so naturally she was flattered. Apollo was handsome and powerful and he could give her the world. But he also would never grow old, while she would. Sure, Apollo loved her now that she was young and beautiful; once she grew old and lost her beauty, someone else would catch his eye and he would lose interest in her and dismiss her.

On the other side, Idas might be mortal and not nearly as handsome as Apollo, but he had proved his love for her; he was so determined to marry her, he had even fought against a god for her sake! She had a better chance at a long-lasting and faithful relationship with him. .

Instantly, she knew what to do. She turned down Apollo and chose Idas as her husband. Surprisingly, Apollo, although defeated, made a promise to never seek revenge.

With nothing else standing in their way, Idas and Marpessa finally got married and lived happily ever after.

Until next time!

Mythological Couples: Perseus and Andromeda

Greetings!

This week we are talking mythology again (yay!) and we'd better jump right into it because we are talking about Perseus and Andromeda, and their story is quite long, so here goes:

Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae. Danae was the daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos. Once Danae was born, Acrisius was hoping he’d have a son to inherit the throne and carry on the family name, but that wasn’t happening, so he consulted the oracle of Delphi.

The news he got, well, they were not what he was hoping for. The oracle predicted that one day he would be killed by Danae’s son with Zeus.

Perseus and Andromeda (Charles-André van Loo, 1735-40)

So Acrisius figured that in order to keep her childless, he would lock her in a basement (or a bronze chamber, opinions differ on that one) so that no one would ever see her.

But Zeus was Zeus and nothing would stop him. Completely enamoured with Danae (Eros and his arrows again), he came to her in the form of golden rain though the window, and, of course, got her pregnant.

Soon afterwards Perseus was born; Acrisius feared for his future but he didn’t dare to kill Zeus’s offspring either. So he cast them into the sea into a wooden chest, leaving them to their fate.

Andromeda (Eugène Delacroix, 1853)

They washed ashore on the island of Serifos, where Dictys, a fisherman, found them and took them in, making them part of his family. He was the one that raised Perseus into manhood, teaching him all about his craft.

At some point, Polydectes, the King of Serifos (and Dictys’s brother too), fell in love with Danae and wanted to marry her, but Perseus didn’t agree with that; and she probably wasn’t too keen on the idea either.

Perseus Liberating Andromeda (Peter Paul Rubens,1639-1640)

Naturally, Polydectes wanted to get rid of him, so he developed a plan. He held a grand feast, where each of the guests was supposed to bring a gift; Polydectes requested that his guests brought him horses, claiming he was collecting contributions for the hand of Hippodamia (the name means “she was tames horses”). Perseus, being a fisherman, didn’t have a horse to give him, so he told Polydectes he could ask for anything else, and he’d provide it.

So Polydectes asked for the head of the only mortal gorgon, Medusa; she was a beautiful woman once but Athena turned her into a monster, with snakes instead of hair and eyes that turned people into stone (more about that story back here)

Andromeda (Peter Paul Rubens,1638)

Perseus asked for Athena’s help, and she instructed him on how to proceed and safely kill Medusa; actually she did more than that. She also provided him with the means to do it.

Equipped with an adamantine sword, courtesy of Zeus, Hades’s helm of Darkness, Hermes’s winged sandals, Athena’s shield, and a special knacksack, courtesy of the Hesperides, to safely contain Medusa’s head, Perseus set off for Medusa’s cave.

He found her asleep; at Athena’s instructions, he approached her by viewing Medusa's reflection in Athena’s shiny shield and cut off her head. From her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor, the result of Medusa's escapade with Poseidon. Her sisters went after Perseus, but he managed to escape by pulling on the helm of darkness.

Perseus frees Andromeda (Theodoor van Thulden - 17th century)

On his way back to Serifos, Perseus had to pass through Aethiopia; Aethiopia was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia, kept boasting that their daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon’s daughters. Her arrogance angered Poseidon, who sent a sea monster, to destroy Aethiopia. Cepheus was desperate; he consulted the oracle of Apollo, who said that the only way to prevent that from happening was to sacrifice Andromeda to the monster.

She was chained to a rock on the coast (...stripped naked for some strange reason...), when Perseus happened upon her.

Perseus Freeing Andromeda (Peter Paul Rubens,1622)

Using his quick thinking, he pulled Medusa’s head from the knapsack and turned the monster into stone, right before slewing it.

He freed Andromeda took her back to her parents and asked for her hand in marriage (Eros stroke again!) they agreed, despite the fact she was already promised to her uncle, Phineus. Once they were married, they set off to Serifos while Phineus pursued them, but once again, Perseus used Medusa’s head to his benefit.

Upon returning to Serifos, and finding out that Danae had to take refuge from the advances of Polydectes, Perseus killed him with Medusa's head, and made Dictys king.

Andromeda chained on rocks (Rembrandt, 1630)

Then, he decided he wanted to return to Argos and make peace with his grandfather. On his way there, he stopped at Larissa,where athletic games were being held. Perseus decided to compete in the discus throw; his throw took a wrong turn and hit Acrisius who was in the crowd, killing him instantly and fulfilling the prophecy.

Although he was heir to Acrisius’s throne, Perseus did not want to become king of Argos by (involuntary) manslaughter, so he gave his kingdom to Megapenthes and took his instead, thus becoming king of Tirynth.

Perseus and Andromeda lived happily ever after; they had 7 sons and 2 daughters together and they became the ancestors of a family who ruled the area for many years to come. 

Perseus And Andromeda (Museo Nazionale di Napoli, Pompeii)

...aaaand that's about it! And we are doing a story based on that too!

Mythological (sort of) Couples: Daphnis and Chloe

Hi all!

So, we are talking about mythological couples, right?

Well, yes; this couple though, is not mythological, in the strict sense of the term. Fictional is more like it; “Daphnis and Chloe” is actually a novel (the only known work of the 2nd century AD Greek novelist Longus) and not a myth, but still, we are going to explore their story.

The story talks about a boy and a girl, Daphnis and Chloe; they are exposed at birth, but Lamon, a goatherd, finds Daphnis, and Dryas, a shepherd, finds Chloe, and decide to adopt them and raise them as their own.

Daphnis and Chloe grow up together, and eventually they fall in love, but, being young, they don’t understand what is happening to them. Philetas, a wise old cowherd, tells them all about Eros, explains to them what love is and reveals that the only cures for love "kissing, embracing and lying together in the nude.”

Eventually, they do try the first two of those “cures”, but, being naïve and inexperienced, they don’t exactly grasp the concept of the third “cure”; naturally, awkwardness ensues.

At some point, Daphnis is educated in love-making, by Lycaenion, a woman from the city, who tricks him into thinking she’s actually making them a favour. He can’t wait to share his newfound knowledge with Chloe at first, but decides against it, because Lycaenion tells Daphnis that Chloe "will scream and cry and lie bleeding heavily”. Yes, he was that naïve.

Because the course of true love never runs smoothly, they go through a series of trials throughout the book. Chloe is carried off by raiders of a nearby city but Pan saves her, two of her suitors attempt to abduct her, while Daphnis gets beaten up, is abducted by pirates, and nearly gets raped. In the end though, they are reunited with their birth parents, get married, have children and live happily ever after.

A bit predictable you say? And perhaps not our style exactly?

Quite possibly; but we both think the story is quite funny, adolescent love has a lot of potential, and we really wanted to see what sort of story/illustration we could come up for these two! :-p

Now, while we are tying up the loose ends in our story/illustration, in case you are interested, you can read the original story over here at Project Gutenberg (modern greek translation), or here at Internet Archive: Daphnis & Chloe (english translation) 

See you all next week!

Breaking down a sketch

Hello everyone!We're back!

I hope you all had a great holiday! I'm sure Myrto and I had!

We haven't been around much lately because our next mythological couple has proved to be more demanding than we originally thought. Its first part will surely be ready by the end of the week!

So for this week I thought I'd share the coloring process of Meleager and Atalanta. This is by no means a tutorial, just a step-by-step thing. Here it goes!

Step 1: After Myrto wrote the piece, I picked a scene that I thought that summed up this couple's relationship. (This is a first for us because usually we do things the other way around, first I draw the sketch and then Myrto writes!) After staging them, I had to pick the colors and decide where the light comes from.

Step 2: Finished Atalanta's coloring and started Meleager's. I also moved Atalanta a bit to decide where she should stand.

Step 3: Almost done with Meleager as well.

Step 4: First try on the surroundings. At first the road passed next to the rock where Meleager sits and there would be a stream on his left.

Step 5: The idea of a stream was abandoned. The road changed its direction. Now passing under Meleager's rock it leads to a dead end.

Step 6: Added more details to the forest.

Step 7: The background seemed to need a little color. I added a few flowers here and there.

Step 8: Final touches, a few more details and a bush in the front to add depth.

And that's about it. That's the way I usually work.

Until next time!

Mythological Couples: Meleager and Atalanta

Greetings!

I know, I know we’re a day late but you’ll have to excuse us; we are still too excited from meeting up and going to Comicdom and all that jazz. :-D

Soooo, as we’ve already explained, we’ll be talking about some famous (or not so famous) couples from greek mythology. Since some of the stories are not widely known, we figured it would be best to properly recount (to our best knowledge anyway) the myths on Wednesdays (or Thursdays :-p ) and then, on the weekends, upload the story and art (yay!) based on whichever myth we’ll be talking about.

This week we’ll be talking about Meleager and Atalanta. Who were they? Good question, so let's get to it!

Atalanta was the daughter of King Iasus; he wanted a son to carry on his name, so when Atalanta was born, he was disappointed. He abandoned her on a mountaintop to die, but a she-bear cared for Atalanta, until some hunters found and adopted her. Naturally, growing up in the wild, she became a fierce huntress. Later on, she became one of Artemis’s followers and took an oath of virginity, expressing no interest in marriage.

Meleager was the son of Athaea and King Oeneus. When he was a newborn, the Fates, that visited every newborn, visited him and predicted that he’d become noble and brave but that he would only live until the brand that burned in the family hearth, was consumed by fire. His mother overheard them; once they departed, she put out the fire, grabbed the brand and secured it away.

Years passed by and Meleager had indeed grown up to become the noble and brave man the Fates had predicted he’d be. During a festival, King Oeneus had omitted honouring Artemis in his rites to the Olympian gods. Angered, she sent a boar to ravage his kingdom, Calydon.

King Oeneus then put Meleager in charge of the hunt for the boar; many heroes from all over Greece came to his aid. Atalanta being the fierce huntress she was, joined the hunt too. Many of the participants were displeased with this turn of events, because a woman joining a hunt, was simply unheard of.

Meleager, despite the fact that he was already married to Cleopatra, the moment he saw Atalanta, he instantly fell in love with her. He grew fiercely protective of her, constantly defending her honour and arguing with his fellow hunters.  

In the end, Atalanta was the first to wound the boar and Meleager was the one to kill it. He awarded her the boar’s head and skin since she had drawn the first drop of blood. His uncles, Toxeus and Plexippus, were enraged that he gave up his prize (which traditionally went to the person killing the prey or, if he didn’t want it, to his relatives) to a woman. An argument followed, and Meleager ended up killing his uncles.

When his mother found out that Meleager had killed her brothers, she took the brand that she had been hiding for all those years and placed it back on the fire, thus killing her son and fulfilling the prophecy.

Lovely myth, no? :-p

There’s another, less popular (and less likely too) version of their story though; Meleager was in love with Atalanta; he had even left his wife, Cleopatra, for her sake. Atalanta returned his feelings but they couldn’t consummate their relationship, because an oracle had predicted that the loss of her virginity would be lethal.

Meleager, disappointed at this turn of events, joined Jason to his quest for the Golden Fleece. Atalanta couldn’t bear the thought of being away from him, so she followed, and was the only known woman on the Argo.

She had been of great help to Jason’s crew; during the battle at Colchis though, she suffered injury. Medea healed her, and, being a witch, reversed the oracle that prevented Atalanta from…well, having sex.

It’s not known what happened to them once the quest for the Golden Fleece was over. Did they get their happy ending? Did they part ways?

No one knows. If it’s any help though, Atalanta did have a son, so… ;-)

See you on the weekend!

Mythological Couples: Hades and Persephone

Were his eyes playing tricks on him? What was Hades doing in his palace?

“Long time no see, dear brother.” Zeus greeted him. “What brings you here?”

“It’s been quite long, yes.” Hades agreed. “Listen, I’ve wanted to talk to you about something.”

“I am all ears then.” Zeus replied, his curiosity peaked. Whatever the matter, it must be quite important, if Hades was willing to leave his palace.

“I want to marry Persephone.” Hades responded straightforwardly.

He had forgotten his brother was not a man of many words.

“Persephone?” Zeus asked incredulously.

Hades nodded. “I’ve run into her a couple of weeks ago, and I have been unable to stop thinking about her ever since!”

Zeus couldn’t help but smile at his words.

“I don’t see how this is a laughing matter.” Hades responded indignantly.

“I am sorry.” Zeus said. “You’ve never mentioned anything remotely similar about anyone else before, that’s all.”

“Well?”

“I have no objections, but you’ll have to ask Demeter too.”

Hades made a face.

“Well, she’s her mother!” Zeus said defensively. “Besides, you could have just abducted Persephone and be done with it!”

Hades gave him an incredulous look, but before he had time to respond, Zeus had already sent for Demeter.

A few minutes later, Demeter showed up. Upon seeing Hades, she smiled. “What’s the occasion? We never see you these days!”

“I’ve been busy.”

Shaking her head disapprovingly, she turned to Zeus. “You’ve asked for me.”

“Yes, I have.”

“Well? I don’t have all day!”

“Hades just asked Persephone’s hand in marriage.”

She turned to Hades, her eyes blazing “Have you lost your mind? She’s young enough to be your daughter!”

“Demeter, please-” Hades pleaded.

“No!”

“Is that your final word?”

“I am never going to consent to this wedding, and that’s final!”

“Very well then.” Hades replied, trying to keep his anger under control. “It was nice seeing you both.”

Zeus and Demeter watched him leave; once alone Demeter turned to Zeus again.

“Did you really expect me to agree to this?”

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t.” Zeus replied, trying to reason with her. “She’d be Queen of the Underworld.”

“Exactly! Queen of the Underworld! She’d never see the face of earth again!”

Zeus shrugged. “Fine.”

“You didn’t agree on anything, did you?”

“I told Hades he had to ask you first.” Zeus replied diplomatically.

She gave him a pleased smile. “Good; did you need anything else?”

Zeus shook his head negatively.

He watched as Demeter turned her back to him and moved towards the door.

Unless he was terribly mistaken, they’d soon be hearing from Hades again.

In the meantime, Hades couldn’t stop thinking about what Zeus had told him. He had wanted to do things properly, but Demeter left him with no other choice.

He’d abduct Persephone and make her his wife.

Where to start looking for her though? Perhaps he could try that field where he’d lastly seen her.

But he had to pay a visit to his grandmother Gaia first; she was the only one who could help him in his plan.

I should be getting back.  Persephone thought, upon realizing that she could not either see or listen to her companions any more.

Turning to leave, her eyes caught sight of a white daffodil a few meters away; she’d never seen one this beautiful before. It would make a great addition to her flower crown.

The moment she cut the stem though, the earth shuddered; a cleft appeared and out came Hades on his chariot.

Before Persephone had time to react, he had pulled her onto his chariot, and together they disappeared to the depths of the earth, the cleft sealing behind them.

When he saw Demeter bursting through his doors, Zeus knew that Hades had followed his advice.

“What’s wrong?”

“Persephone is missing.”

“Missing? Are you certain?”

“She didn’t come home last night.”

“Are you sure she’s not meeting with anyone in secret?” Zeus teased.

“Watch your mouth!” Demeter responded angrily. “She’s not that kind of girl!”

“I was only joking.” Zeus said defensively. “We’ll find her; Hermes can assist you if you’d like.”

Demeter nodded. “Let me know if he finds her.”

Hades paused at Persephone’s door. She had not left her room since the morning of her arrival, nor had she stopped crying.

He had not expected she’d be happy about it, but her tears broke his heart.

He opened the door and peeked inside. She was curled into a ball on her bed, crying her eyes out.

Hades let out a sigh; he should not have listened to Zeus. Too late for that now.

He stepped inside and moved closer to her bed, but she didn’t seem to acknowledge his presence.

Cautiously, he took a seat next to her and ran a hand through her hair; she jumped at his touch.

“I am sorry.” He said quietly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

She sighed, and crawled out of his reach.

“Please don’t cry.” He begged. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

His words only served to make her cry harder.

“I was desperate; I had asked your mother for your hand in marriage but she had refused. I am in love with you, what else was I supposed to do?”

When she didn’t respond, he stood and moved to the door.

He paused, contemplating something. “Just one more thing;” he added. “You don’t have to be afraid. You may be my wife now, but I won’t force you into anything.”

Persephone’s eyes widened in shock. Wiping her eyes, she sat up and turned to face him.

“But why?”

“Because I love you of course.” He replied. “If you are feeling better later on, come join me for dinner.”

Persephone nodded and Hades gave her a small smile in return.

Once alone, she stood and took a good look around her room.

This place was dreary. At least Hades wasn't as bad as she had originally thought.

“Did you know about this?”

“Pardon?”

“Hades has her; did you know?”

“Demeter, will you calm down? Who told you?

“Helios did; he abducted her while she was collecting flowers!”

“If you had accepted his offer, none of it would have happened!”

Demeter’s eyes were blazing.

“I am warning you; I want her back. Otherwise you’ll be facing the consequences.”

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“I am not feeling very hungry.” Persephone lied.

Hades nodded; he was well aware of her lie too.

It was common knowledge among both humans and gods; unless you wanted to stay, you did not eat or drink anything in the Underworld.

“And I miss my mother too.” Persephone added. “She must be beyond herself with worry.”

“I am sorry.” Hades said. “Now, tell me, how do you like it here so far?”

“It’s dreary.” Persephone replied, making him smile.

“That’s what I thought too, when I first came here. But it isn’t; not all of it at least. I’ll show you tomorrow.”

She nodded and fell silent, studying him.

Surely he was not as young as her other suitors, but still, he was very handsome. And he wasn’t as stern as he looked at first glance.

She felt heat rising to her cheeks. Her mother would never forgive such thoughts.

Her intense gaze and blazing cheeks caught his attention.

“What?” He asked curiously.

“There are a few droplets of nectar on your beard; here, let me.” She said, and reached to wipe them away.

He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips again.

“Thank you.”

When Hades saw Hermes at his door that morning, he knew that meant trouble.

Not long afterwards, he found himself standing before Zeus.

“Hermes said you were asking for me.”

Zeus nodded.

“What’s the matter?”

“Demeter wants Persephone back.”

Hades sighed.

“Listen to me; no crops are growing on earth, all because of Demeter. People are dying, 

Hades. ”

Hades lowered his head. “I will bring her back tomorrow morning then.”

“Hades-”

“Save it.” Hades replied, cutting him off.

Persephone frowned. She had never seen Hades so troubled before.

She moved next to him and took his hand.

“What’s the matter?”

He looked down at their hands and smiled.

“Zeus sent for me today; your mother has put a halt on every crop’s growth. She wants you back.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“What did you say?”

“That I’d bring you back to Olympus tomorrow morning; I can’t let people starve Persephone;  that would be selfish.” He elaborated.

“But Hades-”

“I thought you wanted to go back.”

“Come to my room tonight.” She replied, effectively changing the subject.

“Are you certain?” He asked searching her face.

“Of course I am; you are my husband.”

“Ready to go?” Hades asked ruefully.

Persephone shook her head negatively.

“I don’t want to go back.”

Immediately, Hades took her in his arms, allowing her to cry into his chest.

“We can’t let any more people die.” Hades said, and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’ll go get the chariot.”

The moment she passed the threshold to Zeus’s palace, Persephone found herself engulfed into her mother’s arms.

“Did he hurt you?”

“No mother.” Persephone replied impatiently.

“Don’t worry love, you’ll never have to go back there.”

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind; Demeter pulled back and gave Persephone a searching look. “You didn’t eat anything, did you?”

Persephone nodded. Immediately, Demeter let go of her and turned to Hades. “You forced her?”

“Of course I didn’t!” Hades roared. “I didn’t even know she had eaten anything!”

“Silence!” Zeus ordered. “Persephone, will you please tell us what happened?”

“This morning, I ate a few seeds of pomegranate.”

Hades’s jaw dropped. Had she really done that?

“But why?” Demeter interjected. “That way, you’ll always have to go back.”

Persephone lowered her eyes to the ground. “I want to go back; Mum, I love him.”

Demeter was too shocked to respond.

“Well then, you realise that Persephone will be spending some time with Hades as well.”

“No!”

“Demeter, you’ve heard her; she wants to.”

“If he hadn’t abducted her in the first place-”

“You can’t change the past!” Zeus said. “So, Persephone will be spending six months with  Demeter and six months with Hades. How does that sound?”

“Excellent!” Hades responded enthusiastically, while Demeter made a face.

“And you, child?”

Persephone gave him a smile and nodded.

“It’s settled then.” 

“Let’s go home.” Demeter said.

“I want to say goodbye to my husband first.” Persephone responded.

Demeter pursed her lips in disapproval, but nodded.

Hades pulled her aside, hoping for some privacy.

“You should have told me.” He said quietly.

“You wouldn’t let me.” She replied.

He smiled.

“This is goodbye then.”

She nodded, willing herself not to cry.

He leaned in, and pressed a chaste kiss to her mouth.

“It’s not forever.” He said playfully, making her laugh out loud.

“I love you.” She said.

Hades smiled. “I’ll see you in six months then.”

She could see him pacing outside his palace.

Was he as nervous as she felt?

He stopped pacing and looked up; their eyes met and almost immediately a wide smile formed on his face.

She couldn’t wait a minute longer; she picked up her pace and literally flew into his arms.

Hades lifted her off the ground, hugging her tightly.

Gently, he lowered her back to her feet, and pulled slightly back in order to be able to look at her properly.

“You’re here.” He said.

Persephone nodded, and playfully tugged at his beard, wordlessly inviting him for a kiss.

Laughing, he closed the distance between them, capturing her mouth with his.

Much too soon for his liking though, Persephone broke the kiss and put some distance between them.

“What’s wrong?”

“Act serious.” She said. “You have a reputation to uphold.”

With a smile, Hades wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led them inside.

“Hades?”

“Yes?”

“How would you feel for a change in decoration?”

“What do you have in mind?”

Sooo, directly from Eirini's imagination, Hades and Persephone! :-)