Representing Mythology: Greek and roman art - Joshua DeVoe

This work depicts the Greek hero Hercules during his battle with the Hydra. The artist uses many lines to accentuate how muscular and strong Hercules is. It's also interesting to note that the artist chooses to draw the hydra in a way that makes it smaller that Hercules, to illustrate the hero overpowering his opponent.

This piece is a masked sculpted to represent the face of the Greek god Dionysus, the god of wine. The mask depicts him as a older, large bearded man, appearing to wear some sort of crown, possibly to signify his status as a god. There seems to be a lot of care put into the sculpting of his beard, as it is the most detailed part of the mask.

This sculpture is made to represent the Greek goddess Hygeia, the goddess of health. The sculpture, overall, has a very smooth look to it, giving her face a sort of soft looking beauty and making her appear eternally young. She also has a slight smile, possibly to demonstrate her positive demeanor.

Yet another piece depicting the Greek hero Hercules, this time killing the rampaging bull in Crete. Similar to the last piece with Hercules, once again he is depicted larger than his foe, this time towering over the wounded bull. It's also interesting to note that the artist chose to have Hercules adorned with the pelt of the lion that he had slain earlier in his trials.

This piece is a sort of collection of images from the life of the Greek hero Achilles. This sculpture very intricately depicts many different images of Achilles. Throughout the sculpture he is depicted as a power muscular man, mostly naked, possibly to demonstrate his supposed invincibility from his legend. The artist even appears to show him in his death, resting at the feet of the other images of his life.

This piece depicts the Roman goddess Venus, the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. One of the most noticeable things about this painting is that Venus is naked, assumably to demonstrate her pure nature and emphasize her natural beauty. She also seems to be noticeably paler than the child at her feet, possibly to make her appear more fragile.

This sculpture was made to represent the Roman goddess Diana, the goddess of the hunt. This sculpture is incredibly detailed and does a great job of making her seem beautiful yet rugged and strong at the same time. Her face is very smooth and she has a smile denoting her kindness, while her clothing shows that she is practical and is used to being in the wilderness.

This sculpture was made to depict the Roman goddess Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and strategy. Noticeably she is made to look strong and formidable by the fact that was depicted in her battle garb, shield and spear in hand. She is also shown with a stern, somewhat harsh look, as if she is analyzing the battlefield or a foe.

This sculpture is made to represent the Roman gods Venus and Adonis, the gods of love and beauty and of vegetation respectively. The sculpture seems to show Adonis attempting to leave and Venus trying to stop him. You can see Adonis attempting to remove her hand from his side, grabbing her wrist. Both noted for their beauty, you can see how smooth and beautiful they are portrayed in this piece, both appearing to have very soft features.

This sculpture represents the Roman gods Pluto and Proserpina, the gods of the underworld and of springtime respectively. Pluto is very clearly depicted as very muscular and strong man, larger than both other subjects in the piece. Not only does he show his power by holding on to Proserpina but he is also stepping over another helpless person, assumably her mother, Ceres.