"Of Gods and Goddesses"

"Artemis"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

Over the years, I have enjoyed reinterpreting characters from well known texts. They are imbued with such history and context that it is can be an interesting exercise to cast them in modern terms. They share the same trials and tribulations we face today.  Often, their collective emotional temperaments reflect our own society of the day. If we are familiar with the text, we can identify with the interpretation of the character being presented. 

Cosmogony (creation of the world), Theogony (the birth of the gods) and Mans interpretation of these ideas in art are of particular interest to me. As humans, we have always tried to understand our surroundings and give meaning to our exsistance. How an individual approaches their work and what they choose to explore fascinates me. What subject an artist chooses, the props and costumes used and the setting reveals the aesthetic of the individual creating the art. Even when visiting a well known subject matter, the individual can create a new vision of the universal subject base on their own interpretation. It is this interpretation that intrigues me.

"Ares"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

After reading Mark Morford's book on "Classical Mythology", I decided to photograph my own version of twelve of the main Olympian Gods and Goddesses. I found them to be a well rounded cast of characters in which a wealth of emotions and narratives could be drawn from. I was captivated by their human weaknesses which the Ancient Greeks endowed them with.

"Athena"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

Once again, I enlisted my friends and acquaintances for this project. Who could resist being photographed as an immortal God? I have had the great fortune over the years of being surrounded by like minded creatives who never cease to comply with my requests to play bit parts in my short series. As with the La Honda series, each individual was chosen based on their individual personality that, to me, resonated with the historic attributes of a particular God or Goddess. 

The evolution of my photography has always been based on my fascination with the human condition. I hope you enjoy this never before seen series of photographs titled "Of Gods and Goddesses"

Julie Pavlowski Green
February 23, 2013

"Demeter"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

Below is a general description of the Gods and Goddesses illustrated here in this blog:

APHRODITE: was the Goddess of Love, Beauty, Pleasure, Procreation and Eternal Youth. She was also the protectress of Sailors. According to the cosmogonic views of the nature of Aphrodite, she was the personification of the generative powers of nature, and the mother of all living beings. 

"Dionysus"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

ARTEMIS: was the Goddess of hunting, wilderness and wild animals. She was also a goddess of childbirth, and the protectress of the girl child up to the age of marriage. She is also one of the three Virgin Goddesses. Artemis had absolute sovereignty over nature and was said to bring fertility to all places that worshipped her. Usually accompanied by Nymphs and Oceanids, Artemis loved to hunt with arrows dipped in poison.

ARES: was the Olympian god of war and defense and the figure behind all kind of violence. He often had conflicts and fights with his half-sisters Artemis and Athena, especially during the Trojan War.

"Haides"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

ATHENA: was the Goddess of wisdom, military victory, a protectress of civilized life. She is also the Goddess of artesian activities such as weaving and  pottery. She is the daughter of Zeus and is considered the first of the three virgin Goddesses. Also known as the Maiden, Parthenos from which her most important Temple, the Parthenon, was named after.

"Hephaestus"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

DEMETER: was the Goddess of corn, grain and the harvest and is associated with the seasons and fertility. She was the goddess who provided all nutrition on the earth and taught mortals how to cultivate the earth. Demeter is also known for founding the Eleusinian Mysteries. These were huge festivels held every five years. They were importaint events for many centuries. Yet, little is known of them as those attending were sworn to secrecy. The central tenant seems to have been that just as grain returns every spring after its harvest and wintery death, so too the human soul could be reborn after the death of the body.

"Hera"
© Julie Pavlowski

DIONYSUS:  was the Greek God of Wine, Joy, Theatre and Festivity. He was one of the Olympian gods who actually did not live in Mount Olympus but was constantly travelling around the world together with Satyrs and Maenads in order to discover the secrets of winemaking. (!)

HAIDES: was the Greek god of the Dead and Ruler of the Underworld. He was the supreme ruler of the Underworld. He presided over funeral rites and defended the right of the dead to due burial. Haides was also the god of the hidden wealth of the earth, from the fertile soil which nourished the seed-grain, to the mined wealth of gold, silver and other metals.

"Hermes"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

HEPHAESTUS:  was the Greek god of Fire, Metallurgy and Stonemasonry and the art of sculpture. Hephaestus worked beneath the crater of the volcano of Aetna in Italy. There, he worked  closely with the one-eyed Cyclopes to create strong thunderbolts for his master Zeus. Hephaestus was also famous for having created the first woman of the ancient world, Pandora.

HERA: was the Goddess of the sky and starry heavens and of Marriage and Family. Being married to Zeus, she was the Queen of all Olympians. Her worship is actually far older than that of her husband. It goes back to a time when the creative force we call "God" was conceived of as a woman. Her subjugation to Zeus and depiction as a jealous shrew are mythological reflections of one of the most profound changes ever in human spirituality.

HERMES: was the Greek god of communication, trade, roads, travel, diplomacy, language, writing, persuasion, astronomy, and astronomy. Hermes wore wings on his sandals and therefore was the speediest of all Greek gods. Because of his speed, Hermes received the role of the messenger and conductor of souls to the Underworld. 

"Poseidon"
© Julie Pavlowski Green

POSEIDON: was the Greek god of the seas, rivers, flood and drought, horses and earthquakes. He was responsible for natural and supernatural events, mainly the ones associated to the sea world and was the savior of ships.

ZEUS: was the supreme God in Ancient Greece, the father of the Olympian Gods and the ruler of mankind. He was the "Lord of Justice", punishing anyone who lied or broke and oath, but was fair and always striving to keep a balance of all things. Zeus was also responsible for the weather and shaped it according to his temper.