The daughters of Pandareus, Henry Fuseli

c. 1795

52 × 63 cm

Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland

Odyssey Book 20

..in Ocean's backward-flowing stream, just as
storms snatched up Pandareus' daughters,
whose parents the gods killed, thus leaving them
orphans in their home.  Fair Aphrodite
looked after them with cheese, sweet honey,
and fine wine, while Hera offered them   
beauty and wisdom beyond all women.   
Chaste Artemis made them tall, and Athena   
gave them their skills in famous handicrafts.
But when fair Aphrodite went away
to high Olympus, petitioning Zeus,
who hurls the thunderbolt, that the girls
could find fulfillment in a happy marriage,
for Zeus has perfect knowledge of all things,
what each man's destiny will be or not,
that's when storm spirits snatched away the girls
and placed them in the care of hateful Furies


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