MINTHE

oil on canvas (40 x 80 cm.)

€ 650,00

MINTHE (or Mintha) was a Naiad Nymph of Mount Minthe in Elis (southern Greece) who was loved by the god Haides. When she claimed to be superior to Persephone, the goddess transformed into a mint plant.

"Near Pylos, towards the east, is a mountain named after Minthe, who, according to myth, became the concubine of Haides, was trampled under foot by Kore (Core) [Persephone], and was transformed into garden-mint, the plant which some call hedyosmos. Furthermore, near the mountain is a precinct sacred to Haides."   Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 14 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.)

"Mint (Mintha), men say, was once a maid beneath the earth, a Nymphe of Kokytos (Cocytus), and she lay in the bed of Aidoneus [Hades]; but when he raped the maid Persephone from the Aitnaian hill [Mount Etna in Sicily], then she complained loudly with overweening words and raved foolishly for jealousy, and Demeter in anger trampled upon her with her feet and destroyed her. For she had said that she was nobler of form and more excellent in beauty than dark-eyed Persephone and she boasted that Aidoneus would return to her and banish the other from his halls: such infatuation leapt upon her tongue. And from the earth spray the weak herb that bears her name."   Oppian, Halieutica 3. 485 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd A.D.)

"Persephone of old was given grace to change a woman's [Mintha's] form to fragrant mint."   Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 728 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.)

source: http://www.theoi.com

NYMPH NAIAD / NINFA NAIADE

oil on canvas (50 x 100 cm)

PRIVATE COLLECTION

THE NAIADES were fresh-water Nymphs who inhabited the rivers, streams, lakes, marshes, fountains and springs of the earth. They were immortal, minor divinities who were invited to attend the assemblies of the gods on Mount Olympos.

The Naiades, along with Artemis, were regarded as the divine nurses of the young, and the protectors of girls and maidens, overseeing their safe passage into adulthood. Similarly Apollon and the River-Gods (fathers of the Naiades) were the patron gods of boys and youths.

Many of the Naiades married local kings and played a prominent role in the genealogies of the royal families of myth. Others, such as the beautiful Naiad daughters of Asopos, were loved by the gods. They often gave their names to towns, cities and islands, and as such were most likely regarded as the goddess-protectors of the community's water supply, which usually consisting of a spring, stream-fed fountain, or well.

The Naiades were depicted in ancient art as beautiful, young women, either seated, standing or reclining beside their springs, and holding a hydria (water jug) or branch of lush foliage.

source: http://www.theoi.com