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This is the Last post on John William Waterhouse. This one will focus on Greek myths and women.  Its a real bummer that a Romanticism artist made lots of Greek artworks. This subject is common for the enemies of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Still, Waterhouse took this classical subject matter with a Romanticism twist. You know, most of Waterhouse subject matter is depiction of women. Unlike his contemporaries, he is not judgmental about women. He shows different faces of them without succumbing to petty moralism.Now that this lil analysis is over, lets just get the show on the road.

The first mythical Greek maiden is Circe (1911). Lets see, her cute name is Greek for falcon. From what I know, falcons are good hunting birds. It makes sense considering what she does to all men who land on her island. In the Odysseus, she is described as the loveliest of all immortals. There are different account to her lineage. However, it is my belief that she is the daughter of Hecate. Hecate is a tri-form goddess of witchcraft and magic. Considering all of Circe's knowledge of spells and potions it makes sense that she is Hecate's lil girl. Well, basically Circe transforms into animals all who offend her or try to hurt her. She does this via potions. In other accounts, Circe's potions have the power to bring people back to from the dead (and they even carry the power of immortality). One time her son (from Odysseus) accidentally killed his father. Circe brought Odysseus back to life with her magic. Frankly, there is not much genuine intel on Circe. She was not that popular of an immortal. Most depictions focused on Odysseus. She was just there as an enemy to be defeated.

Well, as for Waterhouse, he always felt attracted to strong women. Most of the women he paints (although sometimes in a bind) bear it with fortitude. Here we see Circe meditating on her potions. On top of the table, we see a papyrus scroll with some formulas. The chair has the shape of a falcon (like the true meaning of her name). There is a glass container with a red potion. She is clustered inside her environment. The red dress is for voluptuousness (you do remember her description in Odysseus story). IF you ask me, that shade of red goes well with the blue curtain and the red potion.

The next painting is called "The Charmer". Basically, a Greek maiden is charming fishes using Apollo's lire. There is nothing else to this painting. Still, it is pretty interesting the shades of blue in the water complementing the girl's dress. 

The next painting is called Miranda. She is the Greek Goddess whose symbol is the feminine sign. Here this golden haired goddess is looking at the tempest by the sea. She looks very pretty with the rising wind. I think that she is also from the windy series of Waterhouse. You can see her lil lace fluttering about. Bad weather was a common theme in Romanticism. Here we have a Romanticim environment with a classical goddess.

The next lovely Greek painting comes from the Odysseus. Its called "Penelope and her Suitors" . Here the noteworthy wife ,Penelope, is working on her sewing. She is doing this to keep her suitors at bay. This story shows what happens to wealthy widows after their husbands die (or in her case disappear). Its a real bummer... In those days, there was a lot of pressure on widows to remarry as soon as their husband showed signs of being dead. Without a husband, they where left helpless (after all, the public life was deemed a man's world in Greece). It would have been extremely hard for a women to  get by in an ancient Greek society without her husband. Ok, here Penelope is in the midst of cutting a string. She is using her mouth to sever the thread. In front of her, there are two servants helping her out with the loom. By the window, there are four men. The first is simply staring. The one next to him is offering Penelope fancy Jewelery. Another is handing her a cute bouquets of Red and Pink roses. The last one is a bard singing a Serenade to Penelope's beauty. These are the classical gifts that men offered to women (even in this day and age). The lil scenery outside the window shows the walls of Odysseus's palace. Its a pretty big place. I think the dress colors are just for decoration. The pinks, the purples and the blue and red goes well with the red wall mosaics. These mosaics inside the room show epic scenes.

The next one is called "Sweet Summer" . Here a young Greek maiden is enjoying the summer in her Garden. She has a lil pink flower in her hand. Based on her open shirt, she must be taking in the warm rays of the sun. Her pose is quite naturalistic. Near her, there is a lovely black panther fountain. You can see the Doric columns in the background. Its a pretty nice rendering of a Greek garden.

The next painting is called "The Siren". As you all know, a siren is a mythological monster that lures sailors to her rocks using her voice. In such a terrible terrain, the sailor's ship is broken and most drown. In this one, a sailor actually made it to the sitting post of one of the sirens. The young sailor is still under the charm of the Siren. The Siren looks down, disdainfully, upon him. Waterhouse's siren looks like a regular women except for her fish legs. She  is complimenting her beautiful voice with a harp (she probably got it from one of the sunken ships). I don't know why I get the feeling that she is going to devour the boy. You know, this Siren and a Mermaid painting are the only two female nudes of Waterhouse. Its a real bummer... It has nothing to do with moralism or a new Popist doctrine (or a modern decree). Waterhouse decided this on his own. I guess, like Vermeer, Waterhouse respected women. He did not felt like portraying them in the nude, needlessly. 

The next painting is called "Circe Invidiosa" (1892) or Envious Circe. This scene is taken from Ovid's Methamorphosis. Basically, Glaucus had asked Scylla to marry him. Scylla rejected him, thus he went to Circe for help. Circe instead of helping Glaucus went to curse Scylla. Circe had fallen in love with Glaucus, thus she went to destroy her rival. In this scene, Circe is poisoning the waters that Scylla used to bath in. Beneath the water, you can see Scylla starting to turn into a monster. Its very neat how Circe is walking on top of the water (Jesus style). The green liquid is permeating into the water. The way her head is turned (and that glare) is very scary. She was really jealous...

The above painting shows Circe offering a cup to Odysseus. She is also holding up her magic wand.  Behind her, there is a mirror showing the reflection of Odysseus. She looks quite epic in her so triumphant , so arrogant. Her lion throne is very interesting. There is a wild boar resting next to her. All over the floor, there are dead flowers. 

The next one is another depiction of "Gather Yeh Rosebuds while ye may". This one is being perpetrated by Greek maidens by a meadow. Gathering flowers was a typical pastoral scene in Greek plays. If I remember correctly, Orpheus girl was smitten by a snake while gathering flowers.

This one shows the Danaides (1904). This painting is quite bizarre. The king of Argus ordered his 50 daughters to slay their husbands on their wedding night in obedience to a prophecy. All did it, except one. Now she was punished by pouring water into a basin with a hole endlessly, until it was full. Its a real bummer these things of prophecy and fighting against fate. In another version, the king did not want to go to war with his brother. However, he still wanted to get rid of him for good. Thus, he had arranged that his 50 daughters marry his 50 sons.

On the wedding night, he gave each of his daughters a dagger to slay their husbands. All went through with the murder, except for one that was punished as above. Before she was taken in, Aphrodite intervened on her behalf. She saved the girl and her husband slew her father. The daughters that had slain their husbands became the Danaides. Here the murderesses keep pouring endlessly water into the basin. This scene takes place in Tartarus. The place that the Danaides were taken by the furies for the murder of their husbands.

In Waterhouse's painting we see the Danaides all weary pouring water into the basin. That Basin has a lot of holes. Its pretty interesting the scary face on the basin. Its a real bummer that story. After all, in the ancient Greek times it was bad for maidens to disobey their father. However, it was even worse to slay their husband. Through marriage, the Danaides had cease to belong to their parent's family. Thus, it was wicked their obedience to their father.

This painting is called "Diogenes". He was a Greek Philosopher. He believed in teaching by example and despised the debauchery of Athens. He lived like a beggar and slept in a Tub. Here Diogenes is resting inside his "home". Meanwhile, three Greek maidens are looking at him. The blonde one is just curious. However, the one in blue is laughing at Diogenes. That philosopher looks so stoic and serious. Its interesting the contrast between the rich sunny lifestyle and the humble life of the sage. All the sage has is a scroll and a lil idol.

The next painting is called "Echo and Narcissus". Originally, Echo loved Narcissus. When he rejected the nymph she became an Echo (literary) to escape from her pain. In her new form, she asked Aphrodite to curse Narcissus. Aphrodite asked Cupid to make Narcissus fall in love with something that could not love him back. Thus, Cupid had Narcissus fall in love with his own reflection. In this painting, we see both ill fated lovers. Echo is still echoing Narcissus's name. Narcissus is focused on his own reflection. Near Narcissus there are Narcissus flowers. Echo has a gently pink dress. Narcissus is red with passion. He is wearing a laurel reef of victory. 

This is another Circe painting. Again, she is around her formulas and ingredients. She is gazing upon a lil tiger. You know, this kinda looks like a study for the first painting of this post. The pose and the surroundings is very similar. In this one, we see more basins and a forest background.

The above painting is called " The Awakening of Adonis" (1900). Adonis was a real hot stud that was beloved by both Aphrodite and Persephone. Half the year he spends it dead with Persephone,  the other alive with Aphrodite. Here Adonis is just coming back to life. Aphrodite is looming over him while her son and his pals play sweet music. They are inside a pretty garden. Lil doves are passing by... Dove is the bird symbol of Aphrodite. The entire scene is sweet and youthful, like spring.

This painting is called "Destiny" . Its interesting the mirror in the painting. In the real world, Destiny is about to drink the veil. In the mirror, she has already drank. The reflection is quite interesting. We see the before and after. Well, this painting could be medieval... Still destiny is a Greek thing.

This pretty painting is called " Flora". Basically, a Greek maiden is resting near a shrine adorned with flowers. Its a real bummer the simplicity of this painting...Its almost like a historical genre scene.

The next painting is called " Jason and Medea". Medea gave Jason an ointment to help him recover the Golden Fleece from the fire breathing bull. In this scene, Medea is mixing the potion for Jason. Both are hiding in a forest. Jason here looks interesting with his armor and spear. Near Medea we see a boiling platter. 

The next painting is called " A Greek Play". Its not a Greek play per say. Rather a maiden is looking at a Greek play. She looks cute with her fan. Around her, the audience is commenting on the scene before them. Its an implied play at the auditorium. You know, plays where popular during Greek times.

The next painting is called "Hamadryad" . A dryad is a type of nymph. The Hamadryad is a dryad bonded to a particular tree (from which they where born from). If their three dies, the dryad dies with it. In this particular painting, a Hamadryad is being lured out by the sound of music being played by Pan. You know, the half human half ram deity. Its a typical mythological forest scene. Now that I think about it... this one is also a female nude.., Oh well, that makes three thus far.

The next painting shows a mermaid combing out her hair. Next to her, there is a plate filled with sea shells. She looks real pretty addressing the viewer. I think she is inside her grotto. Her scaly tail looks quite realistic. Other than that, we have a regular looking reef cave scenery. 5 stars for Waterhouse.

This one is called "A Naiad" (1905). A Naiad is a fresh water river nymph. Their rivers are said to have prophetic powers. So here, a Naiad is looking upon a forest dweller. These forest dwellers became more common as the wealth of Athens increased. They despised the corruption in the city. Thus, they went to live in the forest as a shepherd or a bard. This one with a leopard skin is sleeping near the Naiad river. He might have a prophecy real soon. The scenery is basically a forest and a lake.

The next painting is taken from Ovid's Metamorphosis. Its called "Apollo and Daphne" . Basically, Apollo was flying his carriage and thus saw Daphne combing her hair near the water. Daphne was a pretty nymph. He fell in love. The problem was that she hated Apollo's guts. He did not take no for an answer; so her started chasing after her. Eventually, Daphne asked her father to save her from Apollo. To keep her safe, her father turned her into a Laurel tree. In this moment, Daphne has started to turn into a Laurel tree as Apollo finally catches up to her. Apollo is focused on her frightened expression. He has yet to realize that she is turning into a laurel tree. Well, this incident happened while Apollo was a young God. After loosing his loved one he wore her Laurel crown to always remember her. He was a slave to his passions and thus lost the girl he desired. Had he been less crazy about it then might have been able to woo Daphne( this is an unlikely scenario cause Daphne was struck by a leaden arrow). Its interesting the Contrast between Daphne and Apollo. Her dark colors show revulsion and fear. Apollo's red is for passion and love. He has a sure step about him. Ok, as for symbols, Apollo only has his lire to work with. Scenery, we have we have the laurel tree, the river and a lil mountain.

The next painting is called "Ariadne". Ariadne lived in the Island of Minos. She gave Theseus a thread to make his way through the minotaur maze. In this one, Ariadne is resting in her garden. She has two leopards sleeping with her. Those are some fancy pets. In the background, we see Theseus's ships arriving. The scenery in the garden is not half bad.

This "Boreas" is another windy painting. Basically, a maiden with a veil has been bathed by the wind.

The next painting is called Flora. Basically, a Greek maiden is gathering flowers. There is nothing else to it. The brushstrokes are very loose.

The next painting is called "Flora and the Zephyrs" (1898). This painting shows Zephyrs of the Wind and Flora the flower Goddess. Zephyrs looks cool floating about Flora and her pals. This painting is really cool with so much movement. Its cute how Zephyrs is putting a garland of white roses around Flora.

This one is called "Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus". Basically, Orpheus had been slain by all his fan girls. The nymphs found only his head intact next to his lire. In this scene, his head and lire is passing by the water nymphs. Both nymphs look very pretty. Orpheus's head is also gorgeous. Their dress is pretty nice.

This painting is called "Psyche Opening the Door into Cupids Garden". Psyche is the wife of Cupid. Psyche at one time was worshiped over Aphrodite. The Goddess got jealous so she got Cupid to curse her. Cupid sent his arrows. However, he accidentally shot himself. He fell in love with Psyche. To keep her safe, he took her to his garden. He kept a mask on himself to sleep with her (to keep his identity a secret). In this painting, Psyche has just arrived into Cupid's garden. She is wearing a pink dress and has a red rose (given to her by Cupid). She looks cute with her red hair. Her name means spirit. She is a representation of the human soul.

This one is called " Psyche Opening the Golden Box" . One can easy draw a parallel with Pandora opening her box. When Psyche opened hers she entered a death like sleep. She had been forbidden from opening this box. However, this was the last trail from Aphrodite in order to prove she was worthy of Cupid. In this state, Psyche could never be with Cupid. Cupid seeing her mother's trap went to speak with Zeus. After speaking with him, Zeus agreed to make Psyche a Goddess. Cupid had only one child with Psyche called Voluptas (or pleasure). Anyhow, Waterhouse has Psyche opening the box. You can already see the nauseous gases sipping out. Its cute how she is peeping inside. She is in the darkest forest. Near her, there are some lil flowers. It really is quite the pretty painting.

The next painting is called "Sleep and his half brother Death" (1874). You know, I heard that they where twins. Oh well...Sleep is called Hypnos and his brother is Thanatos. Ok, Thanatos is the boy in the darkness. He has the shadow of death , aka algor mortis. Meaning, he is starting to get that greenish color. His legs also look stiff. Next to Thanatos there is a lire. I suppose the lire is there to contrast with his brother's flutes. Aside from the Lire, Thanatos is sporting the laurel leafs of victory. It makes sense cause death triumphs over all.

As for Hypno, he looks so full of life. He has so much color in his cheeks. His is the refreshing sleep. While his brother is the eternal sleep. Hypno has some poppy flowers. Poppy flowers are used to derive opium. Opium is a good sleep tonic , thus is a good symbol for Hypno. Its a bummer that Hypno is resting hs head on Thanatos. I guess we all sleep while using our dead as a pillow...creepy. Well, the place is a regular Greek bedroom. Further from Thanatos, we see an intense stand  and an open window. It is night time...

Well, we have mermaids. Here Waterhouse painted a merman. He looks kinda moody. The brushstrokes are seriously loose. I think he got stranded on the beach. Toward the far left, I see a human looking at the merman. In the beach, I see two dogs (?). This one is weird.

The next cutie is called Undine. Undine is a water nymph. From what I know, Undine would loose her immortality if she slept with a man. She did fall in love. However, one day she came home and found him with another woman. She cursed him with sleep apnea (i.e your automatic system forgets to have you breathe while you sleep). Here the nymph in the fountain is lamenting her ill luck. She lost immortality for nothing. Look at her mournful expression... Behind her, you can half see her lover getting out of the stables with the other woman. He seems alarmed by the curse that she is invoking.  Her long curly blonde hair is very pretty.

This one is "Hylas and the Nymphs" (1896). Hylas was the companion of Herakles. All the nymphs of the lake had fallen in love with him. They lured him to the water. He either drowned or is now living as a very happy man. Here we see all the nymphs looking at Hylas. Two of them are pulling him into the water. They all look really pretty. All pale nymphs look individualized. Since Waterhouse sported realism, its a good a guess as any that these pale maidens existed in the real world.

The next painting is called "Listen to my Sweet Pipping". So basically, a lil nude boy is playing the pipe for a lady. She is resting casually on top of the grass. Around them, there is nature. It is truly quite the lovely painting.

The next painting is called " Maidens Picking Flowers by a Stream". The one in the foreground is more defined than the others in the background. The scenery is rather pretty with all the flowers. 

The next painting is called "Pandora". Here Pandora is opening her box. Inside, the pestilence is getting out. Its interesting the blueish color of her skin. The box is golden and luxurious. Her blue dress is dark and mysterious. You remember, Pandora was a gift to the male humans. When she opened her box death came. All that was left was hope. Sounds cute...

This one is "Thisbe aka the Listener" (1909).  Thisbe had a lover boy that lived in the next room. She always spoke with him through a hole in the wall. Here she is listening through the wall. Her red dress is very pretty. She has laid down her needlework to listen.

The next one is "Ulysses and the Sirens". Basically, Ulysses wanted to hear the Sirens. Thus, he had his soldiers tie him up. These Sirens are a bit different from the fish sirens we come to know. These ones have bird forms. They look rather creepy pecking about. The ship looks a lot like a genuine ancient Greek ship. If you notice, the soldiers have different colored rags around their head to still the sound of the sirens.

This is the last one for now. Here we have Lamia in her Greek colors. This cutie is looking at her reflection in the mirror. She came out very pretty. You can see her removing the scales off her hair. The pink dress is very pretty. Gentle, as a snake.Yaw... what a fine nap. In any case, this painting deserves 5 star rating. I hope that you like the second half of these Greek paintings of Waterhouse. I hope that you had a lot of fun reading it.