Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, the Charites (; ), singular Charis (), also called the Graces, are goddesses who personify beauty and grace. According to Hesiod, the Charites were Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, who were the daughters of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and

Eurynome Eurynomê (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυνόμη, from , ''eurys'', "broad" and , ''nomos'', "pasture" or "law") is a name that refers to the following characters in Greek mythology: * Eurynome, pre-Olympian queen and wife of Ophion * Eurynome (Oce ...

, the daughter of

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

. However in other accounts, their names, number and parentage varied. In

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...

they were known as the Gratiae. Hesiod has Aglaea as the wife of

Hephaestus Hephaestus ( , ; wikt:Hephaestus#Alternative forms, eight spellings; ) is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes.Walter Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' 1985: III.2. ...

, and in the ''Iliad'' Hera promises to give a Charis named Pasithea to

Hypnos In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: , 'sleep'), also spelled Hypnus, is the personification of sleep. The Roman equivalent is Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was t ...

as bride. Otherwise they have little independent mythology, usually described as attending various gods and goddesses, especially

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

. In Roman and later art, the three Charites are generally depicted nude in an interlaced group, but during the Archaic and Classical periods of Greece, they were typically depicted as fully clothed, and in a line, with dance poses.

Parentage, number, and names

Sandro Botticelli - Three Graces in Primavera

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

's ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' () is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogy, genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Homeric Greek, epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1,022 lines. It is one ...

'', the Charites are the three daughters of Zeus: Aglaea ("Splendor"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thalia ("Good Cheer"), by the

Oceanid In Greek mythology, the Oceanids or Oceanides ( ; , ) are the nymphs who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Description and function The Oceanids' father Oceanu ...

. The identical genealogy is given by

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

. The same three names are also given by

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

, with a possible reference to their "father" Zeus and no mother mentioned. Although the Charites were usually considered to be Zeus' daughters and three in number, their names as well as their parentage and number varied.

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

mentions Pasithea as "one of the youthful Graces", and perhaps has "Charis" (the singular form of "Charites"), as the name of another, but does not give their parentage, number, or any other of their names. The geographer Pausanias gives other variations, some regional. He says that, according to

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...

n tradition,

Eteocles In Greek mythology, Eteocles (; ) was a king of Ancient Thebes (Boeotia), Thebes, the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. Oedipus killed his father Laius and married his mother without knowing his relationship to either. When the ...

, the king of Orchomenus, established three as the number of Charites, but that the

Athenians Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

worshipped only two. For the Athenians the two Charites were Auxo and Hegemone, while for the Spartans they were Cleta and

Phaenna In Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. ...

. Also, according to Pausanias, the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

poet Hermesianax said that

Peitho In Greek mythology, Peitho ( or 'winning eloquence') is the personification of persuasion. She is typically presented as an important companion of Aphrodite. Her opposite is Bia (mythology), Bia, the personification of force. As a personificatio ...

("Persuasion") was one of the Charites, and the poet

Antimachus Antimachus of Colophon (city), Colophon (), or of Claros, was a Greece, Greek poet and grammarian, who flourished about 400 BC. Life Scarcely anything is known of his life. The Suda claims that he was a pupil of the poets Panyassis and Stesimb ...

said that the Charites were the "daughters of Aegle and the Sun /nowiki>Helios">Helios.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Helios">/nowiki>Helios/nowiki>". While Hesiod has Eurynome, and Antimachus has Aegle, as the mother of the Charites, other names were also given. According to '' Orphic Hymn'' 60, the Charites ("Aglaea, Thalia, ... Euphrosyne") were the daughters of Zeus and Orphic Hymns">Orphic Hymn'' 60, the Charites ("Aglaea, Thalia, ... Euphrosyne") were the daughters of Zeus and Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Cornutus">Cornutus includes the names Eurynome, and Aegle, he gives other names for mothers as well: Eurydome, Eurymedousa,

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

, and Euanthe (Greek myth), Euanthe.

Nonnus Nonnus of Panopolis (, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century AD) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebaid and probably lived in the 5th century AD. He i ...

has his three Charites (Hesiod's Aglaea, Homer's Pasithea, and Hermesianax's Peitho) being the daughters of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

and Coronis. A purported summary of a lost poem by an otherwise unknown poet "Sostratus", while naming the three Charites, adds to Homer's Pasithea, and Hesiod's Euphrosyne, the name

Kale Kale (), also called leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') cultivars primarily grown for their Leaf vegetable, edible leaves; it has also been used as an ornamental plant. Its multiple different cultivars vary quite ...

, saying that it was she who was the wife of Hephaestus.

Mythology

The Charites' major mythological role was to attend the other Olympians, particularly during feasts and dances. They attended Aphrodite by bathing and anointing her in

Paphos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: #Old Paphos, Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and #New Paphos, New Paphos. It i ...

before her seduction of Ankhises and after she left Olympus when her affair with Ares is found out. Additionally, they are said to weave or dye her

peplos A peplos () is a body-length garment established as typical attire for women in ancient Greece by , during the late Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, Classical period. It was a long, rectangular cloth with the top edge folded down ab ...

. Along with

, they presented

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground '' ky ...

with necklaces to make her more enticing. Pindar stated the Charites arranged feasts and dances for the Olympians.

, Olympian Ode 14
1-20
/ref> They also danced with the

Seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, Hebe,

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the goddess of harmony and concord. Her Greek opposite is Eris (mythology), Eris and her Roman mythology, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythol ...

and Aphrodite in celebration of the arrival of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

among the gods of Olympus, while

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

sang and Apollo played the lyre. They were often referenced as dancing and singing with Apollo and the

Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

. Pindar also referred to them as the guardians of the ancient

Minyans In Greek mythology, the Minyans or Minyae ( Greek: Μινύες, ''Minyes'') were a group of legendary people who were the inhabitants of the city Orchomenus in Boeotia, and who were also associated with Thessaly. They were named after their ...

and the queens of Orchomenus who have their thrones beside Pythian Apollo's. The Charites appear to have a connection to

, where some ancient authors reference her as their nurse. In the

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

, as part of her plan to seduce Zeus to distract him from the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

, she offers to arrange

's marriage to Pasithea, who is referred to as one of the younger Charites. One of the Charites had a role as the wife of the smith god Hephaestus. Hesiod names the wife of Hephaestus as Aglaea.Hesiod, ''Theogony''
945 ff
In the ''Iliad'', she is called Charis, and she welcomes

Thetis Thetis ( , or ; ) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as a Nereid in Cl ...

into their shared home on Olympus so that the latter may ask for Hephaestus to forge armor for her son

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

. Some scholars have interpreted this marriage as occurring after Hephaestus's divorce from Aphrodite due to her affair with Ares being exposed. Notably, however, some scholars, such as

Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of student ...

, support that the marriage of Hephaestus and Aphrodite as an invention of the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

, since it is not represented within other Archaic or Classical era literature or arts, and it does not appear to have a connection to cult.

Cult

The cult of the Charites is very old, with their name appearing to be of

Pelasgian The name Pelasgians (, ) was used by Classical Greece, Classical Greek writers to refer either to the predecessors of the Greeks, or to all the inhabitants of Greece before the Greeks#Origins, emergence of the Greeks. In general, "Pelasgian" h ...

, or pre-Greek, origin rather than being brought to Greece by

Proto-Indo-Europeans The Proto-Indo-Europeans are a hypothetical prehistoric ethnolinguistic group of Eurasia who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Knowledge of them comes chiefly from t ...

. The purpose of their cult appears to be similar to that of nymphs, primarily based around fertility and nature with a particular connection to springs and rivers. One of the earliest centres of worship for the Charites was the Cycladic Islands including

Paros Paros (; ; ) is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. Part of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos (island), Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of Piraeus. The Co ...

, with epigraphical evidence for a cult to the Charites dating to the sixth century B.C.E. on the island of

Thera Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southernmos ...

. Scholars have interpreted them as chthonic deities connected to fertility due to the absence of wreaths and flutes in ceremonies. An aetiological explanation for the lack of music and garlands was from a myth involving

Minos Main injector neutrino oscillation search (MINOS) was a particle physics experiment designed to study the phenomena of neutrino oscillations, first discovered by a Super-Kamiokande (Super-K) experiment in 1998. Neutrinos produced by the NuMI ...

. He was said to have been sacrificing to the Charites on the island of Paros when he learned of his son's death in Athens and stopped the music and ripped off his garlands in grief. Dance, however, appears to be strongly connected with their cult, which is similar to the cults of

and

. Although the Charites were most commonly depicted in the sanctuaries of other gods, there were at least four temples exclusively dedicated to them in Greece. The temple regarded as their perhaps most important was that in Orkhomenos in

, where their cult was thought to have originated. There were also temples to the Charites in Hermione,

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, and Elis. A temple was dedicated to the Charites near the Tiasa river in

Amyclae Amyclae or Amyklai () was a city of ancient Laconia, situated on the right or western bank of the Eurotas, 20 stadia south of Sparta, in a district remarkable for the abundance of its trees and its fertility. Amyclae was one of the most celebr ...

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

that was reportedly founded by the ancient King of Sparta,

Lacedaemon Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern Pe ...

In Orkhomenos, the goddesses were worshipped at a very ancient site with a trio of stones, which is similar to other Boiotian cults to

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

and Herakles. The local river Kephisos and the Akidalia (or Argaphia) spring was sacred to the three goddesses. Orkhomenos was an agriculturally prosperous city because of the marshy Kopaic plain, and the Charites were offered a portion of the produce. Regarding the foundation of their cult in Orkhomenos,

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

wrote: In cult, the Charites were particularly connected with

and appear to be connected to his cult on

Delos Delos (; ; ''Dêlos'', ''Dâlos''), is a small Greek island near Mykonos, close to the centre of the Cyclades archipelago. Though only in area, it is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. ...

; however, this connection is not present in other cults to Apollo. In the Classical era and beyond, the Charites were associated with Aphrodite in connection to civic matters. There was a festival in honour of the Charites which was called ''Charisia'' (Χαρίσια). During this festival there were dances all night and at the end a cake was given to those who remained awake during the whole time.

Visual art

Ancient art

Despite the Charites usually being depicted

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and no ...

entwined in a "closed symmetrical group" for the last two millennia, this was a later development, as in depictions from Archaic and

Classical Greece Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Mar ...

, they are finely dressed, and usually shown in a line, as dancers. In contrast, the third century BCE poets

Callimachus Callimachus (; ; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works, most of which ...

and Euphorion describe the trio as being nude. The earliest representation of these goddesses was found in a temple of Apollo in Thermon dated to the seventh to sixth century BCE. It is possible, however, that the Charites are represented on a Mycenean golden seal ring that depicts two female figures dancing in the presence of a male figure, who has been interpreted as Hermes or Dionysus. Another early representation of the Charites, from a relief at the

colony of

Thasos Thasos or Thassos (, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of 380 km2 and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate regiona ...

dated to the beginning of the fifth century BCE, shows the Charites with Hermes and either Aphrodite or Peitho, which marked the entrance to the old city. The opposite side of the relief shows Apollo being crowned by Artemis with nymphs in the background. At the entrance of the Akropolis, there was a famous Classical era relief of the Charites and Hermes, and the popular belief was that the sculptor was

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

, although this is very unlikely.

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissa ...

describes the "complicated" pose of the Three Graces facing inwards with interlaced arms as "one of the last beautiful inventions of antique art". He thought it was invented in the 1st century BCE, based on the proportions of the figures, and notes that none of the many survivals from antiquity are of "high quality". The opportunity for artists to show their skill in representing figures with three nude female figures seen from different angles has been a factor in the enduring popularity of the subject. Three Graces - Piccolomini Library - Duomo - Siena 2016

Three Graces - Piccolomini Library - Duomo - Siena 2016

One of the earliest known Roman representations of the Graces was a wall painting in Boscoreale dated to 40 BCE, which also depicted

with

and

with

Ariadne In Greek mythology, Ariadne (; ; ) was a Cretan princess, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. There are variations of Ariadne's myth, but she is known for helping Theseus escape from the Minotaur and being abandoned by him on the island of N ...

. The group may have also appeared on a small number of coins to symbolize the union between

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

and Faustina Minor and on other coins they were depicted in the hands of Juno or

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

. The Graces were common subject matter on Roman sarcophagi, and they were depicted on several mirrors. On the representation of the Graces, the second century CE guide book author Pausanias wrote:

Renaissance onwards

Clark writes that "For some reason the nakedness of the Graces was free from moral opprobium, and in consequence they furnished the subject through which pagan beauty was first allowed to appear in the 15th century".Clark, 86 Indeed, a large marble Graeco-Roman group, which was a key model in the Renaissance, when it was in the Piccolomini Library, is now displayed in Siena Cathedral. Raffael 010

The Charites are depicted together with several other mythological figures in

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

's painting '' Primavera''.

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

also pictured them in a small painting now in the

Musée Condé The – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the château and ...

( Chantilly, France). Among other artistic depictions, they are the subject of famous sculptures by

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

and

Bertel Thorvaldsen Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen (; sometimes given as Thorwaldsen; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish-Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor and medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–183 ...

. The vast majority use a variant of the closed group pose. A group of three trees in the Calaveras Big Trees State Park are named "The Three Graces" after the Charites.

List of notable artworks with images resembling the three Charites

* Anonymous * Anonymous *

Jean Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (; ; 16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born Hans Peter Wilhelm Ar ...

(16 September 18867 June 1966) ''The Three Graces'' (1961) * Francesco Bartolozzi * Jacques Blanchard (1631–33) ''Man surprising Sleeping Venus and Graces'' * Giulio di Antonio Bonasone *

(1482); detail of '' Primavera''; * Marie Bracquemond (1880) '' Trois femmes aux ombrelles'' *

(1799) '' The Three Graces'' * Agostino Carracci *

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

Antonio da Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for so ...

(1518); *

Francesco del Cossa Francesco del Cossa (c. 1430 – c. 1477) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the School of Ferrara (Painting), School of Ferrara, who after 1470 worked in Bologna. Cossa is best known for his frescoes, especially his collaboration with Cosimo ...

, Allegory of April,

Palazzo Schifanoia Palazzo Schifanoia is a Renaissance palace in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna (Italy) built for the House of Este, Este family. The name "Schifanoia" is thought to originate from "schifare la noia" meaning literally to "escape from boredom" which descri ...

, School of Ferrara. * Maurice Raphael Drouart * Ewen Feuillâtre ''The Three Graces : Aglaea, Euphrosyne & Thalia'' (2020) * Hans Baldung Grien (1540) * Ludwig Von Hofmann * Laura Knight *

Jean-Baptiste van Loo Jean-Baptiste van Loo (14 January 1684 – 19 December 1745) was a French people, French subject and portrait painter. Life and career He was born in Aix-en-Provence, and was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jac ...

(1684–1745) at the Château de Chenonceau *

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Ambrogio Lorenzetti (; – after 9 August 1348) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active from approximately 1317 to 1348. He painted ''The Allegory of Good and Bad Government'' in the Sala dei Nove (Salon of Nine or Council Ro ...

(1348–50) ''Allegory of Good Government'' * Jacob Matham * Arthur Frank Mathews * Bruce Peebles & Co. advertisement (c. 1900) *

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

''The Three Graces'' (1925) * Germain Pilon * Jacopo Pontormo (1535) * James Pradier (1831) ''Les Trois Grâces'' *

Jean-Baptiste Regnault Jean-Baptiste Regnault (; 9 October 1754 – 12 November 1829) was a French painter. Biography Regnault was born in Paris, and began life at sea in a merchant vessel. At the age of fifteen his talent attracted attention, and he was sent to ...

''Les Trois Grâces'' (1797–1798) *

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

* Raphael Sanzio * Anna Soghomonyan, ''Three Graces'' (2020) * Cosimo Tura (1476–84) detail of ''Allegory of April'' * Unknown artist, '' The Three Graces'' sculpture in Indianapolis * Kehinde Wiley ''Three Graces'' * Joel-Peter Witkin

Footnotes

''(The Imagebase links are all broken)''

References

, ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes'', Cambridge, Massachusetts,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Arafat, Karim
s.v. Charites
published online 22 December 2015, in the
Oxford Classical Dictionary
', edited by

Tim Whitmarsh Timothy John Guy Whitmarsh, (born 23 January 1970) is a British classicist and Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge. He is best known for his work on the Greek literary culture of the Roman Empire, especially the Second Sophi ...

, digital ed, New York, Oxford University Press. . * Athanassakis, Apostolos N., and Benjamin M. Wolkow, ''The Orphic Hymns'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.
Internet ArchiveGoogle Books
* Boys-Stones, George
''L. ANNAEUS CORNUTUS, GREEK THEOLOGY''
ToposText. * Cameron, Alan, ''Greek Mythography in the Roman World'', Oxford University Press, 2004. . * Clark, Kenneth, ''The Nude, A Study in Ideal Form'', orig. 1949, various edns, page refs from Pelican edn of 1960 * Colluthus, ''The Rape of Helen'' in ''Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus'', translated by A. W. Mair,

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...

No. 219, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1928.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Fisher, Nick, "Kharis, Kharites, festivals, and social peace in the classical Greek city," in Ralph M. Rosen and

Ineke Sluiter Ineke Sluiter (born 13 November 1959) is a Dutch classicist and professor of Greek language and literature at Leiden University since 1998. Her research focuses on language, literature, and public discourse in classical antiquity. She was a winne ...

(Eds), ''Valuing Others in Classical Antiquity'' (Leiden, Brill, 2010) (Mnemosyne Supplements, 323). * Gantz, Timothy, ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). * Grimal, Pierre
''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology''
Wiley-Blackwell, 1996,
"Charites" p. 99
* Hard, Robin (2004), ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004,
Google Books
*

, ''Iliad, Volume II: Books 13-24'', translated by A. T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt,

No. 171, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1999
Online version at Harvard University Press
. * Keightley, Thomas, ''The Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy'', Whittaker and Company, 1838
Google Books
* Lang, C., ''Cornuti Theologiae Graecae Compendium'', Leipzig 1881
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* *

, ''

Dionysiaca The ''Dionysiaca'' (, ''Dionysiaká'') is an ancient Greek epic poem and the principal work of Nonnus. It is an epic in 48 books, the longest surviving poem from Greco-Roman antiquity at 20,426 lines, composed in Homeric dialect and dactylic hex ...

, Volume II: Books 16–35'',, translated by W. H. D. Rouse,

No. 345, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1940.
Online version at Harvard University PressInternet Archive (1940)
*

, ''

, Volume III: Books 36–48'', translated by W. H. D. Rouse,

No. 346, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940.
Online version at Harvard University PressInternet Archive (1940, reprinted 1942)
* O'Hara, James J., "Sostratus Suppl. Hell. 733: A Lost, Possibly Catullan-Era Elegy on the Six Sex Changes of Tiresias", in ''Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-2014)'', 1996, Vol. 126 (1996), pp. 173-219. . * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''Olympian Odes. Pythian Odes''. Edited and translated by William H. Race.

No. 56. Cambridge, Massachusetts:

, 1997, revised 2012.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Schachter, Albert
s.v. Charites
i
''Brill’s New Pauly Online''
Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and, Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry, published online: 2006. * Smith, William; ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...

'', London (1873)
"Charis"
*

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek language, Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; , ; ) was a Latin poetry, Latin poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid (Latin poem), Theb ...

, ''

Thebaid The Thebaid or Thebais (, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nome (Egypt), nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos, Egypt, Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximit ...

, Volume I: Thebaid: Books 1-7'', edited and translated by D. R. Shackleton Bailey,

No. 207, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 2004.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Torres, José B., ''Lucius Annaeus Cornutus: Compendium de Graecae Theologiae traditionibus'',

Bibliotheca Teubneriana The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern collections published of ancient (and some medieval ...

, Berlin,

De Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

, 2018
Online version at De Gruyter
* Tripp, Edward, ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology'', Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). .

External links

— art article (Spanish)
The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of the Graces)
{{Authority control Arts goddesses Fertility goddesses Greek goddesses Nature goddesses Children of Zeus Triple goddesses Beauty goddesses Children of Helios Children of Dionysus Children of Hera Olympian deities Charity sl:Harite

Parentage, number, and names

Mythology

Cult

Visual art

Ancient art

Renaissance onwards

List of notable artworks with images resembling the three Charites

See also

Footnotes

References

External links