Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths(90)

JOCASTA

Athenian red-figure kylix attributed to the Painter of Oedipus (ca. 470 BCE) depicting Oedipus and the Sphinx, Vatican Museums, inv. 16541.

Sicilian red-figure calyx-krater attributed to the Gabil Gabib Group (ca. 330s BCE) possibly depicting Oedipus, Jocasta and their daughters, Syracuse, Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi, inv. 66557.

Apulian red-figure loutrophoros attributed to an artist close to the Painter of Laodamia (ca. 340 BCE) depicting Alkestis and her children, Basel, Antikenmuseum, inv. S21.

Cabanel, Alexandre (1843), oil on canvas, Oedipus Separating from Jocasta, Capentras, Musée Duplessis.

Toudouze, Edouard (1871), Farewell of Oedipus to the Corpses of his Wife and Sons, Paris, école nationale supérieure des Beaux-arts.


HELEN

Tintoretto (ca. 1550–55), oil on canvas, Leda and the Swan, Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv. 3084.

Leonardo copy, e.g.: da Cesto, Cesare (ca. 1505–10), oil on wood, Leda and the Swan (after Leonardo), Salisbury, Wilton House, Collection of the Earl of Pembroke.

Copy of a lost painting by Michelangelo (after 1530), oil on canvas, Leda and the Swan, London, National Gallery, inv. NG 1868.

Rossetti, Dante Gabriel (1863), oil on panel, Helen of Troy, Liverpool, National Museums.


MEDUSA

Winged gorgoneion, bronze shield apotropaion/decoration (first half of the sixth century BCE), Olympia, Archaeological Museum, inv. B 110.

Athenian red-figure Panathenaic amphora, attributed to the Berlin Painter (ca. 490 BCE), Medusa, Munich, Staatliche Antikensammlungen, inv. 2312.

Athenian red-figure pelike, attributed to Polygnotos (ca. 450–440 BCE), Perseus beheading the sleeping Medusa, New York, Metropolitan Museum, inv. 45.11.1.

Klee, Paul (1939), pencil on paper, Forgetful Angel (Vergesslicher Engel), Bern, Zentrum Paul Klee.

Athenian red-figure kalpis hydria, attributed to the Pan Painter (ca. 460 BCE), Perseus flees with Medusa’s head, London, British Museum, inv. 1873,0820.352.

Apulian red-figure bell krater, attributed to the Tarporley Painter (ca. 400–385 BCE), Athene holding Medusa’s head, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, inv. 1970.237.

Canova, Antonio (1800–06), marble, Perseus Triumphant, Musei Vaticani, inv. 969 and New York, Metropolitan Museum, inv. 67.110.1.

Cellini, Benvenuto (1545–55), bronze, Perseus with the head of Medusa, Florence, Piazza della Signoria, Loggia dei Lanzi.

Garbati, Lucuano (2008), fiberglass and resin, Medusa.

Donatello (1455–60), bronze, Judith and Holofernes, Florence, Palazzo Vecchio.

Gentileschi, Artemisia (1611–12), oil on canvas, Judith slaying Holofernes, Naples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte.

West pediment, Temple of Artemis at Corcyra (ca. 590–580 BCE), limestone, Medusa, Chrysaor and Pegasus, Corfu, Archaeological Museum.


THE AMAZONS

Athenian white-ground alabastron (ca. 480 BCE), attributed to the Group of the Negro Alabastra, Amazon, London, British Museum, inv. 1864,1007.253.

Athenian red-figure volute krater (ca. 450 BCE), attributed to the Painter of the Woolly Satyrs, Amazonomachy, New York, Metropolitan Museum, inv. 07.286.84.

Apulian red-figure volute krater fragment (ca. 330–310 BCE), attributed to the Baltimore Painter, Hippolyta and the Amazons with Heracles, New York, Metropolitan Museum, inv. 19.192.81.1.7,42,46,55.

Athenian black-figure neck amphora, signed by Exekias (ca. 540), Achilles and Penthesilea, London, British Museum, inv. 1836,0224.127.

Athenian black-figure hydria, attributed to the Leagros Group (ca. 510–500 BCE), Achilles carrying the body of Penthesilea, London, British Museum, inv. 1836,0224.128.


CLYTEMNESTRA

Athenian red-figure calyx-krater, attributed to the Dokimasia Painter (ca. 470 BCE), The death of Agamemnon, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, inv. 63.1246.

South Italian red-figure calyx-krater (late fourth century BCE), The death of Agamemnon, St Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum.


EURYDICE

Neide, Emil (1870s), oil on canvas, Orpheus and Eurydice.


PHAEDRA

Red-figure hydria (fifth century BCE), showing Phaedra on a swing, Berlin, Antikensammlung.


MEDEA

Athenian black-figure hydria (ca. 510–500 BCE), attributed to the Leagros Group, Medea and the Rejuvenation of the Ram, London, British Museum, inv. 1843,1103.59.

Lucanian red-figure calyx-krater (ca. 400 BCE), near the Policoro Painter, Escape of Medea/Medea in a Chariot, Cleveland OH, Cleveland Museum of Art, inv. 1991.1.

Noble, Thomas Satterwhite (1867), oil on board, Modern Medea, Cincinnati, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.


PENELOPE

Athenian red-figure skyphos (ca. 440 BCE), attributed to The Penelope Painter, Penelope and Telemachus at her loom, Chiusi, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, inv. 1831.

Cavelier, Jules (1842), marble, Penelope (or Penelope Asleep), Paris, Musée d’Orsay.

Ligare, David (1980), oil on canvas, Penelope, collection of the artist.

Athenian grave stele of Hegeso (late fifth century BCE), marble, Athens, National Archaeological Museum, inv. 3624.

Wheeler, Dora (1886), silk embroidered with silk thread, Penelope Unraveling Her Work at Night, New York, Metropolitan Museum, inv. 2002.230.

Maguire, Marian (2017), acrylic on wood, Penelope weaves and waits.





About the Author


NATALIE HAYNES is the author of six books, including A Thousand Ships, which was a national bestseller and was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She has written and recorded seven series of Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics for the BBC. She appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from 2002 through 2006, where she became the first woman ever nominated for the Perrier Best Newcomer Award. She has been on tour with Stand-Up Classics shows since 2010. Haynes has written for The Times, Independent, Guardian, and Observer. She lives in London.