The mythology of Greece and Rome, with special reference to its use in art

by Otto Seemann

Far more extensive was the veneration of Victoria at Rome, a fact for which the warlike character of the people easily accounts. Her chief shrine was on the Capitol, where successful generals were wont to erect statues of the goddess in remembrance of their exploits. The most magnificent statue of this kind was one erected by Augustus in fulfilment of a vow after his victory at Actium. The proper festival of the goddess took place on the 12th of April.

In both Greek and Roman art Victory was represented as a winged goddess. She is distinguished by a palm branch and laurel garland, which were the customary rewards of bravery among the ancients. Large statues of the goddess are seldom met with, though she is often depicted on vases, coins, and small bronzes. The museum of Cassel has a small bronze statue of the goddess, whilst a fine alto-relievo in terra-cotta exists in the Royal Collection at Munich (Fig. 29).

6. Iris.—Iris was originally a personification of the rainbow, but she was afterwards converted into the swift messenger of the gods, the rainbow being, as it were, a bridge between earth and heaven. In this character she makes her appearance in Homer, but, later still, she was again transformed into a special attendant of Hera. Her swiftness was astounding; “Like hail or snow,” says Homer, “that falls from the clouds,” she darts from one end of the world to the other—nay, dives to the hidden depths of the ocean and into the recesses of the lower world, executing the commands of the gods.

In art Iris was represented with wings, like Nice, to whom she, in many respects, bears a strong resemblance. She may be distinguished from the latter, however, by her herald’s staff (Caduceus). A very much injured specimen, from the east pediment of the Parthenon at Athens, is now preserved in the British Museum.

7. Hebe (Juventas).—Hebe was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, and, according to her natural interpretation, represented the youthful bloom of Nature. In the fully developed mythology of the Greeks she appears as the cupbearer of the gods, to whom, at meals, she presents the sweet nectar. It may at first seem strange that the daughter of the greatest of the divinities of Greece should be relegated to so inferior a position. This, however, is easily explained by the old patriarchal custom of the Greeks, by which the young unmarried daughters, even in royal palaces, waited at table on the men of the family and the guests.

In post-Homeric poetry and legend Hebe no longer appears as cupbearer of the gods, the office having been assigned to Ganymedes. This was either in consequence of the promotion of the son of the King of Troy, or on account of Hebe’s marriage with the deified Heracles.

Hebe occupies no important place in the religious system of the Greeks; she seems to have been chiefly honoured in connection with her mother Hera, or now and then with Heracles.

Fig. 30.—Hebe. From Antonio Canova.

Juventas, or Juventus, is the corresponding deity of the Romans; but, as was the case with so many others, they contrived to bring her into a more intimate connection with their political life by honouring in her the undying and unfading vigour of the state. She had a separate chapel in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.