immortals - forthcoming exhibition

immortals gallery

• portraits - mixed media
• portraits - pattern heads
• portraits - marble heads

immortals cast list

immortals characteristics       

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immortals

characteristics of the gods

 1. aphrodite

goddess of sex, love and beauty.

 aphrodite wore a magic girdle, which made her irresistibly attractive. her symbols were doves, the rose and cupids.

her father, zeus, gave her in marriage to hephaestus, the lame smith-god, but she had many affairs, with both gods and humans. the father of three of her children was ares, the god of war. homer wrote that hephaestus caught ares and aphrodite embracing and naked in a giant net and invited all the other gods to view his wife’s infidelity.

aphrodite was born on the waves of the sea, and in the renowned botticelli painting “the birth of venus” she is shown coming out of a shell, but hesiod says she was born from the foam (aphos) that was actually the spilt semen of uranus, a titan castrated by his son, cronus.

the cult of aphrodite probably originates from the “great goddess of the mediterranean”, who presided during the pre-hellenic era when the main deity was female and was worshipped with sex-orgies.

 2. apollo

god of the arts.

 apollo’s symbols were the laurel, the bow and the lyre.

apollo represents the height of the ancient greek virtues: those of order, harmony and civilization.

he played the lyre beautifully, but if challenged to a musical contest, he could take cruel revenge on his adversary, as in the story of marsyas, whom he flayed alive.

he loved a nymph, daphne, who vanished and was replaced by a laurel tree, and to console himself he made a wreath of laurels to wear.

he was the master of the nine muses and a patron of intellectual pursuits. he is often associated with music and medicine. 

he was one of the many children zeus fathered with women other than his wife hera, and a twin brother to artemis, they were born to the titan goddess, leto.

 3. artemis

goddess of the hunt and protector of children.

 artemis’s symbols were the bow, the crescent moon and the stag. she was independent and free-spirited, she never married and was known as a virgin goddess.

in greek mythology, virgin meant a single woman who operated independently, rather than its more literal meaning today, but despite having admirers, she was not known to have had any lovers.

her status as an olympian goddess allowed her an unusual amount of freedom and she wandered about the mountains hunting and bathing with her band of nymphs.

she was known to be both gentle and tough, she protected children, women in labour, and suckling animals, but she loved hunting stag and could also cause sudden death to her enemies with her extremely accurate arrows.

like her brother apollo she became involved in human affairs such as the trojan wars.

artemis is also associated with the moon goddess, and one of her epithets is phoebe (the bright one). for this reason she is  depicted with a crescent moon on her head.

4. dionysus

god of wine, mysteries and the theatre

.dionysus’ symbols are the grapevine and the panther.

he was the son of zeus and the mortal semele (but there are various other possible mothers including demeter and pesephone).

dionysus is not typical of the greek gods, in fact he is an enigma. instead of representing wisdom, rationality or bravery, he encouraged his followers to flirt with intoxication, madness, and ecstasy. his followers included wild women the maenads who roamed about shouting and were said to tear animals apart in their trance-like state.

robert graves believed dionysian rituals involved ingesting a type of magic mushroom, and that this explained the mysterious and hallucinogenic nature of his cult. this cult surrounding the god suggests that he was slain and then reborn. the cult of dionysus spread a very long way and it is believed still to be practised in remote parts of india.

5. hera

godess of marriage and wife of zeus

 her symbols were the sceptre, the diadem and the peacock. being the wife of zeus made her queen of the gods. hesiod describes hera as “queenly hera, the lady of argos who walks in golden sandals”.

zeus was also her brother and tricked her into marriage by taking the form of a bedraggled cuckoo which she pitied.

hera was exceptionally beautiful and wise. with such beauty and intelligence she could be very persuasive. however her marriage to zeus was rather stormy as he had many affairs with other gods and with mortals of both sexes. hera was all too aware of his dalliances, and the many eyes with which she watched him are symbolised in the peacock’s tail. despite this troubled relationship she was a very powerful influence both among the other gods and in the human realm. homer wrote that she had the power to bestow the gift of prophecy on any man or beast she pleased.

6. hermes

the messenger god, and patron of merchants.

 hermes’ symbols were the winged hat, winged shoes and caduceus, a rod entwined with two snakes. (originally this was a willow wand with two ribbons, the ancient symbol of a herald, but in time the ribbons became depicted as snakes.)

hermes was the son of zeus and maia, a nymph. from childhood he was known as a prankster and an inventive genius. he presided over all skills requiring dexterity. thus he was a patron of boxers and wrestlers, gymnasts and even thieves.

his role on mount olympus was as zeus’ messenger. he also aided hades by guiding dead souls to the underworld.

hermes helped heros including perseus, whom he aided in his battle against the gorgon, medusa.

hermes invented the lyre which he made from a tortoise shell with cow-gut strings. however he had to give it to apollo as an apology for stealing his cattle. he also invented the alphabet and astronomy.

7. poseidon

god of the sea, and of earthquakes

 poseidon’s symbols were the trident, and the horse. his status as a god was high, being brother to zeus and hades. these three brothers drew lots to divide the world between them. zeus got the sky, hades the underworld and poseidon the sea.

he built an underwater palace with stables housing white horses.

he was thought of as being an angry god, probably as greece includes a series of islands and its sea-faring inhabitants had plenty of experience of trouble at sea.

poseidon used a mortal called delphinus to arrange a marriage for him with a reluctant nymph called amphitrite. when delphinus succeeded poseidon was so grateful that he made a constellation for him, the dolphin.