A power struggle among the gods both hinders and helps him along the way, and perseus even manages to find true love when he rescues the breathtakingly beautiful princess andromeda from the horrors of a bloodthirsty sea monster. It was painted in 15541556 as part of a series of mythological paintings called poesie poetry intended for king philip ii of spain. Consider the whole discussion of how the rooster emits certain particles which stab the pupils of the lion 721. Andromeda insisted that their wedding be celebrated. The story begins before the birth of either andromeda or perseus. The painting is in the collection of national museums liverpool at the walker art gallery. The painting is in oils on canvas, and measures 175 x 189. The poemwhich seems to have been inspired by lucretiuss epicurean. Perseus perseus facts and information on the greek hero. After the marriage, andromeda left her country to live with perseus who later became the king of tiryns and mycenae.
The story is an adaptation of the greek myth of perseus. Perseus used his sword to break andromedas chains and took her in his arms, his sandals carrying both of them away from the sea and to safety. The princess on the rock perseus flew across the sea, imagining civilizations which would rise from below the surface and of those that had already been extinguished. Lucretius by john godwin meet your next favorite book. When he arrived in aethiopia, he saw a beautiful girl tied with chains to a rock. By perseus, she is the mother of perses, alcaeus, heleus, mestor, sthenelus and electryon as well as two daughters autochthe and gorgophone. Entered as secondclass matter november 18, 1907, at the post office, new york, n. In the land of argolis there was a great warriorking named abas. An epic battle ensues, and perseus kills the monster.
Completed in 1891, the year it was displayed at the royal academy of arts, it depicts the greek mythological story of andromeda. Andromeda, bound to the rock at the left, awaits deliverance as perseus descends from the sky to. An xml version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer perseus any modifications you make. Other articles where perseus and andromeda is discussed.
Myth about andromeda and perseus windows to the universe. But the story is long, lets start with the beginning. Explain to the students that they will now make their. While on his journey back to the island of seriphos where his mother awaited, he came across the beautiful andromeda. When his sons effeminacy, his drunkenness and his various habits of pleasure, were scorn fully mentioned in his presence, the divine father would sternly rebuke the critics, and instance the many manly exploits of his wellbeloved son.
In his story, she was the daughter of spurius lucretius tricipitinus, sister of publius lucretius tricipitinus, niece of lucius junius brutus, and wife of lucius tarquinius collatinus conlatinus who was the son of egerius. On the nature of the universe is a didactic epic poem. We have left our hero while he was crossing africa which the ancient greeks called libya with his winged sandals. Perseus and andromeda is a painting by the italian renaissance artist titian, now in the wallace collection in london. Perseus and andromeda is an oil painting by lord frederic leighton. It was painted in 15541556 as part of a series of mythological paintings called poesie intended for king philip ii of spain. Proem tis sweet, when, down the mighty main, the winds roll up its waste of waters, from the land to watch anothers labouring anguish far, not that we joyously delight that man should thus be smitten, but because tis sweet. For, it is amazing to learn that the secular, nonreligious intellectual opinions of people from around 500 bc were actually quite accurate and concurrent. Athena and hermes both provided perseus with tools to kill medusa. Not only did lucretius write this more than 2,000 years ago, somehow his book managed to survive the fall of rome, the burning, looting and desecration of the. Perseus is also said to be an ancestor of hercules and the asian race of the persians. Perseus, son of zeus and danae, is one the most famous of all greek heroes and one of the most popular still today.
Find more prominent pieces of mythological painting at best visual art database. Pompeian fresco from the house of the dioscuri, now in the museum of naples. They were soon married, with perseus going on to found the city of mycenae. Also point out that the ancients believed oracles would always reveal the truth about the future. Just like pretty much every action hero of today, he is brave, daring, and handsome, defeating all the evil villains in his way with ease. What do you think a poet like lucretius, disillusioned with his city, and disappointed by corruption in his time, would do. The tales of perseus, andromeda, pegasus, cepheus, cassiopeia, cetus and equuleus chapter 3. The astronomica also known as the astronomicon, is a latin didactic poem about celestial. The goddess hera transported perseus far away from his home to joppur. Perseus simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The paintings took subjects from the roman poet ovids metamorphoses, in this case book iv, lines 663752, and all featured female nudes. Her mother boasted that andromeda was more beautiful than the nereids, daughters of nereus and doris, and companions of poseidon. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system. Both versions of the clash of the titans films 1981 and 2010 are based on his legendary exploits.
Perseus rescuing andromeda was created in 1611 by joachim wtewael in northern renaissance style. Excerpt from perseus and andromeda now, of all his children, zeus had for dionysus a peculiar affection. Perseus, whose mother, danae, was impregnated by jove in a shower of golden rain, flew over the earth with medusas severed head in his hands. In contrast to the basis of a classical tale, leighton used a gothic style for the artwork. Berties asked me to tell you, in case you dont know, that the word petrified can mean both terrified and turned to stone. She was the daughter of king cepheus and queen cassiopeia, who ruled in the region of aethiopia, which consisted of the upper nile region, along with areas south of the sahara desert. The internet classics archive on the nature of things by. Fight at the wedding feast and the revenge of phineas within the palace, there was great feasting, rejoicing and celebration, both for the rescue of princess andromeda and for. With his wife, the ethiopian princess andromeda, his children are the sons perses, alkaios, sthenelos, elektryon, and the daughter gorgophone. He found a clear running stream where he bathed her in the fresh water, getting rid of the smell of salt and the sea. He is the legendary founder of mycenae and is most famous for killing the gorgon medusa. Book i book ii book iii book iv book v book vi card. Books two and three deal mainly with the finer details of the zodiac.
Henri bergson, the philosophy of poetry, the genius of lucretius translated and edited by wade. He was a man so mighty that even after he died the sight of his shield would send rebels to the royal house scattering in fear. It is also for people who believe in myths, they, perhaps more than anyone should read lucretius too. Perseus is the second of the four books in the heroes series, which debuted in the fall of 2004 with the release of. The three cubicula on the north side are in a poor state of repair but do retain. The second fresco illustrates perseus rescuing andromeda pictured above in. The legend of lucretia is reported by livy in his roman history. Drops of blood that fell into libya turned into deadly snakes that remain in the desert to this day. Perseus and andromeda is a text adventure game released in 1983 by digital fantasia on the mysterious adventures label. Lucretiuss optical theory and doctrines of how the senses work seem rather convoluted and bizarre. Phineus, the former fiance of andromeda, bursts into perseus and andromedas wedding banquet to contest the marriage. The perseus and andromeda was intended to be a companion to medea and jason, according to titians letter, but for some reason the second picture was never carried out. Andromeda commonly leader of men to think of a man from the greek element andros of a man combined with.
Leonard and smith lucretius university of wisconsin press 1942. Perseus was triumphant in his quest to kill the gorgon medusa. Perseus is one of the greatest heroes of greek mythology. When perseus learns all this, he flies off to the king and says hell slay the monster in return for andromedas hand in marriage. By protracting life, we do not deduct one jot from the duration of death. It was available on most home computers of the day including the zx spectrum, atari 8bit, bbc micro, commodore 64, commodore 16 and oric1 perseus and andromeda was written by brian howarth in scott adams database. And that was the story of andromeda and perseus, from greek mythology. Perseus and andromeda painting by titian britannica. Andromeda, wife of perseus who saved her from a monster. Unfortunately, her parents had forgotten their promise to perseus. Proem o thou who first uplifted in such dark so clear a torch aloft, who first shed light upon the profitable ends of man, o thee i follow, glory of the greeks, and set my footsteps squarely planted now. The legends say that andromeda was the daughter of cepheus and cassiopeia, who were the king and the queen of ethiopia.
The name peter also means rock and in the bible, jesus calls peter the rock of the church. Ovid uses sources like virgils aeneid, as well as the work of lucretius, homer. In some versions, perseus uses medusas head to turn the cetus into stone, while in others he just uses a sword. The goddess athena placed the image of andromeda among the stars as a reward for keeping her parentspromise. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a. Perseus and andromeda perseus, whose mother, danae, was impregnated by jove in a shower of golden rain, flew over the earth with medusas severed head in his hands. He had two twin sons to whom he gave the responsibility of. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. He is best known as the slayer of the gorgon medusa, a fearsome monster, and as the rescuer of the ethiopian princess andromeda. Commentary references to this page 3 john conington, commentary on vergils aeneid, volume 1, 1. When the hero perseus saw andromeda having flown over after beheading medusa, he killed the sea monster and saved andromeda. There perseus fell in love with the beautiful princess andromeda. When cassiopeia boasts that she is more beautiful than the nereids, poseidon sends the sea monster cetus to ravage the coast of ethiopia as divine punishment. Andromeda mythology simple english wikipedia, the free.
1446 568 341 1376 1298 1134 1293 90 351 919 847 599 876 1002 1445 1206 173 425 267 1370 333 227 1069 1078 1042 57 1265 836 1461 890 8 560 696