ÿþ<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head> <meta name="author" content="Frederick John Kluth"/> <meta name="description" content="Three goddesses personifying charm, grace, and beauty in the ancient Greek culture."/> <meta name="keywords" content="charity, charm, grace, beauty, women, woman, Greece, Greek, art, symbol, fjkluth"/> <style type="text/css" media="screen"> h2 {color: red; text-align: center} img.photo { float: left; margin-right: 20px;} </style> <title>The Three Graces in Ancient Greece</title> </head> <body> <p><img class="photo" src="logo.gif" width="200" height="150" alt="Logo of The Role of Women in the Art of Ancient Greece"/></p> <p><a href="index.html">RWAAG Home</a>, Graces--></p> <h2>The Three Graces in Ancient Greece</h2> <p>Advertisement:</p> <p><a href="grepar30.html">Statues and Jewelry for the Three Graces(Charities or Nymphs)</a></p> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-0012620521126070"; /* Goddesses */ google_ad_slot = "1441480835"; google_ad_width = 300; google_ad_height = 250; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <p><a href="sguide.html">Shop in a catalog of almost everything</a></p> <p><a href="grepw30.html">Buy Greek items on Amazon.com</a></p> <p><a href="grepq36.html">Discounts, Sales, Specials, and Savings available from offers on the Internet</a></p> <h2>The Three Graces in Ancient Greece</h2> <p>The Graces, or Charities as they were also called, were personifications of charm, grace, and beauty. Most often they were the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome. Three graces, Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thaleia are most frequently named. Social intercourse, manners, and culture were their realm and they were obvious associates of the Muses. Early images showed them clothed, but they eventually were almost always portrayed nude.</p> <p>Hesiod <cite>Theogany</cite> 63: "There are (the Muses) bright dancing places and beautiful homes, and beside them the Graces and Himerus (Desire) live [65] in delight."</p> <p>Hesiod <cite>Theogany</cite> 907:"And Eurynome, the daughter of Ocean, beautiful in form, bore him three fair-cheeked Charites (Graces), Aglaea, and Euphrosyne, and lovely Thaleia, [910] from whose eyes as they glanced flowed love that unnerves the limbs: and beautiful is their glance beneath their brows."</p> <p>Hesiod <cite>Theogany</cite> 907:"And Hephaestus, the famous Lame One, made Aglaea, youngest of the Graces, his buxom wife."</p> <p>Homer <cite>Odyssey</cite> 18.192: "With balm she first made fair her beautiful face, with balm ambrosial, such as that wherewith Cytherea, of the fair crown, anoints herself when she goes into the lovely dance of the Graces;". The term in Greek 'ÇÁ¹µÄ±¹' is related to the Greek word 'ÇÁ¹É', 'touch the surface of a body slightly' and is derived from Indo-European, 'ghri-', 'to smear over'. Obviously this is related to the term 'annoint'. </p> <p>Homer <cite>Odyssey</cite> 6.17: "hard by slept two hand-maidens, gifted with beauty by the Graces,..."</p> <p>Homer <cite>Odyssey</cite> 8.364: "There the Graces bathed her and anointed her with [365] immortal oil, such as gleams upon the gods that are forever."</p> <p>Daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, -- Graces, Charities in Greek '§±Á¹ÄµÂ' from Indo-European 'k-', 'to like, wish, desire':</p> <ul> <li>Aglaia - ‘³»±¹·½, splendor from Indo-European 'gel-2', 'bright'.</li> <li>Euphrosyne - •ÅÆÁ¿ÃŽ·½, cheerful from Indo-European 'gwhren-', 'to think'</li> <li>Thalia - ˜±»¹·½, the blooming one from Indo-European 'dhal-', 'to bloom'</li> </ul> <p>There is also Charis, '§±Á¹Â', the wife of Hephaetus in the Illiad. But in the Odyssey the wife of Hephaetus is Aphrodite. Hesiod called the wife of Hephaetus Aglaia. It seems as though the concept of grace was one and then later tripled and that these various references reflect that fact. The explanation of the number three depends upon the fact that a ritual in the distant past needed to be repeated three times. In the Mycenaean culture there were three classes of people and each class had to be treated seperately in a ritual. The tripartate goddesses appear to result from the adoption of the goddesses from the Mycenaean culture.</p> <p>Though the Graces are three in number there are many more qualities that contribute to a pleasant social event than three. The names of the goddesses identified with the graces help to describe what made up a pleasant social event. On the Florence 81948 (Vase) there are a number of goddesses listed which could be graces:</p> <ul> <li>Eudaimonia -- goodess of happiness)</li> <li>Harmonia -- goddess of harmony)</li> <li>Paidia -- goddess of play)</li> <li>Eurynoe -- the goddess of making a space for dancing</li> <li>Pannychis -- Night Festivity</li> <li>Chrysothemis -- goddess of golden custom (traditional festivities?)</li> <li>Hygieia -- goddess of good health</li> <li>Pandaisia -- goddess of festivity</li> <li>Eutychia -- the goddess of luck</li> </ul> <p>Different Graces seem to have been recognized in different cities:</p> <ul> <li>Athens <ul> <li>Auxo -- ‘P¾} -- goddess of growth</li> <li>Hegemone -- ‰³µ¼y½· -- goddess of guidance </li> <li>Peitho --  µ¹¸} -- goddess of persuasion</li> </ul></li> <li>Sparta <ul> <li>Cleta -- š»·Ä± -- goddess of summoning </li> <li>Pasithea --  ±Ã¹¸s±-- goddess of the spreading spirit</li> </ul></li> <li>Thebes <ul> <li>Pasithea --  ±Ã¹¸s±-- goddess of the spreading spirit</li> <li>Cale -- š±»· -- goddess of invocation</li> <li>Euphrosyne -- •ÅÆÁ¿ÃŽ·½ -- goddess of cheerfulness</li> </ul></li> </ul> <p>A review of this list suggests a comparison with the Maenads. The maenads went to excess while the Graces focused on moderation. There seems to have been some connection at one time but they went their separate ways.</p> <p><span>A Statue of the Three Graces a copy after Canova, Antonio, 1757-1822, sculptor<br/><img src="g.d/graces.jpg" alt="Three Graces"/></span></p> <p>Ancient images:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1990.14.0029">wedding of Peleus and Thetis: Amphitrite and Poseidon in chariot, Charites (Graces) behind horses</a>, London 1971.11-1.1</li> <li><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/1086220/5736/The-three-Graces-relief-sculpture-from-Thasos-Greece-5th-century">The three Graces</a>, relief sculpture from Thasos, Greece, 5th century bc; in the Louvre, Paris, relief from the east wall of Passage of the Theories.</li> <li><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1992.04.0129">Reliefs from E. Wall of Passage des Theories, left relief with 3 Graces</a></li> <li><a href="http://threegracesguy.com/IntroThreeGraces.aspx">Ancient Images of the three Graces</a></li> </ul> <p>Pictures:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rubens/three_graces.jpg.html">Rubens</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.mystudios.com/art/italian/raphael/raphael-3-graces-1504.html">Raphael</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.mystudios.com/art/italian/raphael/raphael-3-graces-1504.html">Canova</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.european-history.com/plates.art-d-f.html">David</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.primenet.com/~byoder/jcgrace.jpg">Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Three Graces (ca. 1874) (Marble)</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.abcgallery.com/C/correggio/correggio17.html">Correggio</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/art/19th/thorwaldsen/thorvaldsengraces1.jpg">Thorvaldson</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/b/baldung/painting/">Hans BALDUNG GRIEN</a></li> </ul> <h2>Resources:</h2> <hr/> <p>To ask a question about this topic note the topic (Graces) and <a href="comm.html">Click here</a></p> <hr/> <h2>The Three Graces in Ancient Greece</h2> <h2>Questions and Answers</h2> <p>Question: Are they virgin goddess?</p> <p>Answer: No. But no sexual liasons have been reported.</p> <p>Question: So 3 graces could have companion and they aren't virgin:is it correct? And about the name of other virgin goddess</p> <p>Answer: With mortals a nature is discovered in the reality of the individual. After a person is born you discover their nature by observing what they can do. But a goddess is conceived because her nature is required. This requirement is realized by her parents. Now the quention becomes 'What natures require virginity. Valid wisdom must be virgin hense Athena must be virgin. Maidenhood must be virgin, hense Artemis must be virgin. The virginity of Hestia is more obscure. It probably relates to the purity of fire. But she swore she would be a virgin. There are many goddesses too obscure to have their sexlife revealed. Some may be virgin. Their natures can be examined to determine the suitability of virginity. But examination of the over 3000 individual goddesses is beyond the scope of this commentary.</p> <h2><a href="index.html">Click Here for Menu Directory</a></h2> <p>Advertisement:</p> <p>Buying links: <a href="grepar.html">Art Supplies and Original Art</a> -- <a href="grepe.html">Audio Books</a> -- <a href="grepp.html">Auto Parts and Accessories</a> -- <a href="grepeb.html">eBooks(books in digital form)</a> -- <a href="grepq.html">Traditional Books</a> -- <a href="grepb.html">Business to Business</a> -- <a href="grepcoe.html">Collectibles</a> -- <a href="grepcol.html">College and Education</a> -- <a href="grepcomh.html">Computer HW(Hardware)</a> -- <a href="grepcoms.html">Computer SW(Software)</a> -- <a href="grepcon.html">Construction and Built-in Decoration of Homes</a> -- <a href="grepce.html">Consumer Electronics</a> -- <a href="grepcos.html">Cosmetics and Fragrances</a> -- <a href="greppa.html">Costumes and Party Goods</a> -- <a href="grepev.html">Events</a> -- <a href="grepk.html">Furniture and Removable Decoration of Homes</a> -- <a href="grepg.html">Games</a> -- <a href="grepga.html">Garden and Flowers</a> -- <a href="grepj.html">Gifts</a> -- <a href="grepgr.html">Groceries, Gourmet Food, and Wine</a> -- <a href="grepha.html">Hair Care</a> -- <a href="grepl.html">Handbags and Luggage</a> -- <a href="greph.html">Health Food</a> -- <a href="grepho.html">Hotels</a> -- <a href="grepo.html">Jewelry</a> -- <a href="grepki.html">Kitchen and Dining</a> -- <a href="grepmal.html">Malls and Virtual Malls</a> -- <a href="grepme.html">Men&#39;s</a> -- <a href="grepu.html">Movies/DVD&#39;s</a> -- <a href="grepmu.html">Music</a> -- <a href="grepou.html">Outdoors</a> -- <a href="grepph.html">Photo</a> -- <a href="greppo.html">Posters, Prints and Painting Reproductions</a> -- <a href="greps.html">Shoes</a> -- <a href="grepte.html">Teens</a> -- <a href="grepto.html">Toys</a> -- <a href="grepa.html">Travel</a> -- <a href="grepw.html">Women&#39;s</a> -- <a href="grepeur.html">Geschäft in Europa</a> -- <a href="grepuk.html">United Kingdom Vendors</a> --</p> <p>If you click above and follow the links to a purchase then this site receives a commission for its support.</p> <p><img class="photo" src="logo.gif" width="200" height="150" alt="Logo of The Role of Women in the Art of Ancient Greece"/></p> <p><a href="index.html">RWAAG Home</a>, Graces--></p> <p>updz20100512</p> </body> </html>