I think i have my question and this is it:
Assess the significance of the 'Abduction of Persephone' wall painting in the royal Tomb of Persephone at Vergina.
Monday, August 16, 2010
A few pointer's on my essay:
These are some of the things I have also found out about this painting and will possibly add it in my essay:
*The tomb of Persephone is part of a 3 tomb find
*It was archaeologically found in 1977/8
*The interior of this tomb is not visible to the public
*This painting has been restored
*This painting and the tomb have great significance in terms of Philip II, Alexander the Great(who I was contemplating doing my essay on earlier,though it was such a broad topic I decided to steer clear of that one),and his son.
*The technique used to get such a good fresco,like all Greek and some Roman frescos,of course borrowed from Greek technique
*There is an unknown reason why Hades/Pluto wants/rapes/abducts Persephone-possible power,jealousy,anger,lust,evil because of evil.....who knows?
*It is a painting situated close to the decline of Greek painting though it is amazingly crafted
*It uses a subtle colour palette
*The tomb had been previously robbed,this is part of the reason why the painting is damaged and needed restoration
*It represents a significant Greek myth and partly tells the story of an aspect of creation
*Persephone,though innocent,young and beautiful has become commonly associated with the underworld
*Was she a willing participant or a poorly judged young woman of high nobility just snatched away?-(Godliness)
*Who are the others in the painting?
*What is its significance in art history from this painting and in this tomb
*What is it doing in this tomb?
Even though it is just a painting,it has a large role to play.
*The tomb of Persephone is part of a 3 tomb find
*It was archaeologically found in 1977/8
*The interior of this tomb is not visible to the public
*This painting has been restored
*This painting and the tomb have great significance in terms of Philip II, Alexander the Great(who I was contemplating doing my essay on earlier,though it was such a broad topic I decided to steer clear of that one),and his son.
*The technique used to get such a good fresco,like all Greek and some Roman frescos,of course borrowed from Greek technique
*There is an unknown reason why Hades/Pluto wants/rapes/abducts Persephone-possible power,jealousy,anger,lust,evil because of evil.....who knows?
*It is a painting situated close to the decline of Greek painting though it is amazingly crafted
*It uses a subtle colour palette
*The tomb had been previously robbed,this is part of the reason why the painting is damaged and needed restoration
*It represents a significant Greek myth and partly tells the story of an aspect of creation
*Persephone,though innocent,young and beautiful has become commonly associated with the underworld
*Was she a willing participant or a poorly judged young woman of high nobility just snatched away?-(Godliness)
*Who are the others in the painting?
*What is its significance in art history from this painting and in this tomb
*What is it doing in this tomb?
Even though it is just a painting,it has a large role to play.
To be or not to be,that is the question...
Would you call it a rape or an abduction?Or even both?
Hmmmmmm.....................
Hmmmmmm.....................
A beginner's story of mythological mayhem and misfortune....
Here is the story/myth of the Rape of Persephone that I would like to share with everyone:
Demeter, the goddess of the crops and harvest, and Zeus, the king of the gods, had a daughter, Persephone. One day while Persephone was gathering wild flowers she was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld where the dead live.
Distraught when she cold not find her daughter, Demeter wandered over the face of the earth trying to find out what had happened to her. She came to Eleusis disguised as an old woman, and was taken in by the king and queen to be the nurse for their son. Each night, while the palace slept, she placed the baby prince in the fire. One night the queen peeked and saw what the goddess was doing. Not unnaturally she snatched the baby out of the fire, and had hysterics. The goddess revealed who she really was and informed the queen that if she had not interfered, the baby would have been made immortal, all the mortal parts of him having been burned away.
Demeter met Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, who told her that she had heard Persephone calling out one day, and suggested she ask Helios, the Sun, if he had seen what had happened in his daily course across the sky. Helios told Demeter who had abducted her daughter, and Demeter went off to complain to Zeus, who was not only Persephone's father but Demeter and Hades' brother. Zeus refused to intervene, so Demeter withdrew from her role as goddess. Without her no crops could grow, and the resulting famine threatened the extinction of the human race.
Eventually Zeus said that Hades would have to let Persephone go. When Persephone was reunited with her mother, Demeter asked if she had eaten anything while she was in the underworld. Persephone admitted she had eaten a pomegranate seed. Because of this, she now spends one-third of each year in the underworld as the wife of Hades, and two-thirds of the year with her mother. While Persephone is in the underworld, her mother mourns and refuses to allow crops to grow until she gets her daughter back again.
This myth obviously explains the yearly cycle of growth, harvest, and winter.And it also explains the image I put up earlier of Persephone and her love for her pomegranite.....
This was from:http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/mythslegends_2.htm
Demeter, the goddess of the crops and harvest, and Zeus, the king of the gods, had a daughter, Persephone. One day while Persephone was gathering wild flowers she was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld where the dead live.
Distraught when she cold not find her daughter, Demeter wandered over the face of the earth trying to find out what had happened to her. She came to Eleusis disguised as an old woman, and was taken in by the king and queen to be the nurse for their son. Each night, while the palace slept, she placed the baby prince in the fire. One night the queen peeked and saw what the goddess was doing. Not unnaturally she snatched the baby out of the fire, and had hysterics. The goddess revealed who she really was and informed the queen that if she had not interfered, the baby would have been made immortal, all the mortal parts of him having been burned away.
Demeter met Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, who told her that she had heard Persephone calling out one day, and suggested she ask Helios, the Sun, if he had seen what had happened in his daily course across the sky. Helios told Demeter who had abducted her daughter, and Demeter went off to complain to Zeus, who was not only Persephone's father but Demeter and Hades' brother. Zeus refused to intervene, so Demeter withdrew from her role as goddess. Without her no crops could grow, and the resulting famine threatened the extinction of the human race.
Eventually Zeus said that Hades would have to let Persephone go. When Persephone was reunited with her mother, Demeter asked if she had eaten anything while she was in the underworld. Persephone admitted she had eaten a pomegranate seed. Because of this, she now spends one-third of each year in the underworld as the wife of Hades, and two-thirds of the year with her mother. While Persephone is in the underworld, her mother mourns and refuses to allow crops to grow until she gets her daughter back again.
This myth obviously explains the yearly cycle of growth, harvest, and winter.And it also explains the image I put up earlier of Persephone and her love for her pomegranite.....
This was from:http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/mythslegends_2.htm
Vergina
Ive realised I havent made much progress on the blog part of this assignment ,so I have been researching for about 3 hours and 24 mins, and I have found out quite a bit about The Rape of Persephone wall painting in a Verginian tomb (left) where Greek art has gone through quite a rough patch and a dramatic change over the years, and I have found this timeline to represent it:
Greek Painting
*Greek Dark Age----ca. 1200-800 BC
-protogeometric
*Archaic----ca. 800-500 BC
-geometric
-orientalising
-black-figure
-flat outlined frescos (eg.Tomb of the Diver,Pitsa Panels)
*Classical and Hellenistic----ca. 500-27 BC
-red-figure>decline
-realistic frescos (eg.Abduction of Persephone)
-realistic frescos (eg.Abduction of Persephone)
Etruscan
tomb frescos in the Greek style
tomb frescos in the Greek style
I have also finally researched heaps and eventually found out that this fresco was in the Vergina Tomb of Persephone,Tomb no.1!.(Sir,i finally got it):)
Gosh,it even has its own tomb!
This is what it looks like in its own tomb,situated on the left hand side of the image.....
The main people in this wall painting are Hades/Pluto and of course,sweet and innocent Persephone.
These are just a few of the websites I have loked at since I have been researching:
and I have written about 2 A4 pages of research notes.
Monday, August 9, 2010
site
found this site on the vergina wall painting.. and the myth behind it.
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/mythslegends_2.htm
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/mythslegends_2.htm
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