The Chimera and family in paintings.ppsx

“was of divine stock, not of men, in the forepart a lion,
in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat " …

3. the monstrous offspring of two of Greek mythology’s most famous monsters, Echidna and Typhon,
she had many siblings, including the Lernaean Hydra and Cerberus,
​
according to Hesiod give birth to two other monsters, the Lion of Nemea and the Sphinx …

4. The Chimera and family
in paintings

5. Chimera
a creature with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and tail of a snake, incredibly vicious and powerful. Many sources claimed that it also breathed fire.
Name Chimera
Sex Female
Dad Typhon
Mom Echidna
Enemy Bellerophon, Pegasus: the hero Bellerophon, riding the winged horse fought against Chimera and killed her
Interested in terrorizing the inhabitants of the foothills where it had made its home

6. The slaying of the Chimera …
The Chimera in Homer's Iliad, “was of divine stock, not of men, in the forepart a lion,
in the hinder a serpent, and in the midst a goat, …
Bellerophon slew her, trusting in the signs of the gods.”
Peter Paul Rubens
Bellérophon terrassant la Chimère ou Bellérophon, monté sur Pégase transperce la Chimère
Bellerophon riding Pegasus defeats the Chimera
Belerofonte montando a Pegaso luchando contra la Quimera o Belerofonte montado en Pegaso vence a la Quimera
1635
Musée Bonnat-Helleu, Bayonne

9. Bellerophon on Pegasus slaying the Chimera …
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
The Force of Eloquence
Le triomphe de l’éloquence
La fuerza de la elocuencia
1724
Palazzo Sandi, Venice

12. Moreau’s Chimera, a centaur with wings …
…
Moreau's moralising symbolism,
an enamored woman suspended from the neck of a winged centaur;
an allegory of carnal love, which, could only lead to the abyss.
Gustave Moreau
La Chimère
The Chimera
La Quimera
1867
Harvard Art Museums. Fogg Museum, Cambridge

15. Moreau’s Chimera 1884 …
human head and body, angelic wings, and a serpent’s tail
Gustave Moreau
Chimère
Chimera
Quimera
1884
Musée National Gustave-Moreau, Paris

18. Art as a chimera tempting and seductive, with the face and body of a beautiful woman
with rainbow wings ...
and with its fearful claws scratching at the artist’s bare chest as he lies captive under it.
…
The fate of the artist,
a great creator of art and at the same time its slave, dying in pursuit of an ideal
Jacek Malczewski
The Artist and the Chimera
L’Artiste et la Chimère
Artista y quimera
1906
Private collection

21. Chimera: his dad Typhon, his mum Echidna …

22. Typhon "was joined in love” to Echidna, the maid with “glancing eyes" and she bore "fierce offspring“. (Hesiod) ...

23. Echidna

Hesiod: "monster, irresistible, who was like neither mortal men nor the undying gods, but was half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks,
and half again a huge snake, great and awful ... who dies not nor grows old all her days".
Name Echidna
Sex Female
Husband Typhoon
Children mother of the greatest and most fierce monsters of Greek Mythology
Enemy Argo, the giant with a hundred eyes, kills her in her sleep
Interested in seducing its victims and to engulf them while they were still alive

24. The all-seeing eyes ...
Irresistible, Malicious, divine, with a mighty spirit. ( Theogony)
Her offspring are shown here: Cerberus, the Lernaean Hydra,
the Nemean Lion and the winged Chimera.
These monsters caused a lot of trouble for the Greek heroes.
Alex Fantalov
Echidna’s posterity
La postérité de l’Échidné
La posteridad del Equidna
2001
Private collection

25. Typhon

Hesiod: "terrible, outrageous and lawless ,immensely powerful". His head brush the sky dome overhead.
Typhon’s eyes were made of fire, and upon each of his hands sprouted the heads of a hundred dragons.
Name Typhon
Sex Male
Husband Echidna
Children father of many monsters such as Cerberus, Lernean Hydra, Chimera
Enemy Zeus, defeated him and imprisoned him under a mountain
Interested in to burn all that opposes him with his fiery gaze, to spit fire and lava from his mouth,
to create hurricanes and earthquakes with the movement of his wings.

26. Central pillar of the Tomb of Typhon, The Monterozzi necropolis
a gigantic winged monster, with the face and body of a man, but with the legs of a snake
... he is Typhon
Anonymous
Typhon
Typhon
Tifón
1st century B.C. Ier siècle av. J.-C
Tomba del Tifone, Necropoli dei Monterozzi, Tarquinia

27. Chimera: his brother Cerberus, her sister Lernean Hydra …

28. Cerberus
a vicious three-headed dog, lion claws, a snake for a tail. Guardian of the entrance to the Underworld.
He allowed the souls of the dead to enter Hades but prevented the living (except for a few exceptions) from entering.
Name Cerberus
Sex Male
Dad Typhon
Mom Echidna
Friend Hades, adopted by Hades, Lord of the Dead
Enemy Heracles, abducted, but subsequently released, by Heracles
Interested in Lady dogs (but they're totally freaked out by him)

29. The fight at the entrance of Hades ...
the ferocity of the dog who tries to fight against the silver chain imposed on him by Hercules.
One of Cerberus' heads bites the edge of Hercules' tunic.
Two figures, possibly the Underworld´s titular gods, Pluto and Proserpina,
watch the scene in terror.
Peter Paul Rubens
Hercules and Cerberus
Hercule et Cerbère
Hércules y el Cancerbero
1636
Museo del Prado, Madrid

32. Cerberus, the terrifying three-headed monster,
guards the circle of Hell where gluttons are punished.
Illustration to Dante's `Divine Comedy’.
William Blake
Cerberus
Cerbère
Cerbero
1824-1827
The Tate Gallery, London

35. Hell ...
a dreamlike scenario in which we are threatened by
demons with toothed mouths in the belly,
a toad, the devil's faithful servant
a pig with a nun's veil
... and Cerberus, the terrifying monster
Hieronymus Bosch Jérôme Bosch El Bosco
The Garden of Earthly Delights, right panel Hell
Le Jardin des délices, panneau de droite L'Enfer
El jardín de las delicias, panel derecho El infierno
1490,1510
Museo del Prado, Madrid

38. Dulle Griet threatening with a sword to Cerberus, who guards the Gates of Hell …
Dulle Griet, the personification of the sin of avarice in Netherlandish folklore.
Her greed is so great she is not afraid to storm hell.
David Teniers the Younger David Teniers le Jeune
Dulle Griet (Mad Meg)
Dulle Griet (Margot la folle)
Dulle Griet (La loca Meg)
1640
Private collection

41. Charon paddles down the river Styx
Cerberus waiting for the boat,
quiet and oddly plaintive.
(Cerberus:
“Charon is always throwing stones at me when he rows past with his boat ... not cool”.)
Joachim Patinir
Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx
Paysage avec la barque de Charon ou Charon traversant le Styx
El paso de la laguna Estigia o Caronte cruzando la laguna Estigia
1515-1524
Museo del Prado, Madrid

45. Lernean Hydra

a huge snake with from nine heads, the middle of which was immortal.
It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly.
Name Lernean Hydra
Sex Female
Dad Typhon
Mom Echidna
Enemy Heracles kills this awful beast as his second labor
Interested in roaming and ravaging the country of Lernae

46. Heracles confronting the Hydra ...
The Hydra of Lerna rises on its tail,
its main head stands proudly,
one of the heads shows its fangs.
Hercules, with the skin of the Nemean lion on his back,
has a serious face and looks at the Hydra without emotion.
Gustave Moreau
Hercules and the Lernean Hydra
Hercule et l'Hydre de Lerne
Hércules y la Hidra de Lerna
1876
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

49. The moment when Hercules kills the Lernaean Hydra ...
The hero holds one of its heads tightly,
while with the other hand he raises his club to strike and kill it.
Antonio del Pollaiuolo
Hercules and the Hydra
Hercule et l'Hydre
Hércules y la Hidra
1475
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

52. Hydra of Lerna
dog-like body and several heads,
mouth open, looking towards the king,
it seems to want to fight but is defenseless
Henry IV.
standing motionless,
draped in the skin of the Nemean lion, leaning on his club,
one foot on one of the Hydra's heads,
looks towards the spectator with an amused expression on his face

Henri IV's victory over the Catholic League …
a new Hercules, triumphant, civilizing and peacemaker …
mythology at the service of politics.
Anonyme École de Dubreuil, Toussaint.Toussaint Dubreuil Workshop
Henri IV en Hercule terrassant l'hydre de Lerne
Portrait of Henry IV as Hercules Slaying the Lernaean Hydra
1600
Musée du Louvre, Paris

55. Chimera: his son Nemean Lion, his daughter Sphinx …

56. Nemean Lion

a formidable beast, cunning, a relentless predator, majestic and terrifying.
Possessed thick golden fur and skin that was impossible for any weapon to penetrate.
Proudly displayed huge sharp teeth and claws that were sharper than swords and could tear through any armor.
Name Nemean Lion
Sex Male
Dad Orthus
Mom Chimera
Enemy Hercules, “he strangled me with his bare hands, completely ignoring my huge teeth and powerful claws.
And he skinned me to make a lion-skin cape, one of his most distinctive attributes”.
Interested in prowling and terrorising the valley of Nemea; kidnapping women, and when a brave warrior would show up to save the damsel in distress,
the lion would pounce on him and shred him to bits

57. Nemean lion: "It looks a little bit like we're dancing. That's an illusion."
Jacopo Torni, attributed to
Hercules and the Nemean lion
Hercule et le lion de Némée
Hércules y el león de Nemea
1500-1599
Private collection

60. The animal’s fierceness ...
the lion, who is upright, when Hercules attacks and strangles him with his arms
after first employing the garrote that appears on the ground in the foreground
Francisco de Zurbarán
Hercules Fighting the Nemean Lion
Hercule affrontant le lion de Némée
Hércules lucha con el león de Nemea
1634
Museo del Prado, Madrid

63. The confrontation between man and beast ...
A nude Hercules in the act of choking the Nemean lion which is raised up on its hindquarters.
Peter Paul Rubens
Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion
Hercule étranglant le lion de Némée
Hércules estrangulando al león de Nemea
1639
Busch–Reisinger Museum,The Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge

66. Sphinx
a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird.
Name Sphinx
Sex Female
Dad Orthrus
Mom Chimera
Enemy Oedipus, is said to have killed her by throwing her off the mountain
Interested in challenging those who encounter her to answer a riddle, kills and eats them when they fail to solve the riddle

67. Provocative, even frivolous ...
jumping on his adolescent Oedipus, forcing him to retreat
Moreau is announcing the emancipation of the Sphinx from the story of Oedipus,
to acquire its own identity.
Gustave Moreau
Œdipe et le Sphinx
Oedipus and the Sphinx
Edipo y la esfinge
1864
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

70. Sphinx: Me and Oedipus.
The real riddle is, who the Hades is the guy in the background?
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Œdipe explique l'énigme du sphinx
Oedipus and the Sphinx
Edipo y la esfinge
1808, 1827
Musée du Louvre, Paris

72. A symbolist and universal reading of the Oedipus myth ...
the Equality before the Face of Death
the man advancing on the path of life
The bodies of the victims who did not know how to respond
and could not continue their way lie on the ground devoured by the monster.
The dramatic moment when the deadly Sphinx confronts young Oedipus with her riddle.
Gustave Moreau
Œdipe voyageur ou l'égalité devant la mort
Oedipus the Wanderer, or the Equality before the Face of Death
Edipo viajero o la igualdad ante la muerte
1888
Musée de la Cour d’Or, Metz

75. an androgynous Oedipus cheek-to-cheek with a beautiful Sphinx with the body of a leopard
a surprising complicity between the beast and Oedipus …
Where is the mythical and ancestral battle between the hero and the Sphinx?
Fernand Khnopff
Des caresses
Caresses
Las caricias
1896
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels

78. Proud and powerful, the woman-demon rises above the rocky landscape with crown and wings set high …
With her paws she claws into the bloodied upper arm of a youth.
Moreau explores the possibility of Oedipus answering the riddle incorrectly.
Gustave Moreau
Le Sphinx ou Le Sphinx triomphant, ou Le Sphinx victorieux
The Sphinx or The Triumphant Sphinx, or The Victorious Sphinx
La Esfinge o La Esfinge Triunfante, o La Esfinge Victoriosa
1886
Clemens Sels Museum Neuss, Neuss

81. The Chimera and family in paintings
La Chimère et sa famille dans la peinture
La Quimera y su familia en la pintura
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