2. Dionysus. Beard, garland in hair, drinking vessel;
holding the thyrsus. In front of him a Maenad (one of his wild,
snake-handling, leopard-skin-wearing female devotees) dervishes.
Return to list of questions.
3. Hermes (kerykeion, hat, beard, winged sandals).
Return to list of questions.
4. Zeus (throne, beard, thunderbolt) Athena (popping
out of his head with a shield in one hand and a spear in the other [the
spear itself has worn off]; Hephaestus, who's just cracked open Zeus' head
with his axe. The scene is, of course, the birth of Athena. Looks like
poor Hephaestus is about to get repaid for his efforts as "midwife" by
getting zapped by the thunderbolt! Return to list
of questions.
5. This is another image of the Birth of Athena. Zeus
is seated on his throne, holding the baby armed goddess in his lap. To
the left of Zeus is Apollo with his lyre. The female in front of him (females
are distinguished by white skin in this style of vase painting) may be
Hera, but who can tell? It could also be Artemis, balancing her brother
on the other side, or Eileithyia, supervising the birth. At the far right
is Ares, getting a good look at his new rival in the armed-god category.
The little winged female under Zeus' throne is the rainbow/messenger goddess
Iris. Note also the owl flying to the right of Athena's head.Return
to list of questions.
6. Apollo, identifiable first by his bow, then by his
youthful, beardless, unshorn appearance. If you guessed Artemis you weren't
far off, but she doesn't usually wear her skirts so short. You might also
recognize the thing he's struggling with the bearded fellow over, the tripod
used in his oracle at Delphi. The guy with the beard is Heracles (we'll
talk about why he's trying to steal the tripod later) Athena stands off
to the left; the Pythian priestess to the right. Return
to list of questions.
7. Apollo: Youthful, beardless male holding a bow.
Return to list of questions.
8. Zeus (identifiable by context), with Dionysus' head
popping out of his thigh. To the right stands Hermes (who had brought the
fetus up to Olympus from earth and is now ready to take him back down to
his earthly nursemaids. Hermes is identifiable by the traveller's hat,
beard, kerykeion and winged boots.Return to list
of questions.
9. a) Aphrodite. As usual, Aphrodite herself has no
particularly distinguishing characteristics, aside from being youthful
and attractive, but she is emerging from a clamshell (think of Botticelli's
Birth of Venus ["Venus on the Half-Shell"]); that plus the little
fish and the waves below her suggest her birth from the sea. b) Poseidon
(right): a mature man seated on a throne in a marine setting, holding a
trident. Hermes (left) wears his traveller's hat and holds the kerykeion
(caduceus). Poseidon greets the new goddess as she is born in his kingdom;
Hermes the boundary crosser oversees Aphrodite's transferral from the fishy
realm to Olympus. The winged figure is Eros/Cupid, here apparently not
conceived of as Aphrodite's son. Return to
list of questions.
10. Artemis. What other goddess hangs out with fawns?
Note also the bow hanging up on the wall behind her.Return
to list of questions.
11. Poseidon. Beard, trident. Remember Poseidon's association
with horses. The god on the other horse is Athena, though it's hard to
recognize her here. Athena was sometimes credited with inventing the bridle,
making it possible to tame and control the natural power of the horse.
Return to list of questions.
12. Venus and Mars (Aphrodite and Ares). Mars has his
armor, his rather intimate gesture toward the seated figure and the presence
of cupid identifies her as Venus. Return to
list of questions.
13. It's not an easy call, but it's probably Zeus seated
on his throne with his favorite bird, the eagle, in front of him.
Return to list of questions.
14. Demeter. Note her headdress and staff. If you look
closely you can tell that the things shear is holding out are ears of grain,
which distinguishes her from Hera. The young man on the right is probably
Triptolemus, her messenger. Return to list
of questions.
15. The god on the left is Athena, here identifiable
only by her aegis. On le left is Hephaestus with his hammer. They are in
the process of creating and outfitting Pandora. Return
to list of questions.
16. Apollo: Lyre, beardless, long hair.
Return to list of questions.
17. Artemis Return
to list of questions.
18. Dionysus: Beard, long yellow robes, drinking horn;
holding grape vines (note the clusters of grapes) and with a grapevine
garland around his head. To his left and right are Hermes and Athena.
Return to list of questions.
19. Athena. With the armor it could be Athena or Ares,
but the foot-length robe identifies this as a female (Ares wears a shorter
tunic/skirt, as would a mortal Greek soldier). You can also see the snake
heads that fringe her aegis. Return to
list of questions.
20. Demeter: Those are torches she is carrying; searching
for her daughter night and day. Return to list of
questions.
21. On the left: Dionysus: Drinking vessel, beard,
long robes. That's a leopard skin he's wearing. On the donkey, Hephaestus
(note the club foot!) The occasion is Hephaestus' return to Olympus (with
the aid of Dionysus) after being tossed out. Return
to list of questions.
22. Athena. No Aegis this time, but she's definitely an armed female Return to list of questions.