Hippolyta murdered for her girdle, Penthesilea killed by Achilles at Troy, Hippolyta abandoned by Theseus for Phaedra, and Thalestris impregnated by Alexander the Great.
Tischbein
Although not popular on stage, a classical tragedy that attracted paintings by Waterhouse, Delacroix and others.
A senior in three generations of German painters, who is notable for his paintings of the victorious Arminius, or ‘Hermann the German’.
A battle in which the Romans were overwhelmingly defeated, used later as an icon of German nationalism. And the vicious murder of the wife of the emperor Claudius.
A story of murder by a would-be lover, or perhaps of voyeuristics obsession. How Polyphemus murdered Acis, as shown by Claude, Tischbein, Moreau, Redon, and others.
‘The Opening of the Wallhalla’ is not a scene from Nordic myth. Here’s how Hermann the German got his (incorrect) name, and how nationalism tried to create a modern myth.
A clutch of myths about individual Amazons reveal more about their role in affirming role models in Greek and subsequent society. With some fine paintings too.
The anger of Achilles almost brought the Greek war against Troy to a grinding halt. But is Homer’s account fair, or was there more to it?
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