"She [Kallisto] was a hunting companion of Artemis, imitating her dress and remaining under oath a virgin for the goddess. But #Zeus fell in love with her and forced her into bed, taking the likeness, some say, or Artemis, others, of Apollon."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.100
"Once on a time, where the milky region is set in a tranquil heaven, lay kindly Venus in her bower, whence night had but lately fled, faint in the rough embrace of her Getic lord [Mars] [...] Weary she lies upon her cushions."
Statius, Silvae 1.2.51
🏛 #Mars & #Venus, detail on a silver cup from the House of Menander in #Pompeii, 1st century CE
"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 as goddess of pleasure]."
Anacreontea, Fragment 38
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 🌹
It's the first day of March, the Month of Mars or #Ares. In #ancientRome, military season started in #March. But Venus-#Aphrodite can still War's hand and subdue him, her lover and consort. In this beautiful #fresco from #Pompeii, the couple are sitting together with #Venus holding a flower and #Mars holding her breast.
"May you [#Luna, the Moon] wear a shining face and, the clouds all scattered, fare on with undimmed horns; when you drive your car through the nightly skies."
Seneca, Phaedra 417
#Selene, the Moon, peeks down from the heavens on her nightly course and sometimes she sees handsome men from up there. For #Endymion, she descended from the skies to have a better look at him in his sleep. Creepy or romantic? What do you think?
🏛️ Selene and Endymion #fresco in the House of Ara Massima, #Pompeii
Far be it from us to suggest you visit Pompeii to go on an exploratory phallus-finding mission… but we certainly wouldn’t try to dissuade you either. Just look at that phallus framed by other phalluses! Must be good fortune 🥳
"But having gone down into Hades because of his wife & seeing what sort of things were there, he did not continue to worship #Dionysos, because of whom he was famous, but he thought #Helios to be the greatest of the gods, Helios whom he also addressed as Apollon."
Eratosthenes, Placings Among the Stars 24
🏛 Detail of a #fresco from #Pompeii, today in the Napoli MAN
"He took her hand and spoke thus to her: 'Come, my darling, let us go to bed and take our delight together. [...]'
And sleep with him was a welcome thought to her. So they went to the bed and there lay down."
Homer, Odyssey 8
🏛️ #Mars & #Venus on a silver cup from the House of Menander in #Pompeii, 1st century CE
"Where the milky region is set in a tranquil heaven, lay kindly Venus in her bower, whence night had but lately fled, faint in the rough embrace of her Getic lord [Mars]. About the posts and pillows of her couch swarm a troop of tender Amores."
Statius, Silvae 1.2.51
My review of The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper is now up at Shiny New Books. Warning: this is the third book in a trilogy and it's hard to avoid spoilers for the first two.
In short: read these books, they are excellent. Note trigger warnings for sexual abuse (the central character has been forced into prostitution in ancient Pompeii) and volcanic eruptions.
Time to talk about my latest release! #PompeiiFire is a #dualtimeline#HistoricalFiction#novella of which I am very proud. Researched in person just before the pandemic and released in August of this year, the book has already garnered three awards.
#WordWeavers Do films or theatre play a role in your story?
Absolutely. In #PompeiiFire, Drusilla and Suetonius attend a production of Plautus' "Pseudolas." It gave me an opportunity to talk about social mores in ancient Roman society; men and women were not seated together at most entertainments.
Thrilling conclusion to the Wolf Den trilogy, in which the Vesuvius eruption we've all been waiting for finally happens, but the real story is how life goes on after.
Have a beautiful Day of Aphrodite aka Venus' Day aka Frigg's Day aka Friday 🌹
#Aphrodite-Venus with her iconic top-bow hairstyle as she puts on an anklet or a sandal. The gold of the jewellery and red of her lips really stands out against her dark skin.
🏛️ #Venus statuette with gold jewellery from #Pompeii. Today in the National Archaeological Museum, #Naples
Ares-Mars embraced by his love Aphrodite-Venus with a dog at their feet. The club in his hand is usually part of the iconography of #Herakles so it could also be a fresco depicting #Hercules and Megaera or Deïaneira. Does anyone know if it's Mars of Hercules?
"#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
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!
This week's #MythologyMonday theme is fire and there are two major Greek gods associated with fire: #Hestia, goddess of the hearth, and #Hephaistos, god of smiths.
They represent #fire in two different forms: the sacrificial flame of the hearth as the sacred centre of domestic life and the flame of Hephaistos, source of all arts, and fuel of the funeral pyre. But both could be invoked for the cooking of sacrificial meat or a good meal:
If it did go out, only sacred fire produced by friction, or by bronze burning mirrors drawing fire from the sun, might be used to rekindle it.
A ritual from #Lemnos, the cult centre of #Hephaistos, has all fires on Lemnos extinguished for nine days until new fire is brought from the island of #Delos: