Styx. Etching of G. Doré The Styx (/stɪks/; Ancient Greek: Στύξ [stýkʰs], "Hate, Detest") is a river in Greek mythology that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld (often called Hades which is also the name of this domain's ruler). The rivers Styx, Phlegethon, Acheron, and Cocytus all converge at the center of the underworld on a great marsh, which is also sometimes called the Styx. According to Herodotus the river Styx originates near Feneos.[1] The gods were bound by the Styx and swore oaths on it. In ancient times some believed that placing a coin in the mouth[3] of the deceased would help pay the toll for the ferry to help cross the Acheron river which would lead one to the entrance of the underworld.
The variant spelling Stix was sometimes used in translations of Classical Greek before the 20th century.[4] By metonymy, the adjective stygian (/ˈstɪdʒiən/) came to refer to anything dark, dismal, and murky. Goddess[edit] Science[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit] External links[edit] Pierre-Narcisse Guérin. Portrait of Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, Jodocus Sebastiaen van den Abeele, Louvre Pierre-Narcisse, baron Guérin (13 May 1774 – 6 July 1833) was a French painter. Biography[edit] Guérin was born in Paris. A pupil of Jean-Baptiste Regnault, he carried off one of the three grands prix offered in 1796, in consequence of the competition not having taken place since 1793. The Restoration brought to Guérin fresh honours; he had received from the first consul in 1803 the cross of the Legion of Honour, and in 1815 Louis XVIII named to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Guérin was commissioned to paint for the Madeleine a scene from the history of St Louis, but his health prevented him from accomplishing what he had begun, and in 1822 he accepted the post of director of the French Academy in Rome, which in 1816 he had refused.
Pupils[edit] Many artists studied with Guérin, among them Eugène Delacroix, Théodore Géricault, Ary and Hendrik Scheffer External links[edit] Paracelsus. Swiss physician, philosopher, theologian, and alchemist (c. 1493–1541) Paracelsus (; German: [paʁaˈtsɛlzʊs]; c. 1493[1] – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim[11][12]), was a Swiss[13] physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance.[14][15] He was a pioneer in several aspects of the "medical revolution" of the Renaissance, emphasizing the value of observation in combination with received wisdom.
He is credited as the "father of toxicology".[16] Paracelsus also had a substantial impact as a prophet or diviner, his "Prognostications" being studied by Rosicrucians in the 1600s. Paracelsianism is the early modern medical movement inspired by the study of his works.[17] Biography[edit] Early career[edit] The Louvre copy of the lost portrait by Quentin Matsys,[26] source of the iconographic tradition of "fat" Paracelsus.[27] Basel (1526–1528)[edit] I cannot offer thee Later career[edit] Odilon Redon. Biography[edit] Odilon Redon was born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine to a prosperous family. The young Bertrand-Jean Redon acquired the nickname "Odilon" from his mother, Odile.[2] Redon started drawing as a child and at the age of ten he was awarded a drawing prize at school.
He began the formal study of drawing at fifteen, but at his father's insistence changed to architecture. Failure to pass the entrance exams at Paris’ École des Beaux-Arts ended any plans for a career as an architect, although he briefly studied painting there under Jean-Léon Gérôme in 1864. (His younger brother Gaston Redon would become a noted architect.) Back home in his native Bordeaux, he took up sculpture, and Rodolphe Bresdin instructed him in etching and lithography. At the end of the war, he moved to Paris, and resumed working almost exclusively in charcoal and lithography. In the 1890s pastel and oils became his favored media; he produced no more noirs after 1900. Redon died on July 6, 1916. Gallery[edit] Theogony. Adapa. Adapa, the first of the Mesopotamian seven sages, was a mythical figure who unknowingly refused the gift of immortality. The story is first attested in the Kassite period (14th century BCE), in fragmentary tablets from Tell el-Amarna, and from Assur, of the late second millennium BCE.
Mesopotamian myth tells of seven antediluvian sages, who were sent by Ea, the wise god of Eridu, to bring the arts of civilisation to humankind. The first of these, Adapa, also known as Uan, the name given as Oannes by Berossus, introduced the practice of the correct rites of religious observance as priest of the E'Apsu temple, at Eridu. The sages are described in Mesopotamian literature as 'pure parādu-fish, probably carp, whose bones are found associated with the earliest shrine, and still kept as a holy duty in the precincts of Near Eastern mosques and monasteries.
Adapa as a fisherman was iconographically portrayed as a fish-man composite. Roles[edit] As Oannes[edit] References[edit] Bibliography[edit] Greek primordial deities. Genealogy and nature[edit] The primordial gods are depicted as places or realms. A common example is Tartarus, who is depicted as the Underworld, Hell, and a bottomless abyss. His sibling, Erebus, is also depicted as a place of pitch-black darkness or a vast emptiness of space.
Hesiod[edit] According to Hesiod's Theogony (ca. 700 BC): Other sources[edit] Other genealogy structures[edit] Philosophers of Classical Greece also constructed their own metaphysical cosmogonies, with their own primordial deities: Pherecydes of Syros (ca. 600–550 BC) made Chronos (time) the first deity in his Heptamychia.Empedocles (ca. 490–430 BC) wrote that Aphrodite and Ares[citation needed] were the first principles, who wove the universe out of the four elements with their powers of love and strife.Plato (ca. 360 BC) introduced the concept in Timaeus, the demiurge, modeled the universe on the Ideas. See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit] Gorgias (dialogue) Gorgias (/ˈɡɔrdʒiəs/; Greek: Γοργίας) is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato around 380 BC. In this dialogue, Socrates seeks the true definition of rhetoric, attempting to pinpoint the essence of rhetoric and unveil the flaws of the sophistic oratory popular in Athens at this time.
The art of persuasion was widely considered necessary for political and legal advantage in classical Athens, and rhetoricians promoted themselves as teachers of this fundamental skill. Some, like Gorgias, were foreigners attracted to Athens because of its reputation for intellectual and cultural sophistication. In the Gorgias, Socrates argues that philosophy is an art, whereas rhetoric is merely a knack. To Socrates, most rhetoric in practice is merely flattery. In order to use rhetoric for good, rhetoric cannot exist alone; it must depend on philosophy to guide its morality. Throughout the remainder of the dialogue, Socrates debates about the nature of rhetoric. "POLUS: So you think oratory's a knack?
Gaia (mythology) The Greek word γαῖα (transliterated as gaia) is a collateral form of γῆ[4] (gē, Doric γᾶ ga and probably δᾶ da)[5] meaning Earth,[6] a word of uncertain origin.[7] R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin.[8] In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (trans. as Ma-ga, "Mother Gaia") also contains the root ga-.[9][10] According to Hesiod, Gaia conceived further offspring with Uranus, first the giant one-eyed Cyclopes: Brontes ("Thunder"), Steropes ("Lightning") and Arges ("Bright");[16] then the Hecatonchires: Cottus, Briareos and Gyges, each with a hundred arms and fifty heads.[17] As each of the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires were born, Uranus hid them in a secret place within Gaia, causing her great pain. Because Cronus had learned from Gaia and Uranus, that he was destined to be overthrown by his own child, Cronus swallowed each of the children born to him by his Titan sister Rhea.
With Gaia's advice[21] Zeus defeated the Titans. In classical art Gaia was represented in one of two ways. Phoebe (mythology) According to a speech that Aeschylus, in Eumenides, puts in the mouth of the Delphic priestess herself, she received control of the Oracle at Delphi from Themis: "Phoebe in this succession seems to be his private invention," D.S. Robertson noted, reasoning that in the three great allotments of oracular powers at Delphi, corresponding to the three generations of the gods, "Ouranos, as was fitting, gave the oracle to his wife Gaia and Kronos appropriately allotted it to his sister Themis.
"[4] In Zeus' turn to make the gift, Aeschylus could not report that the oracle was given directly to Apollo, who had not yet been born, Robertson notes, and thus Phoebe was interposed. Theoi.com: Phoebe. Thanatos. In myth and poetry "And there the children of dark Night have their dwellings, Sleep and Death, awful gods. The glowing Sun never looks upon them with his beams, neither as he goes up into heaven, nor as he comes down from heaven. And the former of them roams peacefully over the earth and the sea's broad back and is kindly to men; but the other has a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze: whomsoever of men he has once seized he holds fast: and he is hateful even to the deathless gods. " [3] Homer also confirmed Hypnos and Thanatos as twin brothers in his epic poem, the Iliad, where they were charged by Zeus via Apollo with the swift delivery of the slain hero Sarpedon to his homeland of Lycia.
"Then (Apollon) gave him [Sarpedon] into the charge of swift messengers to carry him, of Hypnos and Thanatos, who are twin brothers, and these two presently laid him down within the rich countryside of broad Lycia. " [4] Thanatos was regarded[by whom?] Euripides, in Alcestis: Demeter. In ancient Greek religion and myth, Demeter (/diˈmiːtər/; Attic: Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr; Doric: Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr) is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. Her cult titles include Sito (Σιτώ), "she of the Grain",[1] as the giver of food or grain[2] and Thesmophoros (θεσμός, thesmos: divine order, unwritten law; "phoros": bringer, bearer), "Law-Bringer," as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society.[3] Etymology[edit] Demeter's character as mother-goddess is identified in the second element of her name meter (μήτηρ) derived from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (mother).[11] In antiquity, different explanations were already proffered for the first element of her name.
An alternative, Proto-Indo-European etymology comes through Potnia and Despoina; where Des- represents a derivative of PIE *dem (house, dome), and Demeter is "mother of the house" (from PIE *dems-méh₂tēr).[20] Agricultural deity[edit] Festivals and cults[edit] Myths[edit] Nyx. Nyx (Greek: Νύξ, "Night")[1] – Roman (in Latin): Nox – is the Greek goddess (or personification) of the night. A shadowy figure, Nyx stood at or near the beginning of creation, and was the mother of other personified deities such as Hypnos (Sleep) and Thanatos (Death).
Her appearances are sparse in surviving mythology, but reveal her as a figure of exceptional power and beauty. She is found in the shadows of the world and only ever seen in glimpses. Mythology and literature[edit] Headline text[edit] Hesiod[edit] In his description of Tartarus, Hesiod locates there the home of Nyx,[5] and the homes of her children Hypnos and Thanatos.[6] Hesiod says further that Hemera (Day), who is Nyx's daughter, left Tartarus just as Nyx entered it; continuing cyclicly, when Hemera returned, Nyx left.[7] This mirrors the portrayal of Ratri (night) in the Rigveda, where she works in close cooperation but also tension with her sister Ushas (dawn).
Homer[edit] Others[edit] Nyx in society[edit] Cults[edit] Rusalka. In Slavic mythology, a rusalka (plural: rusalki or rusalky) is a female ghost, water nymph, succubus, or mermaid-like demon that dwelt in a waterway. Other terms for these spirits include vila (plural: vily), wiła, willy (plural: willies), samovila, samodiva, rusavka, and mavka. According to most traditions, the rusalki were fish-women, who lived at the bottom of rivers. In the middle of the night, they would walk out to the bank and dance in meadows. If they saw handsome men, they would fascinate them with songs and dancing, mesmerize them, then lead them away to the river floor to their death. Origin[edit] In most versions, the rusalka is an unquiet dead being, associated with the "unclean force". The ghostly version is the soul of a young woman who had died in or near a river or a lake and came back to haunt that waterway.
Rusalki can also come from unbaptized children, often those who were born out of wedlock and drowned by their mothers for that reason. Description[edit] Asteria. In Greek mythology, Asteria (/əˈstɪəriə/; Ancient Greek: Ἀστερία, "of the stars, starry one") was a name attributed to the following eleven individuals: the daughter of Coeus, an Amazon woman, Heliad, Danaid, Alkyonides, the Consort of Phocus, the consort of Bellerophon, the daughter of Coronus, the daughter of Teucer, an Athenian maiden, and a character in the opera "Telemaco".
Each of these is detailed below. Daughter of Coeus[edit] The Titan goddess of nocturnal oracles and falling stars, Asteria flung herself into the Aegean Sea in the form of a quail in order to escape the advances of Zeus. She became the "quail island" of Ortygia.[3] which became identified with Delos, which was the only piece of earth to give refuge to the fugitive Leto when, pregnant with Zeus's children, she was pursued by vengeful Hera.[4] Amazon[edit] Asteria was the ninth Amazon killed by Heracles when he came for Hippolyte's girdle.[5] Heliad[edit] Danaid[edit] Alkyonides[edit] Asteria was one of the Alkyonides. Iara (mythology) Iara was a beautiful young woman, sometimes described as having green hair and light skin, connected to a freshwater water body[clarification needed] (the Tupi word y did not have a distinct meaning, being used in general for any such place) who would sit on a rock by the river combing her hair or dozing under the sun.
When she felt a man around she would start to sing gently to lure him. Once under the spell of the Iara a man would leave anything to live with her underwater forever, which was not necessarily a bad thing, as she was pretty and would cater for all needs of her lover for the rest of his life. Iaras are immortal (like the nymphs of Greek mythology), but her lovers do age and die, which means that they live most of eternity alone. The legend of the Iara was one of the usual explanations for the disappearance of those who ventured alone in the jungle. Iara (or Yara) is also a very popular female name in Brazil. Sylph. Elemental. Uranus (mythology) Cronus. Titan (mythology) Phorcydes. Twelve Olympians. Undine (alchemy) Dharma. Human. Hubris. Oracle. Immortality. Crete. Sexual ethics. Pythia. Classical element. Oak.
Waterspout. Plasma (physics) Alchemy. Legendary creature. Unicorn.