Tuesday 26 August 2008

The Three Graces of Olympus

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1896149581_1aa52e9525 In one last Olympian fling here at NOT PC, I give you the daughters of the god Zeus and the nymph Eurynome: the three Olympian goddesses of joy, charm, and beauty who presided over banquets, dances, and all other pleasures, and who brought joy and goodwill to both gods and mortals, represented here by the second century sculpture of the three beauties now residing at the Met in New York (itself a copy of a Greek sculpture from the second century BC).

1954715425_873ae5ba5e These were the Three Graces -- special attendants of the divinities of love, Aphrodite and Eros, and together with companions, the Muses, they sang to the gods on Mount Olympus, and danced to beautiful music that the god Apollo made upon his lyre.
In some legends the FIrst of the Graces, Aglaia, was wed to Hephaestus, the craftsman among the gods. Their marriage explains the traditional association of the Graces with the arts; like the Muses, they were believed to endow artists and poets with the ability to create beautiful works of art. The Graces were rarely treated as individuals, but always together as a kind of triple embodiment of grace and beauty.
In art they are usually represented as lithe young maidens, dancing in a circle.
[Ref: Three Graces Gallery. Pics from jeepeenyc's photostream at Flickr]

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't know PC. I'm still tossing up between these three beauties and those semen stained blankets.

Mrs Danvers