It's the Day of Hermes aka Mercurius Day aka #Wednesday! 🐏
#Mosaic of #Hermes-Mercurius, easily recognisable by the wings on his head, representing the planet Mercury or the fourth day of the ancient Roman week, diēs Mercuriī (Wednesday).
🏛 #Mercurius as Planet Mercury in The House of the Planetarium, Italica, #Spain
#Selene driving her moon chariot, here shown as a team of four horses. She has a shining aureola around her head and the reins and her riding crop in hand. She is followed by her brother #Helios, the fish around them suggesting that one is descending and the other rising.
🏛️ Canosa, Italy, ca. 330 – 310 BCE; now at Munich, Antikensammlung
It's the Day of Zeus / Jupiter's Day / #Thursday! ⚡
#Zeus, disguised as a #satyr, seduces Antiope, daughter of the river god Asopos or of Nykteus, the king of Thebes. Antiope fled in fear of her father and was abducted by the hero Epopeus, eventually giving birth to two sons, Amphion by Zeus and Zethus by Epopeus.
Aphrodite is pouring a libation into the phiale (libation bowl) held by her lover Ares over an altar. A servant or child stands behind her on the left.
🏛️ Attic votive relief of Aphrodite and Ares. Marble. Dated to the 5th century BCE. Today in the National Archaeological Museum in #Venice.
Roman sarcophagus with #Selene, the #Moon, in the top left corner with her team of horses and Helios in his quadriga on the right. The scene shows the creation of man by #Prometheus.
🏛️ Roman sarcophagus found in a mausoleum near the ancient Puteoli (Pozzuoli, Naples). Dated to the 4th century CE. Today in the National Archaeological Museum, #Naples.
"#Dionysos showed himself on the island [of Naxos], and because of the beauty of #Ariadne he took the maiden away from #Theseus and kept her as his lawful wife, loving her exceedingly."
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4.61.5
🏛️ Dionysos and Ariadne, #fresco from the Triclinium in the House of Vettii, #Pompeii
It's #FannyFriday, the day I invite everyone to post #vulva art along with me.
Here, #Eros is helping two women remove their pubic hair to be extra sexy. Yes, this goes back to antiquity. Eros and the woman behind him are using an oil lamp to burn off the hair. The bristly pubes growing back earned the vulva the nickname "piggy" in acient Greek.
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 🌹
One of the most famous artworks of #Aphrodite is Aphrodite Kallipygos, Aphrodite of the Beautiful Buttocks. The goddess lifts her dress to reveal her gorgeous backside to the onlooker.
🏛️ Roman marble sculpture, 1st or 2nd century BCE. Today in the National Archaeological Museum, #Naples.
It's the Day of Zeus / Jupiter's Day / #Thursday! ⚡
Humourous Roman #mosaic of #Ganymedes and #Zeus as a heron with a sponge on a stick, commony used by the Romans to clean the bum after going to the toilet. But if you know that Ganymedes is Zeus' lover, a different reason for sponging his genitals comes to mind 😏
🏛️ Dated 2nd century CE, discovered in Antiochia ad Cragum, Turkey
"Let us be merry and drink wine and sing of Bakkhos [#Dionysos], the inventor of the choral dance, the lover of all songs, leading the same life as the Erotes, the darling of Kythere [#Aphrodite]."
The Anacreontea, Fragment 38
🏛️ Roman terracotta relief dated 20 BCE - 50 CE. Today in the British Museum.
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 🌹
A rare #fresco of Aphrodite Anadyomene, Aphrodite/Venus rising from the sea. The goddess is in the nude, wringing out her hair. Note her beautiful jewellery!
It's the Day of Zeus / Jupiter's Day / #Thursday! ⚡
Meet the Jupiter of Cumae made of marble from Thassos. Cumae is famous for the Sybel of Cumae whose alleged cave is a tourist attraction. The statue probably used to be housed in the Temple of #Zeus which was turned into a basilica after Christianisation.
🏛️ #Jupiter of Cuma, 1st century CE, today in the National Archaeological Museum, #Naples