Greece is known for their ancient and historical art centered around the mythology that they have built for themselves. Art came in several different forms, such as in jars, walls and sculptures or statues of heroic people. That is no different for the Ritual Water Jar with Zeus, Aphrodite, and Leda. The jar depicts the story of Zeus and Leda, along with Aphrodite and her child. While this art piece has a clear storyline within just its front, it is a funerary jar that can be encoded as a sign of hope for the deceased. With this jar, despite the immoral front story, there is a clear hope that the creator hopes the deceased woman has a peaceful afterlife and there is a fruitful year following her death. This ritual water jar was made around …show more content…
Zeus, while on Mount. Olympus, Zeus had been enamored by her beauty and had gone down after her. More notoriously, Zeus had raped and impregnated several mortal people, much to the dismay of Hera, and this story follows that pattern. Zeus had appeared down to Leda in the form of a swan, and raped her. She later gave birth to both his child and her husband's child. These twins, Pollux and Castor are notable because one was born mortal and the other immortal. The story of Leda and the swan is one of the most notable stories regarding Zeus and his ventures to the mortal world.
While it is now debatable whether Zeus had loved Leda or not, this jar depicts a story where he did not love her and went to great lengths to seduce and rape Leda.
Zeus and Leda make two of the three notable characters on this jar, with the third being Aphrodite. While Zeus is known as the king of the gods, Aphrodite is one of his immortal children. She is also the goddess of love and sex.
With the depiction of Aphrodite in this jar, there is an immediate indication that the creator of this jar believed that Zeus had loved Leda. However, Aphrodite can be seen with Eros, holding an Inyx, a charm used for love and seduction, which is the beginning of the downfall of the original thought. Notably, Eros, commonly referred to as Cupid, is the god of love and sex. His appearance on this vase is a further implication of Zeus’