Fisherman and Siren by Frederick Leighton

Fisherman and Siren by Frederick Leighton

Of all the ancient Greek mythology, the most famous is the part that tells about the Olympic gods and their children – heroes. However, the Olympic generation of the gods is far from the first. There were times when the gods had the appearance of the elements from which they arose: the abyss, water, air, night. They had to marry each other in order to continue.

So, gradually, creatures that are terrifying and very far from human form, gradually began to take on an anthropomorphic appearance. Act in the myths and creatures that are on the verge between deities and people – sirens, naiads, dryads. Their element is water, but the appearance is human-like.

The painting “Fisherman and Siren” by Frederick Leighton depicts the moment of seduction by one of such creatures of the naive naive youth. After all, in essence, what is a siren? Ancient Greek analogue of a mermaid. The symbol of a person with a cold heart, incapable of love, but carrying angelic singing with him to certain death.

The body of the siren itself as if grows out of the water, from the sea foam, and then twists in diabolical rings around the feet of the fisherman. He is already depicted passive and weak-willed, who have lost all ability to reason and to reason and resist the obsession that has gripped him. His eyes are closed, he is immersed in a blissful languor.

The siren’s arms were wrapped around his neck, his mouth going to his mouth. It is surprising that on a fisherman – a loincloth, because in Greece there existed a cult of the naked human body, with the body of a male.

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