In Greek mythology, a Charis is one of several Charites (Χάριτες; Greek: "Graces"), goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility. They ordinarily numbered three, from youngest to oldest: Aglaea ("Beauty"), Euphrosyne ("Mirth"), and Thalia ("Good Cheer"). In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae. // Greek mythology consists in part of a large collection of narratives that explain the origins of the world and detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines. ... The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about the primordial gods in their mythology. ... In Greek mythology, the Titans (Greek Τιτάν, plural Τιτάνες) were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary Golden Age. ... The twelve gods of Olympus. ... The ancient Greeks had a very small number of see gods. ... In mythology chthonic (from Greek χθονιος-pertaining to the earth; earthy) designates, or pertains to, gods or spirits of the underworld, especially in Greek mythology. ... Asclepius (Greek also rendered Aesculapius in Latin and transliterated Asklepios) was the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek mythology, according to which he was born a mortal but was given immortality as the constellation Ophiuchus after his death. ... MuSE is an acronym that stands for Multiple Streaming Engine. ... Nemesis (Νέμεσις, as well called Rhamnousia, the goddess of Rhamnous, at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon), in Greek mythology, is the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate personified as a remorseless goddess. ... In Greek mythology, the white-robed Moirae or Moerae (Greek Μοίραι — the Apportioners, often called the Fates) were the personifications of destiny (Roman equivalent: Parcae, sparing ones, or Fatae; also equivalent to the Germanic Norns). ... In Greek mythology, Cratos (strength) was a son of Styx and Pallas, brother of Nike, Bia and Zelus. ... This Zelos is the Greek personification. ... This article discusses the Greek Goddess. ... In Greek mythology, Metis (wisdom or wise counsel) was a Titaness who was the first great spouse of Zeus, indeed his equal (Hesiod, Theogony 896) and the mother of Athena. ... In Greek mythology, Adrasteia (inescapable; also spelled Adrastia, Adrastea, Adrestea) was a nymph who was charged by Rhea to raise Zeus in secret to protect him from his father Cronus (Krónos). ... In Greek mythology, the Horae (Latin) or Horai (Greek; both words mean the hours) were the three goddesses controlling orderly life. ... In Greek mythology, Bia (force) was the personification of force, daughter of Pallas and Styx. ... In Greek mythology, Eros was the god responsible for lust, love, and sex; he was also worshipped as a fertility deity. ... Daughter of Nyx in Greek mythology, Apate was the personification of deceit. ... In Greek mythology, Hesiod mentions Themis among the six sons and six daughters—of whom Cronos was one—of Gaia and Ouranos, that is, of Earth with Sky. ... Eris (ca. ... In Greek mythology, Thanatos (θάνατος, death) was the personification of death (Roman equivalent: Mors), and a minor figure in Greek mythology. ... // Greek mythology consists in part of a large collection of narratives that explain the origins of the world and detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines. ... The youngest of the Charities, Aglaea or Aglaia (splendor, brilliant, shining one) was Hephaestus wife and Asclepius daughter in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, Euphrosyne (you FROSS uh nee: mirth or joy) was one of the Charites, known in English also as the Three Graces. Her best remembered representation in English is in Miltons poem of the active, joyful life, LAllegro. Categories: | ... Thalia - oil on canvas by Jean-Marc Nattier 1739 In Greek mythology, Thalia or Thaleia (good cheer) was the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry. ... Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ...

The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, though they were also said to be daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aegle. Homer wrote that they were part of the retinue of Aphrodite. The Charites were also associated with the underworld and the Eleusinian Mysteries. Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BCE. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ... In Greek mythology, there were many women with the name Eurýnomê (far ruling). Wife of Ophion and a daughter of Oceanus (may be the same as the following) An Oceanid who mothered the Charites (may be the same as the following) Daughter of King Nisus of Megara and mother of... Dionysus with a panther and satyr, in the Palazzo Altemps (Rome, Italy) Dionysus or Dionysos or Dionysius (Ancient Greek: Διώνυσος or Διόνυσος; also known as Bacchus in both Greek and Roman mythology and associated with the Italic Liber), the Thracian god of wine, represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but... Detail of the The Birth of Venus (also known as Aphrodite) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1879. ... Helios in Greek In earlier Greek mythology, the sun was personified as a deity called Hêlios (Greek for the sun), whom Homer equates with the sun Titan, Hyperion. ... --65. ... In Greek mythology, there were three different people named Aegle. ... The Homère Caetani bust at the Louvre, a 2nd century Roman copy of a 2nd century BC Greek original. ... A retinue (O. Fr. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ...

The river Cephissus near Delphi was sacred to them. Cephissus (Greek Κήφισσος: Kifissós, Kephissós, or Kêphissos) or Cephisus (Greek Κήφισος: Kêphisos) the name of several rivers in Greece: Cephissus (Boeotia), a river arising in Phocis and flowing through northern Boeotia into Lake Copais. ... The amphitheatre, seen from above. ...

Regional differences

Although the Graces usually numbered three, according to the Spartans, Cleta, not Thalia, was the third, and other Graces are sometimes mentioned, including Auxo, Charis, Hegemone, Phaenna, and Pasithea. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In Greek mythology, the Horae (hours) were the three goddesses controlling orderly life. ... According to Pausanius, Hegemone was a name given by the Athenians to one of the Graces. ... In Greek mythology, Pasithea or Pasithee is the eldest of the Graces. ...

Pausanias interrupts his Description of Greece (book 9.xxxv.1 - 7) to expand upon the various conceptions of the Graces that had developed in different parts of mainland Greece and Ionia: Pausanias was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. ... Ionia (Greek Ιωνία; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was an ancient region of southwestern coastal Anatolia (now in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea. ...

"The Boeotians say that Eteocles was the first man to sacrifice to the Graces. Moreover, they are aware that he established three as the number of the Graces, but they have no tradition of the names he gave them. The Lacedaemonians, however, say that the Graces are two, and that they were instituted by Lacedaemon, son of Taygete, who gave them the names of Cleta and Phaenna. These are appropriate names for Graces, as are those given by the Athenians, who from of old have worshipped two Graces, Auxo and Hegemone... It was from Eteocles of Orchomenus that we learned the custom of praying to three Graces. And Angelion and Tectaus, sons of Dionysus, who made the image of Apollo for the Delians, set three Graces in his hand. Again, at Athens, before the entrance to the Acropolis, the Graces are three in number; by their side are celebrated mysteries which must not be divulged to the many. Pamphos was the first we know of to sing about the Graces, but his poetry contains no information either as to their number or about their names. Homer (he too refers to the Graces ) makes one the wife of Hephaestus, giving her the name of Grace. He also says that Sleep was a lover of Pasithea, and in the speech of Sleep there is this verse:--

Verily that he would give me one of the younger Graces.

"Hence some have suspected that Homer knew of older Graces as well. Hesiod in the Theogony (though the authorship is doubtful, this poem is good evidence ) says that the Graces are daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, giving them the names of Euphrosyne, Aglaia and Thalia. The poem of Onomacritus agrees with this account. Antimachus, while giving neither the number of the Graces nor their names, says that they are daughters of Aegle and the Sun. The elegiac poet Hermesianax disagrees with his predecessors in that he makes Persuasion also one of the Graces."

Boeotia or Beotia (//, (Greek Βοιωτια; see also list of traditional Greek place names) was the central area of ancient Greece. ... Eteocles and Polynices being carried away, dead, after the Battle of Thebes, in an 1897 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church In Greek mythology, Eteocles was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta, the father of Laodamas. ... Laconia (Λακωνία), also known as Lacedaemonia, was in ancient Greece the portion of the Peloponnesus of which the most important city was Sparta. ... Lacedaemon, or Lakedaimon, Grk. ... In Greek mythology, Taygete (Greek: Ταϋγέτη, in Modern Greek Taygeti, Taigeti) was a nymph, one of the Pleiades according to Apollodorus (3. ... The Three Graces, from Sandro Botticellis painting Primavera Uffizi Gallery In Greek mythology, the Charites were the graces. ... In Greek mythology, the Horae (hours) were the three goddesses controlling orderly life. ... According to Pausanius, Hegemone was a name given by the Athenians to one of the Graces. ... Eteocles and Polynices being carried away, dead, after the Battle of Thebes, in an 1897 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church In Greek mythology, Eteocles was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta, the father of Laodamas. ... A king in Greek mythology, Orchomenus was the father of Elara. ... Lycian Apollo, early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original (Louvre Museum) In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (ancient Greek , Apóllōn; or Ἀπέλλων, Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros, was the archer-god of medicine and healing and also a bringer of death-dealing plague; as... Hetman Jan Zamoyski in a crimson delia and blue silk żupan. ... Acropolis in Athens. ... The Homère Caetani bust at the Louvre, a 2nd century Roman copy of a 2nd century BC Greek original. ... Hephaestus, Greek god of forging, riding a Donkey; Greek drinking cup (skyphos) made in the 5th century B.C. Hephaestus (IPA pronunciation: ; Greek Hêphaistos) is the Greek god whose approximate Roman equivalent is Vulcan; he is the god of blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and metallurgy, and fire. ... Hesiod (Hesiodos, ), the early Greek poet and rhapsode, presumably lived around 700 BCE. Historians have debated the priority of Hesiod or of Homer, and some authors have even brought them together in an imagined poetic contest. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Theogony Wikisource has original text related to this article: Theogony (in Greek) Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins of the gods of ancient Greek religion. ...

In art

The Graces in a 1st century fresco at Pompeii.

On the representation of the Graces, Pausanias wrote, The three Muses (Pompeii) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... The three Muses (Pompeii) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Fresco by Dionisius representing Saint Nicholas. ... A computer-generated depiction of the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 which buried Pompeii, from Discovery Channels Pompeii: The Last Day. ... Pausanias is the name of several ancient people: Pausanias was a Spartan general of the 5th century BC. Pausanias of Sparta was King of Sparta from 409 BC-395 BC. Pausanias was the servant/lover who assassinated Philip II of Macedon in 336 BC Pausanias, Greek traveller and geographer of...

"Who it was who first represented the Graces naked, whether in sculpture or in painting, I could not discover. During the earlier period, certainly, sculptors and painters alike represented them draped. At Smyrna, for instance, in the sanctuary of the Nemeses, above the images have been dedicated Graces of gold, the work of Bupalus; and in the Music Hall in the same city there is a portrait of a Grace, painted by Apelles. At Pergamus likewise, in the chamber of Attalus, are other images of Graces made by Bupalus; and near what is called the Pythium there is a portrait of Graces, painted by Pythagoras the Parian. Socrates too, son of Sophroniscus, made images of Graces for the Athenians, which are before the entrance to the Acropolis. All these are alike draped; but later artists, I do not know the reason, have changed the way of portraying them. Certainly to-day sculptors and painters represent Graces naked."

The Three Graces, from Sandro Botticelli's painting Primavera in the Uffizi Gallery.

by Raphael.

In Renaissance times, the Roman statue group of the three graces in the Piccolomini library in Duomo di Siena inspired most themes. The Charites are depicted together with several other mythological figures in Sandro Botticelli's painting Primavera (above right). Raphael also pictured them in a painting now housed in Chantilly in France. Among other artistic depictions, they are the subject of famous sculptures by Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen. For other meanings of Smyrna, see Smyrna (disambiguation). ... Nemesis (Νέμεσις, as well called Rhamnousia, the goddess of Rhamnous, at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon), in Greek mythology, is the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate personified as a remorseless goddess. ... Another Apelles was the founder of a Gnostic sect in the 2nd century; Apelles (theologian). ... The Kingdom of Pergamon (colored olive) shown at its greatest extent in 188 BC. Pergamon or Pergamum (Greek: Πέργαμος, modern day Bergama in Turkey, ) was an ancient Greek city, in Mysia, northwestern Anatolia, 16 miles from the Aegean Sea, located on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus... Bust of Attalus I, circa 200 BC Attalus I (Soter Savior) (269 BC–197 BC)1 ruled Pergamon, a Greek city-state in present-day Turkey, from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the second cousin and the adoptive son of Eumenes I2, whom he succeeded, and was the... The Three Graces from Primavera by Sandro Botticelli (1445 - 1510) Uffizi Gallery, Florence The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... The Three Graces from Primavera by Sandro Botticelli (1445 - 1510) Uffizi Gallery, Florence The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (little barrel) (March 1, 1445 – May 17, 1510) was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance (Quattrocento). ... The Uffizi Gallery (Italian Galleria degli Uffizi) is a palace or palazzo in Florence, holding one of the most famous museums in the world. ... Self-portrait by Raphael. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... Piccolomini is the name of an Italian noble family, which was prominent in Siena from the beginning of the 13th century onwards. ... Duomo di Siena is the medieval cathedral of Siena, Italy. ... Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (little barrel) (March 1, 1445 – May 17, 1510) was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance (Quattrocento). ... The Primavera is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, c. ... Self-portrait by Raphael. ... The Three Graces is a small picture by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. ... Chantilly is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. ... A frontal depiction of the version of the sculpture found in the Hermitage Museum. ... Bertel Thorvaldsen, portrait by Karl Begas, c. ...

A group of three trees in the Calaveras Big Trees State Park are named "The Three Graces" after the Charites. Discovery Tree stump Calaveras Big Trees State Park, located 4 miles (6 km) northeast of Arnold, California in the middle altitudes of the Sierra Nevada in Calaveras County, became a State Park in 1931 to preserve the North Calaveras Grove of Giant Sequoias. ...

List of artwork with images resembling encircled graces

• Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1348-50) Allegory of Good Government [1]
• Cosimo Tura (1476-84) detail of Allegory of April [2]
• Sandro Botticelli (1482); detail of Primavera; [3]
• Antonio da Correggio (1518); [4]
• Raphael Sanzio [5]
• Jacopo Pontormo (1535) [6]
• Hans Baldung Grien (1540)
• Jaques Blanchard (1631-33) Man surprising Sleeping Venus and Graces[7]
• Peter Paul Rubens [8]
• Cezanne
• Antonio Canova (1799) The Three Graces [9]

Ambrogio Lorenzetti (or Ambruogio Laurati) (c. ... An Allegorical Figure, c. ... Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (little barrel) (March 1, 1445 – May 17, 1510) was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance (Quattrocento). ... Antonio Allegri da Correggio Jupiter and Io, 1531 or 32 Antonio Allegri da Correggio (Correggio, Italy August 1489 – March 5, 1534) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance. ... Jacopo Carrucci (Pontormo, near Empoli, 1494 - 1557), usually known as Jacopo da Pontormo, or simply Pontormo, was a Florentine painter and portraitist, and one of the classic exemplars of the Mannerist style of the 16th century. ... Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower Alte Pinakothek Pieter Pauwel (Peter Paul) Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) was the most popular and prolific Flemish and European painter of the 17th century. ... Self-portrait by Canova, 1792. ... A frontal depiction of the version of the sculpture found in the Hermitage Museum. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Graces

• Aglaea
• Euphrosyne
• Thalia