Mythos by Enjoy AZU

Mythos

Mythos 2022

“Any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.” ― Homer, The Iliad

Part I

Though married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite had an affair with Ares, the god of war. Eventually, Hephaestus discovered Aphrodite's affair through Helios, the all-seeing Sun, and planned a trap during one of their trysts. While Aphrodite and Ares lay together in bed, Hephaestus ensnared them in an unbreakable chain-link net so small as to be invisible and dragged them to Mount Olympus to shame them in front of the other gods for retribution. The gods laughed at the sight of these naked lovers, and Poseidon persuaded Hephaestus to free them in return for a guarantee that Ares would pay the adulterer's fine or that he would pay it himself. Hephaestus states in The Odyssey that he would return Aphrodite to her father and demand back his bride price.

Hephaestus’s Trap Size: 20 x 20 cm

The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold. This came to be called the golden touch, or the Midas touch.

The touch of Midas Size: 20 x 20 cm

Prometheus defied the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity. As punishment Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, sentenced Prometheus to eternal torment for his transgression. Prometheus was bound to a rock, and an eagle—the emblem of Zeus—was sent to eat his liver (in ancient Greece, the liver was thought to be the seat of human emotions). His liver would then grow back overnight, only to be eaten again the next day in an ongoing cycle.

Prometheus’ Flame Size: 20 x 20 cm

The Nereids, according to Greek mythology, were nymphs, who personified the states and characteristics of the sea and were worshiped as goddesses of the calm sea, friendly to humans. The daughters of Nereus and Oceanida Dorida and hence the granddaughters of Titan Ocean. The Nereids lived on the seabed, in their father's palace, and spent their days swimming and playing with dolphins or sitting on golden thrones or rocks singing and weaving or drying their rich and long hair. They did not allow any mortal to be compared to them in beauty. They had the power to disturb the sea and also to calm it. In general, they were always happy for their immortality and accompanied the chariots of the underwater gods. Among the most famous was Amphitrite, who was the wife of the god Poseidon and mother of Triton, Thetis (the future mother of the hero Achilles), Psamathis (wife of Aeacus) and Galatia (wife of the Cyclops Polyphemus). The names of the Nereids found in Hesiod's Theogony refer to the various states and graces of the sea. They remind of the benefits of the sea, the wealth it gives to man and the convenience it provides in trade.

Nereids Size: 20 x 20 cm

Amphitrite - the goddess of the sea, wife of the god Poseidon. She was one of the Nereids or simply the female personification of the sea, the mother of fish, whales and dolphins. According to the legend, Amphitrite transformed the Alkyonides into the Common kingfisher.

Amphitrite Size: 20 x 20 cm

Poseidon - one of the main Olympian Gods, the supreme god of water (lakes, rivers, springs) and consequently of the sea (hence the name Pelagaios).

Poseidon Size: 20 x 20 cm

Hephaestus - the god of fire of heaven, earth and any technique or art with it, such as copper smithing, and, in general, metallurgy. As a smithing god, Hephaestus made all the weapons of the gods in Olympus.

Hephaestus’ Forge Size: 20 x 20 cm

Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus, the personification of heaven, after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. Hence, the goddess's name comes from the Greek word aphros, meaning “foam.”

The Birth of Aphrodite Size: 20 x 20 cm

Aphrodite - the goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation. Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, the god of fire, blacksmiths and metalworking. She was frequently unfaithful to him and had many lovers; in the Odyssey, she is caught in the act of adultery with Ares, the god of war.

Aphrodite Size: 20 x 20 cm

Ares - the Greek god of courage and war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent toward him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war but can also personify sheer brutality and bloodlust, in contrast to his sister, the armored Athena, whose martial functions include military strategy and generalship. Though there are many literary allusions to Ares' love affairs and children, he has a limited role in Greek mythology. When he does appear, he is often humiliated. In the Trojan War, Aphrodite, protector of Troy, persuades Ares to take the Trojan's side. The Trojans lose, while Ares' sister Athena helps the Greeks to victory. Most famously, when the craftsman-god Hephaestus discovers his wife Aphrodite is having an affair with Ares, he traps the lovers in a net and exposes them to the ridicule of the other gods.

Ares Size: 20 x 20 cm

Helios - the god and personification of the Sun. Often depicted in art with a radiant crown and driving a horse-drawn chariot through the sky. He was a guardian of oaths and the god of sight. Helios' mortal son Phaethon asked his father for a favour; Helios agreed, but then Phaethon asked for the privilege to drive his four-horse fiery chariot across the skies for a single day. Although Helios warned his son again and again against this choice, explaining to him the dangers of such a journey that no other god but him was capable to bring about, Phaethon was hard to deter, and thus Helios was forced to hand him the reins. As expected, the ride was disastrous, and Zeus struck the youth with one of his lightning bolts to stop him from burning or freezing the earth beyond salvation.

Helios’ Chariot Size: 20 x 20 cm

Phaethon is the son of Helios, and out of desire to have his parentage confirmed, travels to the sun-god's palace in the east. There he is recognized by his father, and asks him for the privilege to drive his chariot for a single day. Despite Helios' fervent warnings and attempts to talk him out of it, counting the numerous dangers he would face in his celestial journey and reminding Phaethon that only he can control the horses, the boy is not dissuaded and does not change his mind. He is then allowed to take the chariot's reins; his ride is disastrous, as he cannot keep a firm grip on the horses. As a result, he drives the chariot too close to the earth, burning it, and too far from it, freezing it. In the end, after many complaints, from the stars in the sky to the earth itself, Zeus strikes Phaethon with one of his lightning bolts, killing him instantly. His dead body falls into the river Eridanus, and his sisters the Heliades are turned to black poplar trees as they mourn him. Phaethon's tale was commonly used to explain why inhabitable lands on both sides of extremity (such as hot deserts and frozen wastelands) exist, and why certain peoples have darker complexions, while his sisters' amber tears accounted for the river's rich deposits of amber.

Phaethon Size: 20 x 20 cm

Icarus was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and Daedalus attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that Daedalus constructed from feathers and wax. Daedalus warns Icarus first of complacency and then of hubris, instructing him to fly neither too low nor too high, lest the sea's dampness clog his wings or the sun's heat melt them. Icarus ignores Daedalus’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun, causing the wax in his wings to melt. He tumbles out of the sky, falls into the sea, and drowns. The myth gave rise to the idiom "don't fly too close to the sun".

Icarus's father Daedalus, a very talented Athenian craftsman, built the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete near his palace at Knossos to imprison the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster born of his wife and the Cretan bull. Minos imprisoned Daedalus himself in the labyrinth because he gave Minos's daughter, Ariadne, a clew (or ball of string) in order to help Theseus, the enemy of Minos, to survive the Labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur.

Icarus’ Fall Size: 20 x 20 cm

Kykeon was an Ancient Greek drink of various descriptions. Some were made mainly of water, barley and naturally occurring substances. Others were made with wine and grated cheese. It is widely believed that kykeon usually refers to a psychoactive compounded brew, as in the case of the Eleusinian Mysteries. A kykeon was used at the climax of the Eleusinian Mysteries to break a sacred fast, but it is also mentioned as a favourite drink of Greek peasants.

Kykeon Size: 20 x 20 cm

Ambrosia was the food of the immortals. Mortals could not taste ambrosia - which was "nine times sweeter than honey" - unless they enjoyed the special favor of the gods.

Ambrosia Size: 20 x 20 cm

Nectar in Greek mythology along with ambrosia was the food that the twelve gods of Olympus ate, thus gaining their immortality and power. Nectar is the drink that the gods drank which is twelve times sweeter than honey.

Nectar Size: 20 x 20 cm

Dryades were Nymphs of the forests. A dryad is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. Drys signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, but the term has come to be used for tree nymphs in general, or human-tree hybrids in fantasy. They were normally considered to be very shy creatures except around the goddess Artemis, who was known to be a friend to most nymphs. Together with the Oreiades or Orestiades, they accompanied the Olympian gods in the mountains and ravines and met erotically in beautiful caves with Seilinos and Hermes, playing and joking with Apollo, Pan, Priapus and others. Dryades often seem to have been persecuted by the Satyrs.

Dryads Size: 20 x 20 cm

Artemis - the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, the Moon, and chastity. The daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollo, queen of mountains and forests, goddess of hunting, protector of small children and animals, and goddess of the moon. Hestia, Athena and Artemis, were the only Goddesses over whom Aphrodite (who had subdued all Gods and men) had no power on.

Artemis’Hunt Size: 20 x 20 cm

Apollo - the god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. One of the most important and complex of the Greek gods, he is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Seen as the most beautiful god and the ideal of the kouros (ephebe, or a beardless, athletic youth), Apollo is considered to be the most Greek of all the gods. As the patron deity of Delphi, Apollo is an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Apollo is the god who affords help and wards off evil. Delphic Apollo is the patron of seafarers, foreigners and the protector of fugitives and refugees. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. Apollo delivered people from epidemics, yet he is also a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague with his arrows. The invention of archery itself is credited to Apollo and his sister Artemis. Apollo is usually described as carrying a golden bow and a quiver of silver arrows. As the god of mousike (music) Apollo presides over all music, songs, dance and poetry. He is the inventor of string-music, and the frequent companion of the Muses, functioning as their chorus leader in celebrations. The lyre is a common attribute of Apollo.

Apollo Size: 20 x 20 cm

The Oceanids or Oceanides are the nymphs who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. The Oceanids' father Oceanus was the great primordial world-encircling river, their mother Tethys was a sea goddess, and their brothers the Potamoi (also three thousand in number) were the personifications of the great rivers of the world. Like the rest of their family, the Oceanid nymphs were associated with water, as the personification of springs. Hesiod says they are "dispersed far and wide" and everywhere "serve the earth and the deep waters", while in Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica, the Argonauts, stranded in the desert of Libya, beg the "nymphs, sacred of the race of Oceanus" to show them "some spring of water from the rock or some sacred flow gushing from the earth". The Oceanids are not easily categorized, nor confined to any single function, not even necessarily associated with water. Though most nymphs were considered to be minor deities, many Oceanids were significant figures. Metis, the personification of intelligence, was Zeus' first wife, whom Zeus impregnated with Athena and then swallowed. The Oceanid Doris, like her mother Tethys, was an important sea-goddess. While their brothers, the Potamoi, were the usual personifications of major rivers, like the underworld's river Styx. Some Oceanids, like Europa, and Asia, seem associated with areas of land rather than water.

Oceanids Size: 20 x 20 cm

Jason – Greek hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He was also the great-grandson of the messenger god Hermes, through his mother's side. The Argonauts - a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, Argo, named after its builder, Argus.

Jason and the Argonauts Size: 20 x 20 cm

The golden fleece was the fleece (sheepskin) left over from the ram sent by Nefeli to save her son Frixos from the sacrifice his father wanted to make. King Athamas, having received the prophesy from the oracle of Delphi that it was his son's responsibility that the wheat did not sprout that year, decided to sacrifice him. So Nefeli's mother, sent a ram with golden skin from heaven to snatch him from the impending sacrifice. The ram grabbed Frixos and Elli and took them to Colchis. There Frixos sacrificed the ram to Zeus and gave his skin to the king of Colchis, Aetius who hosted him. He hung it on an oak tree in the forest of the god Ares and put a sleepless dragon to guard it. Jason, Medea and Orpheus went to the sacred forest of the god Ares and found the sleepless dragon guarding the Golden Fleece. Medea threw a magic liquid which closed the dragon's eyes, while Orpheus played his lyre sweetly, causing the dragon to fall asleep and Jason to take the Golden Fleece.

Golden Fleece Size: 20 x 20 cm

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war itself, which lasted ten years, his journey lasted for ten additional years, during which time he encountered many perils, and all his crew mates were killed. In his absence, Odysseus was assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus had to contend with a group of unruly suitors who were competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.

Odyssey Size: 20 x 20 cm

The Satyrs were inferior mythical creatures, "demons" of Greek mythology (spirits of mountains and forests). In poetry and art they were depicted from the waist up almost anthropomorphic, bald and with pointed ears, legs and a goat's tail. They were, servants and companions of the god Dionysus, whom they had raised as a child. Their favorite pastime was playing the flute and guitar, the vintage and the method, but also the hunting of the girls, which together constituted the personification of nature's fertility.

Satyrs’ Dance Size: 20 x 20 cm

Erato - one of the Nine Muses of Greek mythology. Erato was the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Mnemosyne, and the sister to Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania. She was the Muse of lyric poetry and hymns. The protector of marriage and love. She is also considered the inventor of dance, hymns to the gods and in general the protector of poetry.

Erato Size: 20 x 20 cm

Disappointed by his lack of male heirs, King Acrisius asked the oracle of Delphi if this would change. The oracle announced to him that he would never have a son, but his daughter would, and that he would be killed by his daughter's son. At the time, Danaë was childless and, meaning to keep her so, King Acrisius shut her up in a bronze chamber to be constructed under the court of his palace (other versions say she was imprisoned in a tall brass tower with a single richly adorned chamber, but with no doors or windows, just a sky-light as the source of light and air). She was buried in this tomb, never to see the light again. However, Zeus, the king of the gods, desired her, and came to her in the form of golden rain which streamed in through the roof of the subterranean chamber and down into her womb. Soon after, their child Perseus was born.

Danaë Size: 20 x 20 cm

In Greek mythology, the river Phlegethon (Φλεγέθων, English translation: "flaming") or Pyriphlegethon (Πυριφλεγέθων, English translation: "fire-flaming") was one of the five rivers in the infernal regions of the underworld, along with the rivers Styx, Lethe, Cocytus, and Acheron. Plato describes it as "a stream of fire, which coils round the earth and flows into the depths of Tartarus". It was parallel to the river Styx. It is said that the goddess Styx was in love with Phlegethon, but she was consumed by his flames and sent to Hades. Eventually, when Hades allowed her river to flow through, they reunited.

Phlegethon Size: 20 x 20 cm

The Acheron was known as the "river of woe” and was one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld. In ancient times, it was believed that Acheron was the river whose crossing was made, according to ancient Greek mythology, by the "psychic transmitter" Hermes, handing over the souls of the dead to Charon to reach the kingdom of Hades. Every soul, passing by Charon's ferry, had to give an obol for the transport. Remarkable, is Menippus’ case, as he is the only one who passed Acheron without paying.

Acheron Size: 20 x 20 cm

About AZU AZU believes in the death of the artist once a work is completed, as art does not belong to the people who make it but those who really need it. Only once the artist is removed, can the audience interpret the pieces through their own senses and experiences. AZU is gender – nation – colour – sex – religion – language – age LESS What is important is the emotions the work creates inside us. Some say that art is about revealing something we did not know about ourselves or the world. AZU views art as magic, a medium by which you connect people with your world and the worlds inside them. Worlds they never guessed existed.

AZ is U

Key words Mythos, Gods, Muses, Heroes, paintings, acrylics, poetry, colours, texture, art, dreams, emotions, enjoyazu

Credits Photos: Carmen Torné & AZU Paintings by AZU http://enjoyazu.com/

Excerpts From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of Paintings

Acheorn Ambrosia Amphitriti Aphrodite Ares Artemis’ Hunt Dryads Erato Golden Fleece Helios’ Chariot Hephaestus’ Forge Icarus’ Fall Jason and the Argonauts Kykeon Nectar Nereids Oceanids Odyssey Phaethon Phlegethon Poseidon Prometheus’ Flame Satyr’s Dance The birth of Aphrodite

20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20 20 x 20

The Touch of Midas Danaë

20 x 20 20 x 20

This is only the beginning …

Enjoy!