Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. The Romans did not stress her relation to battle and warfare as the Greeks did. From the second century BC onward, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena. Reference: Wikipedia.

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There are many legends regarding Ariadne in Greek mythology although it seems Ariadne was a princess of Crete. She was a daughter of King Minos and his Queen, Pasiphaë, and the legacy of the god Zeus (on her father’s side) and the titan Helios (on her mother’s side). She is most commonly known for helping the Greek demigod hero Theseus get through the Labyrinth in Ancient Greece. She became the immortal wife of the god Dionysus after Theseus abandoned her. Her Roman counterpart is Ariana. Reference: Fandom

Ariadne fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus and, with a thread or glittering jewels, helped him escape the Labyrinth after he slew the Minotaur, a beast half bull and half man that Minos kept in the Labyrinth. Here the legends diverge: she was abandoned by Theseus and hanged herself; or, Theseus carried her to Naxos and left her there to die, and she was rescued by and married the god Dionysus. Reference: Encyclopaedia Britannica

In  cameos and other art, Ariadne is often portrayed with her husband Dionysus. This can be either as the figure of Dionysus or by symbolism. The symbolism can be a panther,  either together in sometimes portrayed with a panther. Panthers were the preferred mount of Dionysus so this is often portrayed with Ariadne. Also, ivy was associated with Dionysus so Ariadne is often portrayed wearing an ivy wreath. Sometimes she is depicted sleeping which probably relates to the legend of Theseus leaving abandoning her while she is sleeping on the shore of Naxos.

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Information on Demeter the Greek Goddess of Agriculture and her depictions in cameos and other art. Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and presides over grains and the fertility of the earth. Although she was most often referred to as the goddess of the harvest, she was also goddess of sacred law and the cycle of life and death. Reference: Greek Gods and Goddesses.

She was the middle daughter of Cronus and Rhea and one of the original twelve Olympians. Demeter is usually portrayed as a fully-clothed and matronly-looking woman, either enthroned and regally seated or proudly standing with an extended hand. Sometimes she is depicted riding a chariot containing her daughter Persephone, who is almost always in her vicinity. The goddesses – as they were endearingly called – even share the same attributes and symbols: scepter, cornucopia, ears of corn, a sheaf of wheat, torch, and occasionally, a crown of flowers. This can be seen in some of the cameos below. Reference: Greek Mythology

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Eos Greek Goddess of the Dawn. In Greek mythology, Eos  is a Titaness and the goddess of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home at the edge of the Oceanus.

Eos had a brother and a sister, Helios, god of the sun, and Selene, goddess of the moon.

Eos, preceded by the Morning Star, is seen as the genetrix of all the stars and planets; her tears are considered to have created the morning dew, personified as Ersa or Herse (Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.621-2). Eos is the daughter of Hyperion, a bringer of light, the One Above, Who Travels High Above the Earth and of Theia, The Divine. Her brother was the Sun god Helios, and her sister was Selene, the Moon goddess. Her team of horses pull her chariot across the sky and are named in the Odyssey as “Firebright” and “Daybright”.

She was the Mother of several notable offspring, including the Winds, Zephyrus, Boreas, and Notus, and the Morning Star, Eosphoros, all of whom she bore to the Titan Astraeus (“of the Stars”), and Memnon, her son by Tithonus.

This rosy-fingered, saffron-robed and golden-throned goddess, who goes up to Olympus to announce the light to the immortals, fell in love several times, and some say it was Aphrodite who cursed her to be perpetually in love, because once had Eos lain with Aphrodite’s sweetheart Ares, the god of war. Reference: Wikipedia

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Oak groves and deer were especially sacred to her. According to mythology (in common with the Greek religion and their deity Artemis), Diana was born with her twin brother, Apollo, on the island of Delos, daughter of Jupiter and Latona. She made up a triad with two other Roman deities: Egeria the water nymph, her servant and assistant midwife; and Virbius, the woodland god.

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Information on Thanatos, the personicication of Death and his depiction in cameos and other art throughout history. In Greek mythology, Thanatos was the personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appearing in person. His name is transliterated in Latin as Thanatus, but his equivalent in Roman mythology is Mors or Letum.

Thanatos is often portrayed as a slumbering infant in the arms of his mother Nyx, or as a youth carrying a butterfly (the ancient Greek word “ψυχή” can mean soul or butterfly, or life, amongst other things) or a wreath of poppies (poppies were associated with Hypnos and Thanatos because of their hypnogogic traits and the eventual death engendered by overexposure to them).

He is often shown carrying an inverted torch (holding it upside down in his hands), representing a life extinguished. He is usually described as winged and with a sword sheathed at his belt. In Euripides’ Alcestis (438 BCE), he is depicted dressed in black and carrying a sword. Thanatos was rarely portrayed in art without his twin brother Hypnos.

Thanatos is also famously shown on the Euphronios Krator where he and his brother Hypnos are shown carrying the body of Sarpedon to his home for burial. Reference: Wikipedia

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Information on Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep and gallery of cameos and other objects which incorporate his persona. In Greek mythology the winged youths Thanatos (Death) and his brother Hypnos (Sleep) were the children of Nyx (Night) and Erebus, the god of darkness. He is often portrayed as a baby in the arms of his mother, Nyx. Both had attributes – objects traditionally associated with them in images. Hypnos is often shown with an owl and a poppy, denoting night time and the drowsiness induced by the narcotic plant, or with wings attached to his head. Reference: Victoria & Albert Museum.

Hypnos appears in numerous works of art, most of which are vases. An example of one vase that he is featured on is called “Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus,” which is part of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston’s collection. In this vase, Hypnos is shown as a winged god dripping Lethean water upon the head of Ariadne as she sleeps. One of the most famous works of art featuring Hypnos is a bronze head of Hypnos himself, now kept in the British Museum in London. This bronze head has wings sprouting from his temples and the hair is elaborately arranged, some tying in knots and some hanging freely from his head. Reference: Wikipedia

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Cupid Roman God of Love. Information on Cupid and his depiction in cameos throughout the ages. Cupid, ancient Roman god of love in all its varieties, the counterpart of the Greek god Eros and the equivalent of Amor in Latin poetry. According to myth, Cupid was the son of Mercury, the winged messenger of the gods, and Venus, the goddess of love. He often appeared as a winged infant carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows whose wounds inspired love or passion in his every victim. He was sometimes portrayed wearing armour like that of Mars, the god of war, perhaps to suggest ironic parallels between warfare and romance or to symbolize the invincibility of love. Reference: Encyclopaedia Britannica

In art, Cupid often appears in multiples as the Amores, or amorini in the later terminology of art history, the equivalent of the Greek erotes. Cupids are a frequent motif of both Roman art and later Western art of the classical tradition. In the 15th century, the iconography of Cupid starts to become indistinguishable from the putto.

Cupid continued to be a popular figure in the Middle Ages, when under Christian influence he often had a dual nature as Heavenly and Earthly love. In the Renaissance, a renewed interest in classical philosophy endowed him with complex allegorical meanings. In contemporary popular culture, Cupid is shown dra. wing his bow to inspire romantic love, often as an icon of Valentine’s Day. Reference: Wikipedia

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Information on Zeus Greek god of the sky and of cameos which depict the Greek god. Zeus was known as one of the twelve Olympian gods and chief god of the Roman pantheon, specifically a god of the sky.  He embodied all the benign and vengeful powers and functions of divinity. In addition he led the other Olympian gods in their overthrow of the Titans and, as the husband of Hera/Juno, is particularly known for his many infidelities. Reference: The British Museum.

Zeus is often depicted in cameos as a man with a beard wearing a laurel wreath. Sometimes he is depicted as an eagle. This is probably because of the myth of the Aetos Dios, giant eagle which is the messenger of Zeus. According to some it was once a mortal king named Periphas, whose virtuous rule was so celebrated that he was came to be honoured like a god. Zeus, in anger, would have smote him with a thunderbolt, but Apollon intervened and transformed the king into an eagle and set him beside the throne of Zeus. Reference: Theoi Greek Mythology

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Apollo Greek and Roman God. Information on Apollo the Greek and Roman god and depictions of Apollo in cameos thoughout the ages. Apollo is the Olympian god of the sun and light, music and poetry, healing and plagues, prophecy and knowledge, order and beauty, archery and agriculture. An embodiment of the Hellenic ideal of kalokagathia, he is harmony, reason and moderation personified, a perfect blend of physical superiority and moral virtue. A complex deity who turns up in art and literature possibly as often as Zeus himself, Apollo is the only major god who appears with the same name in both Greek and Roman mythology. Reference: Greek Mythology

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