InGreek mythology, theCharites (/ˈkærɪtiːz/;[1]Ancient Greek:Χάριτες), singularCharis (Χάρις), also called theGraces, are goddesses who personify beauty and grace.[2] According to Hesiod, the Charites wereAglaea,Euphrosyne, andThalia, who were the daughters ofZeus andEurynome, the daughter ofOceanus. However in other accounts, their names, number and parentage varied. InRoman mythology they were known as theGratiae. Hesiod has Aglaea as the wife ofHephaestus, and in theIliad Hera promises to give a Charis namedPasithea toHypnos as bride. Otherwise they have little independent mythology, usually described as attending various gods and goddesses, especiallyAphrodite.[3]
In Roman and later art, the three Charites are generally depicted nude in an interlaced group, but during theArchaic andClassical periods of Greece, they were typically depicted as fully clothed,[4] and in a line, with dance poses.
InHesiod'sTheogony, the Charites are the three daughters of Zeus:Aglaea ("Splendor"),Euphrosyne ("Joy"), andThalia ("Good Cheer"), by theOceanidEurynome.[5] The identical genealogy is given byApollodorus.[6] The same three names are also given byPindar, with a possible reference to their "father" Zeus and no mother mentioned.[7] Although the Charites were usually considered to be Zeus' daughters and three in number, their names as well as their parentage and number varied.[8]Homer mentionsPasithea as "one of the youthful Graces",[9] and perhaps has "Charis" (the singular form of "Charites"), as the name of another,[10] but does not give their parentage, number, or any other of their names.[11]
The geographerPausanias gives other variations, some regional.[12] He says that, according toBoeotian tradition,Eteocles, the king ofOrchomenus, established three as the number of Charites, but that theAthenians andSpartans worshipped only two. For the Athenians the two Charites wereAuxo andHegemone, while for the Spartans they wereCleta andPhaenna.[13] Also, according to Pausanias, theHellenistic poetHermesianax said thatPeitho ("Persuasion") was one of the Charites, and the poetAntimachus said that the Charites were the "daughters of Aegle and the Sun [Helios]".[14]
While Hesiod has Eurynome, and Antimachus has Aegle, as the mother of the Charites, other names were also given. According toOrphic Hymn 60, the Charites ("Aglaea, Thalia, ... Euphrosyne") were the daughters of Zeus andEunomia.[15] TheStoic philosopherCornutus includes the names Eurynome, and Aegle, he gives other names for mothers as well:Eurydome,Eurymedousa,Hera, andEuanthe.[16]Nonnus has his three Charites (Hesiod's Aglaea, Homer's Pasithea, and Hermesianax's Peitho)[17] being the daughters ofDionysus andCoronis.[18]
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 nameKale, saying that it was she who was the wife of Hephaestus.[19]
The Charites' major mythological role was to attend the other Olympians, particularly during feasts and dances.[20] They attended Aphrodite by bathing and anointing her inPaphos before her seduction ofAnkhises and after she left Olympus when her affair with Ares is found out.[21] Additionally, they are said to weave or dye herpeplos.[22] Along withPeitho, they presentedPandora with necklaces to make her more enticing.[23] Pindar stated the Charites arranged feasts and dances for the Olympians.[24] They also danced with theSeasons,Hebe,Harmonia and Aphrodite in celebration of the arrival ofApollo among the gods of Olympus, whileArtemis sang and Apollo played the lyre.[25] They were often referenced as dancing and singing with Apollo and theMuses.[26] Pindar also referred to them as the guardians of the ancientMinyans and the queens ofOrchomenus who have their thrones besidePythian Apollo's.[24]
The Charites appear to have a connection toHera, where some ancient authors reference her as their nurse.[27] In theIliad, as part of herplan to seduce Zeus to distract him from theTrojan War, she offers to arrangeHypnos's marriage to Pasithea, who is referred to as one of the younger Charites.[28]
One of the Charites had a role as the wife of the smith god Hephaestus. Hesiod names the wife of Hephaestus as Aglaea.[29] In theIliad, she is called Charis, and she welcomesThetis into their shared home on Olympus so that the latter may ask for Hephaestus to forge armor for her sonAchilles.[30] 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 asWalter Burkert, support that the marriage of Hephaestus and Aphrodite as an invention of theOdyssey, since it is not represented within otherArchaic orClassical era literature or arts, and it does not appear to have a connection to cult.[31]
The cult of the Charites is very old, with their name appearing to be ofPelasgian, or pre-Greek, origin rather than being brought to Greece byProto-Indo-Europeans.[32] 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.[32] One of the earliest centres of worship for the Charites was theCycladic Islands includingParos, with epigraphical evidence for a cult to the Charites dating to the sixth century B.C.E. on the island ofThera.[4][32] 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 involvingMinos. 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.[4] Dance, however, appears to be strongly connected with their cult, which is similar to the cults ofDionysus andArtemis.[32]
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 inOrkhomenos inBoeotia, where their cult was thought to have originated. There were also temples to the Charites inHermione,Sparta, andElis.[33] A temple was dedicated to the Charites near theTiasa river inAmyclae,Laconia that was reportedly founded by the ancient King of Sparta,Lacedaemon.[34]
In Orkhomenos, the goddesses were worshipped at a very ancient site with a trio of stones, which is similar to other Boiotian cults toEros andHerakles.[4] The local riverKephisos 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.[4] Regarding the foundation of their cult in Orkhomenos,Strabo wrote:
Eteokles, one of those who reigned as king at Orkhomenos, who founded a temple of the Kharites, was the first to display both wealth and power; for he honored these goddesses either because he was successful in receiving graces, or in giving them, or both. For necessarily, when he had become naturally inclined to kindly deeds, he began doing honor to these goddesses; and therefore he already possessed this power.[35]
In cult, the Charites were particularly connected withApollo and appear to be connected to his cult onDelos; however, this connection is not present in other cults to Apollo.[32] In the Classical era and beyond, the Charites were associated with Aphrodite in connection to civic matters.[32]
There was a festival in honour of the Charites which was calledCharisia (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.[36]
Early 5th-century BCE relief from theacropolis of Athens; Ancient folklore held that it was sculpted bySocrates, though this is unlikely.
Despite the Charites usually being depictednude entwined in a "closed symmetrical group" for the last two millennia, this was a later development, as in depictions fromArchaic andClassical Greece, they are finely dressed,[4][37] and usually shown in a line, as dancers. In contrast, the third century BCE poetsCallimachus andEuphorion describe the trio as being nude.[37]
The earliest representation of these goddesses was found in a temple of Apollo inThermon dated to the seventh to sixth century BCE.[32] It is possible, however, that the Charites are represented on aMycenean golden seal ring that depicts two female figures dancing in the presence of a male figure, who has been interpreted as Hermes or Dionysus.[32] Another early representation of the Charites, from a relief at theParos colony ofThasos 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.[32] The opposite side of the relief shows Apollo being crowned by Artemis with nymphs in the background. At the entrance of theAkropolis, there was a famous Classical era relief of the Charites and Hermes, and the popular belief was that the sculptor wasSocrates, although this is very unlikely.[4]
Kenneth Clark 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".[38] 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.
One of the earliest known Roman representations of the Graces was a wall painting in Boscoreale dated to 40 BCE, which also depictedAphrodite withEros andDionysus withAriadne.[37] The group may have also appeared on a small number of coins to symbolize the union betweenMarcus Aurelius andFaustina Minor and on other coins they were depicted in the hands ofJuno orVenus.[37] The Graces were common subject matter on Roman sarcophagi, and they were depicted on several mirrors.[37]On the representation of the Graces, the second century CE guide book authorPausanias wrote:
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. AtSmyrna, for instance, in the sanctuary of theNemeses, 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 byApelles. AtPergamus likewise, in the chamber ofAttalus, 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 ofSophroniscus, made images of Graces for the Athenians, which are before the entrance to the Acropolis. Also, Socrates was known to have destroyed his own work as he progressed deeper into his life of philosophy and search of the conscious due to his iconoclastic attitude towards art and the like. 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.
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".[39] Indeed, a large marble Graeco-Roman group, which was a key model in the Renaissance,[39] when it was in thePiccolomini Library, is now displayed inSiena Cathedral.
^Tripp, s.v. Graces; Arafat,s.v. Charites (which adds "charm"); Grimal, s.v. Charites (which calls them "goddesses of beauty and perhaps also, in their earliest form, of the powers of vegetation."); Schachter,s.v. Charites (which says they are "goddesses who embody beauty, happiness and abundance".
^Dionysus as father:Nonnus,Dionysiaca16.131–2,33.4–11; Dionysus as father by Coronis:Nonnus,Dionysiaca48.553–556, with note: "Coronis as mother of the Charites is heard of only here; she seems to have nothing to do with Coronis the mother of Asclepios by Apollo.")
^Cameron,p. 150. This summary is found in the Homeric commentary of the twelfth-century bishopEustathius, whose likely source wasPtolemy Chennus (O'Hara p. 173). Cameron discusses this summary in his chapter on "Bogus Citations", which argues that Sostratus, as well as the summary of his supposed lost poem, are just one of the many fabrications of Ptolemy Chennus.
^Burkert, Walter (2009). "The Song of Ares and Aphrodite: On the Relationship between the Odyssey and the Iliad". In Doherty, Lillian E. (ed.).Homer's Odyssey. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp. 29–43.ISBN9780199233328.
^They are all "either mediocre commercial pieces or such rough imitations as local masons might make of a subject which was popular, but not yet sanctified by time". Clark, 85
Fisher, Nick, "Kharis, Kharites, festivals, and social peace in the classical Greek city," in Ralph M. Rosen andIneke Sluiter (Eds),Valuing Others in Classical Antiquity (Leiden, Brill, 2010) (Mnemosyne Supplements, 323).
Hard, Robin (2004),The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004,ISBN9780415186360.Google Books.
O'Hara, James J., "Sostratus Suppl. Hell. 733: A Lost, Possibly Catullan-Era Elegy on the Six Sex Changes of Tiresias", inTransactions of the American Philological Association (1974-2014), 1996, Vol. 126 (1996), pp. 173-219.JSTOR370177.
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.
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