Asteria is a figure in Greek Mythology. She is thought to be the titaness of the fallen stars and nocturnal oracles such as dreams.
Family:
Family:
- Parents were Koios (Titan of the northern pole, and who's brothers lead South, East and West) and Phoibe (Goddess of bright intellect, and also grandmother to Hecate, Apollo and Artemis. Hecate and Artemis are often related to the Moon)
- A sister called Leto - the Goddess of motherhood.
- Asteria had just one child, Hecate. Hecate is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy. Hecate's father is Perses - Titan of destruction.
- Also known as Brizo
Delos:
There's a myth surrounding Asteria and her relationship to Zeus - God of the sky. It's said that Asteria was beloved by Zeus despite her being married to Perses. In order to escape him and the love he wished to give her, she transformed herself into a quail and jumped from olympus and into the sea. She later morphed into an Island, which was called Asteria to relate to how the island fell from the heavens (much like a falling star). The island is now called Delos. Delos of course resides in Greece.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 21 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Of the daughters of Koios (Coeus), Asteria in the form of a quail (ortux) threw herself into the sea while fleeing a sexual union with Zeus. A polis was originally named Asteria after her: later on it became Delos. The other daughter Leto had relations with Zeus, for which she was hounded by Hera all over the earth. She finally reached Delos and gave birth to Artemis, who thereupon helped her deliver Apollon."
Appearance:
There's very little information on the Appearance of Asteria, as most mythological accounts focus on Asteria's encounter with Zeus rather than her beauty. However, with photography being a visual art form it's important for me to understand how the titaness is represented and so the only way I will be able to do this is by solely looking at paintings rather than both paintings and accounts from the ancient Greek era. Unfortunately there also seems to be little art based on the titaness also.
The Charmer, John William Waterhouse (1911)
This painting by John William Waterhouse is fairly recent in art history, yet could play a key role in my own imagery due to the fact there's little artwork of the titaness from before this time. Waterhouse, an English painter, often uses Greek mythology as the subject for his paintings and so would have become well versed in the personalities and auras that these figures gave. Within this painting we see Asteria charming the fish below her with a Lyre. Waterhouse has painted a very similar scene before in his painting Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus (1892) (below). Within this painting we see the two nymphs that find the head of Orpheus sitting on a very similar rock to the one that Asteria sits upon. The dress is very similar in both colour and style to one of the nymphs, and perhaps most significantly, next to Orpheus' floating head is a lyre that looks very similar to the one that Asteria plays to the fish.
The Lyre was an instrument thought to be created by Hermes, the messenger God, in order to trade with Apollo's 50 cows. Apollo then became the master of the lyre, who then taught Orpheus his skill. After Asteria morphed into the island of Delos it was said to have become a sanctuary for Apollo, and so that is perhaps why we see her as being gifted with the lyre and sending the head of Orpheus to her. She then plays this lyre within The Charmer.
The Lyre was an instrument thought to be created by Hermes, the messenger God, in order to trade with Apollo's 50 cows. Apollo then became the master of the lyre, who then taught Orpheus his skill. After Asteria morphed into the island of Delos it was said to have become a sanctuary for Apollo, and so that is perhaps why we see her as being gifted with the lyre and sending the head of Orpheus to her. She then plays this lyre within The Charmer.
Orpheus was the son of a muse and known for his musical talent. His head being accompanied by the lyre could be seen as a gift to the nymphs. Therefore, perhaps if it is the same that Asteria uses, it is not her power that charms the fish but the lyre of Orpheus - the instrument itself with memory of its owner.
The Charmer, in that sense, then feels like a continuation from Waterhouse's earlier painting Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus.
When looking into the story of Orpheus, his presence seems more justified;
Orpheus’s mother was Calliope, one of the Nine Muses, and she inspired poets. Besides being a poet, Orpheus played the lyre so well that he could not only tame wild beasts with his music, but make rocks and trees move from their places to follow him. One unlucky day his beautiful wife Eurydice trod on a sleeping snake, which woke and bit her. She died of the poison, so Orpheus boldly went down to Tartarus, playing his lyre, to fetch her away. He charmed Charon into ferrying him across the Styx without payment; he charmed Cerberus into whining and licking his feet; he charmed the Furies into laying down their whips and listening to him, while all punishments ceased; he charmed Queen Persephone into giving him the secret password for the Pool of Memory; he even charmed King Hades into freeing Eurydice and letting her follow him up on earth again. Hades made only one condition: that Orpheus must not look behind him until Eurydice was safely back in the sunlight. So he went off, singing and playing happily. Eurydice followed; but at the last minute Orpheus feared that Hades might be tricking him, forgot the condition, looked anxiously behind him— and lost her forever. When Zeus made his son Dionysus an Olympian, Orpheus refused to worship the new god, whom he accused of setting mortals a bad example by his wild behaviour. Dionysus angrily ordered a crowd of Maenads— drunken women— to chase Orpheus. They caught him without his lyre, cut off his head, which they threw into a river, and tore him into little pieces. The Nine Muses sadly collected these and buried them at the foot of Mount Olympus, where the nightingales ever afterwards sang more sweetly than anywhere else. Orpheus’s head floated singing down the river to the sea, and fishermen rescued it for burial on the island of Lemnos. Zeus then let Apollo put Orpheus’s lyre in the sky as the constellation still called the Lyre.
Graves, Robert. Greek Gods and Heroes : For Young Readers, RosettaBooks, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucsl/detail.action?docID=5503274.
When looking into the story of Orpheus, his presence seems more justified;
Orpheus’s mother was Calliope, one of the Nine Muses, and she inspired poets. Besides being a poet, Orpheus played the lyre so well that he could not only tame wild beasts with his music, but make rocks and trees move from their places to follow him. One unlucky day his beautiful wife Eurydice trod on a sleeping snake, which woke and bit her. She died of the poison, so Orpheus boldly went down to Tartarus, playing his lyre, to fetch her away. He charmed Charon into ferrying him across the Styx without payment; he charmed Cerberus into whining and licking his feet; he charmed the Furies into laying down their whips and listening to him, while all punishments ceased; he charmed Queen Persephone into giving him the secret password for the Pool of Memory; he even charmed King Hades into freeing Eurydice and letting her follow him up on earth again. Hades made only one condition: that Orpheus must not look behind him until Eurydice was safely back in the sunlight. So he went off, singing and playing happily. Eurydice followed; but at the last minute Orpheus feared that Hades might be tricking him, forgot the condition, looked anxiously behind him— and lost her forever. When Zeus made his son Dionysus an Olympian, Orpheus refused to worship the new god, whom he accused of setting mortals a bad example by his wild behaviour. Dionysus angrily ordered a crowd of Maenads— drunken women— to chase Orpheus. They caught him without his lyre, cut off his head, which they threw into a river, and tore him into little pieces. The Nine Muses sadly collected these and buried them at the foot of Mount Olympus, where the nightingales ever afterwards sang more sweetly than anywhere else. Orpheus’s head floated singing down the river to the sea, and fishermen rescued it for burial on the island of Lemnos. Zeus then let Apollo put Orpheus’s lyre in the sky as the constellation still called the Lyre.
Graves, Robert. Greek Gods and Heroes : For Young Readers, RosettaBooks, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucsl/detail.action?docID=5503274.
Yet it's still difficult to understand why Waterhouse chose Asteria to play this role. We can make links and assumptions yet I find no facts. Perhaps Asteria is there as the island Delos, in solitude. She's charming fish and she dived into the sea from Olympus so perhaps there's a link with her relationship with water.
We can, however, note her appearance. Wearing a blue, off the shoulder and unshapely dress, she represents wisdom and truth. The richness of the blue in comparison to the very natural colours that surround the scenery around her suggests that she is an outsider to the location, which of course she is as she is a titaness who lived in Olympus. Yet the greenery on the print of her dress could imply that she is becoming one with the place - which makes me think that this is her as the island Delos. The silver arm band however reminds us of her status.
She's also depicted with black hair, giving her a slight sense of mystery and links to her relationship with the night and dreams.
Her body language shows relaxation, yet her face looks almost concerned or concentrated - or perhaps daydreaming. She is shown as skilful, for she doesn't have to look at her instrument to play it. And as she plays, her fingers are painted as elegant and feminine.
Jupiter and Asteria, Marco Liberi (1690–1700)
This painting shows Zeus (or Roman equivalent, Jupiter) as an Eagle making sexual advances on Asteria. It tells the story of why Asteria chose to dive down to earth as a quail and leave Olympus. I find it odd that through these advances that she is visibly uncomfortable with (she bats the bird with her arm) she is smiling, her face looks unbothered in comparison to her body. She is dressed in a loose white cloth, more of a shawl or scarf than a piece of clothing. The white represents purity and innocence, and the little fabric there is makes her seem vulnerable to zeus despite being a titaness.
Because of her nudity, however, we see her physical form is very muscular and strong. Asteria was considered incredibly beautiful, as Zeus had his eye on those in Olympus with outstanding beauty, and it shows that depictions of beauty from when this was painted in comparison to today have changed a lot.
Through this forceful encounter, Asteria sits on a blue globe with stars scattered upon it. Perhaps this could be a representation of the nocturnal oracles she has power over. Her name translates to 'of the stars' and so this imagery fits her well.
Her hand lies upon an open book of music, she has clearly been disturbed from time alone by Zeus. However, we then get yet another reference to music within imagery of Asteria. Personally, my mind went immediately to lullabies for this image.
In terms of appearance, Asteria is depicted with curly hair that's in an updo and decorated with white pearl looking jewels. Other than that, she looks very natural and glowy due to the way Liberi painted the highlights of her skin.
Two-handled jar (amphora) with Hippodameia preparing for her wedding,
The Kadmos Painter (425 B.C.)
This two handled jar made in the Ancient Greek period depicts Hippodameia, the Queen of Pisa, readying to marry Pelops, the soon to be king of Pisa. In this preparation we see a variety of Gods and Goddesses, such as Eros, the God of love and sex, and Iaso, the Goddesses of recovering from illness. Asteria is also included in this depiction. We see her sitting down, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders. Below her image is a lyre, a harp-like instrument thought to have been created by the messenger God, Hermes. Again, given the link between Delos and Apollo it makes sense that she would be painted with a lyre. She's draped in layers of cloth with a variety of pattern detailing. The patterns drawn help show the movement and fluidity of the cloth, helping create this image of an ethereal goddess.
https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisAsteria.html
http://www.artnet.com/artists/louis-fran%C3%A7ois-poisson/zeus-erscheint-asteria-in-gestalt-eines-adlers-iyC5cx7attuN8BJjlhuN6w2
http://www.artnet.com/artists/louis-fran%C3%A7ois-poisson/zeus-erscheint-asteria-in-gestalt-eines-adlers-iyC5cx7attuN8BJjlhuN6w2
Asteria -Titaness of the Fallen Stars
Reviewed by BethCorbett
on
December 19, 2019
Rating:
Reviewed by BethCorbett
on
December 19, 2019
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