Greek and Roman Mythology is such an interesting subject, and no less so online! I loved the book we read from (excerpts below) and I really enjoyed the lectures. I especially found Roman Mythology interesting, as I never knew about it or just how different it was from Greek Mythology. I also very much enjoyed the legends and sagas portion of the class--their complexity is great, and I love learning about all of the connections between them. This class tied into my Freshman Fall classics class, and my Sophomore Winter class on myth and film. I love studying old literature, and this mythology coupled with the Scandinavian mythology was such a great time:)
Above: The Finding of Vulcan on the Island of Lemnos, by Piero di Cosimo. Haphaestus recalls how he was thrown out of Olympus by Zeus (due to the fact that he interceded in a fight between Zeus and Hera) and fell all day, landing on Lemnos in the evening. Another account denotes he was born lame, causing his mother, Hera, to throw him.
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The Soul Attains, by Edward Burns-Jones (one out of the sequence of paintings illustrating this same myth). Pygmalion saw the women around him leading a life of sin, and was repelled by the many vices that nature had implanted in the feminine mind (Ovid). Thus, he created his own idea woman: a statue of ivory. Through the power of Aphrodite, she came to life.
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The Fall of Icarus, by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Deadalus tired of his life in Crete, but Minos would not let him go. Daedalus therefore contrived feathered wings, held together by wax, by means of which he and his con Icarus could escape. Icarus ignored his father's warning not to fly too close to the sun and the wax melted...
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The Second Birth of Dionysus, by George Platt Lynes.
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