Largely restricted among Classical deities to Hermes, Cupid, and personifications of winds, heavenly bodies, and events, the gift of flight extends to angels and even saints.
narrative
Humans have always wanted to fly, but Icarus warned us of the dangers. Despite those, Goethe’s Faust, witches, and pioneers with hot air balloons seem to have succeeded.
Jason is given three tasks, in which he is aided by Medea the sorceress. First he yokes a team of fire-breathing bulls to plough a field, then sows dragon’s teeth, before the prize of the Golden Fleece.
In some of the earliest European paintings, the Fall of Man, the fable of the cat’s paw, in Vanitas paintings, and for their mischief and mayhem.
The beautiful Orithyia is betrothed to the north wind of winter, Boreas, but is rejected by her father. He takes matters into his own hands, and sweeps her off to be his wife.
The incredible myth of Leda and the swan, the transformation of Phaëthon’s brother Cycnus, King Arthur, Hesiod, Swan Pie and more.
The King of Thrace who raped his sister-in-law, cut out her tongue, and imprisoned her in a remote cabin. Her revenge is brutal and unforgiving.
Painter to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, she was a friend of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens. But the Royal Academy refused her, because she was a woman.
The satyr Marsyas became an outstanding player of the aulos, and played in a contest against the god Apollo. He can’t win, and ends up being flayed alive.
The origin of Helen, perhaps, ready to be served to Mercury and Jupiter, caged in Rome’s Capitol, or cared for young girls.
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