{"id":2157,"date":"2017-11-16T19:55:15","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T01:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/?p=2157"},"modified":"2018-07-19T20:28:46","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T01:28:46","slug":"circe-and-witchcraft-in-ancient-greece-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/circe-and-witchcraft-in-ancient-greece-87\/","title":{"rendered":"Circe and Witchcraft in Ancient Greece (87)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Circe and Witchcraft in Ancient Greece (87)\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IJDHhrRR-bk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--more-->This is a short excerpt from my lecture &#8220;Things That Go Bump: A Visual Survey of Witches, Demons, and Ghosts.&#8221; Herein we explore the ancient Greek tradition of witchcraft and metamorphosis in two images \u2014 one ancient and one modern \u2014 of Circe, the definitive witch of Grecian lore and seductive sorceress of Odyssean fame. Waterhouse masterfully betrays her jealous cruelty in those cold, dark, uncaring eyes. Vying for the affection of a handsome lover, the hateful witch Circe poisons the placid pool where the her rival Scylla bathed. Circe&#8217;s potion of polymorphism transforms the beautiful nymph Scylla to the proverbial &#8220;hard place,&#8221; the loathsome multi-mawed many-tentacled monster, who&#8217;d dash the hopes (&#8230;and heads) of Odysseus&#8217;s men sailing &#8220;between Scylla and Charybdis.&#8221; And in the Grecian cup in the MFA, we see a magical elixir similarly perched in wicked Circe&#8217;s hands while Odysseus&#8217;s men are in the midst of metamorphosis from her arcane magicks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Featured Works of Art:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2158\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2158\" style=\"width: 363px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/circe-and-witchcraft-in-ancient-greece-87\/87-circe-invidiosa-small\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2158\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2158\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/circe-and-witchcraft-in-ancient-greece-87\/87-circe-invidiosa-small\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/87-circe-invidiosa-small.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"363,768\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"87-circe-invidiosa-small\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;John William Waterhouse, Circe Invidiosa (Jealous Circe), 1892&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/87-circe-invidiosa-small-142x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/87-circe-invidiosa-small.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-2158 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/87-circe-invidiosa-small.jpg\" alt=\"John William Waterhouse, Circe Invidiosa (Jealous Circe), 1892\" width=\"363\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/87-circe-invidiosa-small.jpg 363w, https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/87-circe-invidiosa-small-142x300.jpg 142w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2158\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">John William Waterhouse, Circe Invidiosa (Jealous Circe), 1892<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>John William Waterhouse<br \/>\n<em>Circe Invidiosa (Jealous Circe)<\/em>, 1892<br \/>\nSouth Australian Government Grant 1892<br \/>\nArt Gallery of South Australia<\/p>\n<p><em>Drinking cup (kylix) depicting scenes from the Odyssey<\/em><br \/>\nGreek, Archaic Period, about 560-550 BC<br \/>\nThe Painter of the Boston Polyphemos<br \/>\n\u00a9 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (99.518)<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2165\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2165\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/circe-and-witchcraft-in-ancient-greece-87\/circe-cup-mfa-99-518-drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-odyssey-the-painter-of-the-boston-polyphemos-about-560-550-bc\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2165\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"2165\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/circe-and-witchcraft-in-ancient-greece-87\/circe-cup-mfa-99-518-drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-odyssey-the-painter-of-the-boston-polyphemos-about-560-550-bc\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Circe-cup-MFA-99.518-Drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-Odyssey-the-Painter-of-the-Boston-Polyphemos-about-560-550-BC.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1009\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;David Mathews&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Sinarback 54 M, Sinar 4x5\\&quot; view camera&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Circe cup MFA 99.518 Drinking cup (kylix) depicting scenes from the Odyssey, the Painter of the Boston Polyphemos, about 560-550 BC\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Drinking cup (kylix) depicting scenes from the Odyssey&lt;br \/&gt;\nGreek, Archaic Period, about 560-550 BC&lt;br \/&gt;\nThe Painter of the Boston Polyphemos&lt;br \/&gt;\n\u00a9 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (99.518)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Circe-cup-MFA-99.518-Drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-Odyssey-the-Painter-of-the-Boston-Polyphemos-about-560-550-BC-300x189.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Circe-cup-MFA-99.518-Drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-Odyssey-the-Painter-of-the-Boston-Polyphemos-about-560-550-BC-1024x646.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-2165 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Circe-cup-MFA-99.518-Drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-Odyssey-the-Painter-of-the-Boston-Polyphemos-about-560-550-BC-1024x646.jpg\" alt=\"Drinking cup depicting scenes from the Odyssey\" width=\"474\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Circe-cup-MFA-99.518-Drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-Odyssey-the-Painter-of-the-Boston-Polyphemos-about-560-550-BC-1024x646.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Circe-cup-MFA-99.518-Drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-Odyssey-the-Painter-of-the-Boston-Polyphemos-about-560-550-BC-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Circe-cup-MFA-99.518-Drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-Odyssey-the-Painter-of-the-Boston-Polyphemos-about-560-550-BC-768x484.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Circe-cup-MFA-99.518-Drinking-cup-kylix-depicting-scenes-from-the-Odyssey-the-Painter-of-the-Boston-Polyphemos-about-560-550-BC.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2165\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drinking cup (kylix) depicting scenes from the Odyssey<br \/>Greek, Archaic Period, about 560-550 BC<br \/>The Painter of the Boston Polyphemos<br \/>\u00a9 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (99.518)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,420],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/87-circe-16x9.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7RFIB-yN","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2157"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2308,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157\/revisions\/2308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientartpodcast.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}