‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ by Titian c 1521-23 Painting: https://www.titian.org/bacchus-and-ariadne.jsp Description: The pictures shows Ariadne (on left, in blue, red and white dress), looking out to sea, at a ship sailing away in the distance. In the middle of the picture is the riotous god of wine Bacchus, accompanied by a band of his revellers. It is on the island of Naxos, half-way between Crete and Athens. High up in the sky is a ring of stars. CLASSICAL CONTENT Classical content: This is a scene from the myth cycle about Theseus, one of the heroes of ancient Greece, who performed various exploits and was king of Athens. Greek heroes were noted for doing a service to local populations by getting rid of pests such as wild animals or robbers and brigands who were terrorising inhabitants (rather like mediaeval knights slaying dragons). His most famous and unusual exploit was to slay the Minotaur, a beast who was half-man, half bull, who lived in a labyrinth on the island of Crete. Minos, the king of Crete, whose son had been killed during a visit to Athens, in return demanded tribute from the people of Athens every nine years in the form of regular sacrifice of seven young men and seven young women, who sailed to Crete, were placed in the labyrinth and inevitably killed by the Minotaur. Theseus, a prince of Athens, volunteered to go as part of the group, with the intention of slaying the Minotaur. In this, he was helped by Ariadne, princess and daughter of King Minos: she gave him a ball of string to unwind as he went into the labyrinth, so that he could find his way out again. Theseus succeeded in killing the Minotaur, presumably with his bare hands; and fled from Crete with the young Athenian men and women, and also Ariadne. They stopped at the island of Naxos, but Theseus sailed on to Athens without Ariadne. The usual account is that they were lovers and he deliberately abandoned her. But there are different versions, where it is not clear if they were lovers and Theseus may simply have forgotten Ariadne in the turmoil of the situation. Soon after, as it happened, the god Bacchus happened to pass by, with a band of revellers, and Bacchus falls in love with Ariadne. This is the moment in the story captured in the painting. This offers her comfort after her loss, and a new start.
Dionysius was the Greek god of wine and revelry. Bacchus is his Roman name. He was quite a wild god, covering not only wine, but frenzy and abandon. Many of his followers were satyrs (half person, half goat) who were known for wild, unsociable behaviour such as drunkenness and violence. You can see in the painting one of his followers is carrying the leg of an animal, presumably torn away. As a god, there was a cult of Dionysius, and the cult members (Bacchantes) would worship with drunkenness, revelry and frenzy – which is covered in the Greek tragedy ‘The Bacchai’ by Euripides, about a group of Bacchantes near the city of Thebes. Dionysus’ symbolic animal was the leopard: there are two on the left of the painting.
The rest of the story: Theseus sailed on and reached Athens. He had agreed with his father King Aegeus that if the ship returned with him alive, he would change the sail to white, and if not, the ship would still have its black sail. However, in the rush and turmoil of the adventure, Theseus forgot to do this, so the ship sailed to Athens with black sail. His father was watching from a cliff, and when he saw the ship with the black sail, in despair, he threw himself in to the sea and died. And ever since, the sea has been known as the Aegean Sea. Bacchus and Ariadne married and Ariadne became a goddess. Many years later, when Ariadne died, Bacchus made her a constellation in the sky. In another account, Bacchus took the garland worn by Ariadne and flung it into the sky, where it became a constellation. In a third account, Ariadne later wore a crown then placed it in the sky. It is the constellation Corona Borealis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_Borealis#Mythology
THE PAINTING
The painting: It was commissioned by the Duke of Ferrara as part of a set of mythical paintings. The commission originally went to Raphael, but after he died in 1520, it was passed on to Titian.
The painter: Titian was one of the leading painters of the Italian Renaissance. Unlike other leading artists of the Renaissance, who worked in various forms (eg sculpture), Titian only painted. He covered a wide range of topics, including classical and religious, portrait and landscape. He was the outstanding figure in the school of Venice – the scene with Bacchus and Ariadne is on the island of Naxos which at the time was part of the Venetian Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titian
Where to view it: the National Gallery, London Literary reference: John Keats, in his poem ‘Ode To A Nightingale’ (written in London, 1819) says ‘I will fly to thee/Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards’. This may well be a reference to the Titian painting, which came to London in 1806.
READING Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_and_Ariadne
Video: 20 min talk from National Gallery https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-bacchus-and-ariadne MORE CLASSICAL BACKGROUND Classical re-tellings: The story of Theseus, Ariadne and Bacchus is an ancient Greek myth. However, the most well-known accounts are in the Roman poets Catullus and Ovid, from 1st century BC.
Catullus 64: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_64 A short epic, mainly about Peleus (father of Achilles), with a section on Bacchus and Ariadne.
Ovid Metamorphoses, Book VII https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphoses Metamorphoses is a light-hearted history of the world based around myths involving transformation.
Modern re-tellings: A poem ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ (1819) by Leigh Hunt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_and_Ariadne_(poem) A ballet by Roussel (1930).
The myth of Theseus: Theseus is one of the main heroes in Greek myth. He was the patron hero of Athens, and best known for his slaying of the Minotaur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theseus
He grew up in Troezen, about fifty miles from Athens, unsure if his father was King Aegeus or the god Poseidon. When he came of age, he retrieved a sword from beneath a huge rock, thus proving his heroic identity; and set out for Athens, on the way conducting six Labours (like the Twelve of Heracles), ridding the countryside of six people terrorising the locals.
Once in Athens, he encountered his human father King Aegeus and his wife Medea; he slayed the Marathonian Bull; and then the Minotaur.
On return, he became king of Athens and settled down to a long rule. He was still an adventurer and quite mischievous, and had further escapades with his friend Pirithous. They sought to steal the belt of Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons, and were re-paid by an Amazon army attacking Athens; and they sought to kidnap Helen of Sparta (also Troy) and to go to the underworld and kidnap Persephone, wife of Hades.
With time, Theseus mellowed and became a good king. He offered sanctuary to other heroes damaged by life, such as Heracles and Oedipus. And he united Athens with the surrounding countryside of Attica: from that point on, it was a single political unit.
Tragedy awaited him later: his second-wife Phaedra fell in love with his son Hippolytus, with disastrous consequences. And the people finally asked him to leave, so he ended his days in exile, far from Athens.
Is there any truth in the Greek myths ?: On the whole, they will mainly be fictional but they have some hints and reflections of actual events and persons. Most ancient Greek myths are set in the past, in a heroic age, the world of Greece about 1700-1100BC. They are mainly concerned with the life of the aristocracy: local kings and queens; cities; and war.
There probably were people somewhat like Theseus, Helen of Sparta/Troy, Agamemnon, Electra and so on. The main places in myth were real towns/cities: Mycenae, Argos, Sparta, Thebes. And the way of life is probably quite accurate: the dress, the food, the arts, the war. But the stories will be colourful, exaggerated and romanticised tales.
Is there any truth in the Theseus myth ?: The above applies to the story of Theseus: it will be an exaggerated and fantastic tale, based roughly in an actual historical setting.
Oddly, the story of the Minotaur, one of the weirdest and oldest in Greek myth, probably has some historic truth: Crete was a major power about 1500 BC, and Athens, then a minor place, could well have paid tribute to Crete. Also, there were labyrinths on Crete and ‘labyrinth’ is a very old Greek word from about 1500BC.
Myth motifs: In the Theseus stories, there are several motifs common in myth and legend:
-the hero has mixed divine-human parentage and this defines their personality and destiny (see also Heracles, Achilles)
-he does something which proves his heroic identity (retrieving the sword from under the stone – rather like young King Arthur)
- the hero has to confront an evil king, but the king’s daughter helps the hero: see also Medea, daughter of King Aeetes, helping the hero Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece.
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