On further analysis of The Awakening of Adonis by John William Waterhouse one can notice that there's more to the story then just the eye can see. “From that moment on she was drawn to him. The sound of her voice was no longer heard on Olympus, for she had no desire to be, where he could not go” (Gods). From that moment on, when Aphrodite first had laid her eyes on Adonis she was hooked. She did not want to go anywhere that Adonis could not go. She wanted to be with him for the rest of his and her life, letting nothing come between them. Aphrodite is a married goddess though. And by falling in love with Adonis she has stirred up the waters on Mount Olympus. This forbidden love caused some anger to brew from the gods so they sent a wild animal
Susan Sontag talks of this in her composition of essays Against Interpretation. She says “It does not matter whether an artist intends or does not intend for their work of art to be interpreted” (Sontag 6). But patience is key when one is interpreting and analyzing a painting, there must be no aspect looked over for an accurate analysis. For example in The Awakening of Adonis one can interpret the work of art as a man that is hurt and a women is coming to his help with her little angels around her to help and protect them as she heals the man. But somebody else can look at this painting and see something like a man who is sleeping while a woman steals his possessions and the little children help her. But the main point is that is does not matter if John Waterhouse wanted people to see the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis or something completely different. Because even if he wanted people to see a greek myth he cannot force their minds to interpret his painting in only the way he wants it interpreted. A painting will be interpreted just as the viewer wants to interpret it. But that is what makes it a work of art, the fact that one single image can mean so many different things and make so many different stories all because of the backgrounds and history of the people who are interpreting it. But a true skill would be for an artist to
From the very start we see Apuleius using references to Roman myths as similes to everyday occurrences. When Fotis, the slave, enters his bedroom to make love to him, he remarks that "she stood, transformed into a living statue: the Love-goddess rising from the sea. The flushed hand with which she pretended to screen her mount of Venus showed that she was well aware of the resemblance; certainly it was not held there from modesty." He describes a slave girl trying to seduce him as Venus rising out of the sea. Some of this description may be a hyperbole for Lucius' love of Fotis. However, Apuleius goes beyond this by linking Fotis directly to Venus. Thus, the most beautiful goddess in the Pantheon is easily seen in a slave girl. Similarly, Thelyphron, when telling the story how members of a household attacked him, describes himself as feeling "like Adonis mauled by the wild boar, or Orpheus torn in pieces by the Thracian women." This...
People can have many different opinions depending on a topic, but what is truly difficult is getting a complete level of understanding from every opinion, or understanding the point of view of each opinion. Even accepting the points of view can be difficult for some people, who believe that their opinions are right. Luckily, people can learn about the other person’s frame of reference, and at the very least understand the topic or the person a little better. This particular topic is art, which is known for its multiple possible perceptions or its many different messages that it can send a person or group of people. In this way, people can learn more about the thought processes and feelings of others. Unfortunately, with differing opinions,
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
...on of the images presented by the varying interpretations given to the stories in the text, in particular to the different ways of looking at and interpreting his and Sethe's story.
Their belief can be explained by this quote written by P. Walcot in the article “Greek Attitudes Towards Women: The Mythological Evidence”: “The Greeks believed women to be incapable of not exercising their sexual charms and that the results were catastrophic, irrespective of whether or not women set out to cause trouble deliberately or acted in a blissful ignorance of what they were doing” (39).... ... middle of paper ... ... Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility, is a goddess who represents lust and desire.
When we all hear the name Aphrodite, we can all reach agreement that the first point that comes to mind is love and beauty. In the “Ancient Roman Mythology” book, she is des...
The premodern philosophy in relation to art can then be divided into two separate and distinct areas, namely the Hellenistic and the Medieval. The latter saw art as a mimetic actively or a second-hand reflection of the original source of meaning; that which is above man. In the biblical sense, this would refer to Yahweh or God (Kearney, 1994:115). This was followed by the belief that the imagination (and therefore that which came from the imagination) was a mere counterfeit of the original being (Kearney, 1994:117). As art could never be perfect and was always an interpretation of the imagination, the iconography (representational paintings) of Christ and the Saints had to therefore follow strict rules in order to show no emotion. This was no ensure that the icon which was being represented was being worshiped and never the painting itself.
The Greeks found this so appealing because it looked very similar to themselves in form but because Aphrodite is naked, it showed the separation from the “mere mortals” (Berz). She seems modest with her sexuality by trying to cover her genitals, but she is very strong and secure with her head high. Women were also able to compare themselves with this sculpture because it was not ideal; Aphrodite was not blonde with blue eyes, but she was as she
She tempted many, even Zeus: “she beguiles even his wise heart . . . mates him with mortal women, unknown to Hera” (Hesiod). The goddess of love, “she was a particular favourite with the city’s many prostitutes but also supervised the sexual life of married women” (Blundell, 1998). To curb her promiscuity, Aphrodite was married to Hephaistos (god of the forge), who cared deeply for her, and made he...
The poems Venus & Adonis and Hero & Leander have many similarities. Venus & Adonis, written by William Shakespeare (1593), is the story of lovesick Venus and innocent Adonis. Venus attempts to convince Adonis to have intimate relations with her. In the poem Hero & Leander, written by Christopher Marlowe (1598), Leander convinces the beautiful Hero to consummate their relationship despite her arguments. Another similarity of the two works is the digressions within the poems. In V&A, the digression involves two horses that are overcome by lust and eventually run off to mate in the woods. The digression in Hero & Leander is also sexual in nature. It involves Neptune attempting to seduce Leander. The digressions in V&A and Hero & Leander have parallel references to the work as a whole. The digressions also have similar qualities that indicate the influence of Shakespeare on Marlowe.
Ovid's work ridicules the concept of marriage and harmony between the sexes. It paints men and women as individual creatures who have little desire of joining with the opposite sex. The male gods are impelled by Cupid's power to chase certain female characters. Of course, the female characters are not interested and choose to evade capture so that they may continue with their individual desires. When the female god Venus falls for a human male and lays with him, she goes to great lengths to protect him from the wild animals. She specifically tells him to be bold "when you approach the timid animals, those who are quick to flee: but do not be audacious when you face courageous beasts" (Ovid 936). The man Adonis chose not to heed the god's warning and went on to hunt a wild boar with the aid of his hounds. The boar that Venus despised killed the human that she lusted after. This is another example of individual wants taking precedence over the joined couple. Pygmalion was so much of an individualist that he created his own mate from ivory.
Aphrodite and Athena were both great powerful women who were revered as goddesses in greek mythology. They both were greatly worshipped, however due to their distinct personality traits they were worshipped and spoken about and very different ways. Both goddesses are immortal and female, and both seem to distinguish the incongruous gender roles between men and women throughout ancient Greece. What makes these two goddesses interesting, however, is their differences, which will determine how they will be reflected in myth. On one hand you have Athena, the androgynous goddess of war and wisdom. On the other you have Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality. During this time, even among the immortals, women were seen as inferior and less
Intention ultimately effects how the art is perceived, judge, critiqued and later popularized. Not only for the Mona Lisa but, for all art the intention of the artist can never truly be deciphered, this creates a bit of mystery within the art world. Furthermore, in the case of Leonardo da Vinci 's the Mona Lisa is valued because of her mystery and her uncanny ability to be formatted into the interests of any time period. Well conceived art, such as the Mona Lisa, allows the observer to understand the work using their own inferences while, still appealing to the
During the ancient times in Greece, Plato was the first human to document and criticize the existence of art and artists. He mentioned that human art was always in a form of a representation of something else. In one of Plato’s famous works, he demonstrates the idea of art is like an “imitation of nature” (Blocker 3). In other words, the purpose of art was to represent nature and nothing else. Art was not created for the sake of its own self nor was it created to appreciate its own beauty by any means. Instead, art, usually in forms of writings, paintings, or sculptures, was created to only to represent nature, Gods, emperors, families, or other important individuals. Furthermore, Plato had a very critical view towards the existence art in our society because art makes us more emotional, and our emotions lead to many errors about life. He believed it is our rational thinking, not our emotions or senses, which helps us und...
One of the disadvantages of art therapy is that the therapist is more vulnerable to misinterpretation in terms of the objective understanding of content. Care must be taken not to make rapid interpretations on the specific piece of art which might prevent or even deny the client the satisfaction of discovering and finding out for herself (Case and Dalley, p. 65). This is because art therapy involves a lot of interpretation, it is understandable that critics about this technique are similar to that of psychotherapy. The client’s images can come across as many things with contrasting ideas, but only the individual themself can explain it. The therapist is urged not to point out obvious red signals, instead they should allow the client to come up with their own interpretations. Their own interpretations alone are something to make note of as it may shed some light on the client's thought process about the