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InGreek mythology,Comus (/ˈkoʊməs/;[1]Ancient Greek:Κῶμος,Kōmos) is thegod of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. Cup-bearer of the godDionysus, he was represented as a winged youth or a child-likesatyr.[2] His mythology occurs only in laterantiquity. During his festivals inAncient Greece, men and women exchanged clothes. He was depicted as a young man on the point of unconsciousness fromdrink, with a wreath of flowers on his head.
A description of Comus as he appeared in painting is found inImagines (Greek Εἰκόνες,translit. Eikones) byPhilostratus the Elder, a Greek writer and sophist of the 3rd century AD.
Dionysos sails to the revels of [the island of] Andros and, his ship now moored in the harbour, he leads a mixed throng of Satyroi (Satyrs) and Bakkhantes (Bacchantes) and all the Seilenoi (Silens). He leads Gelos (Laughter) and Komos (Comus, Revelry), two spirits most gay and most fond of the drinking-bout, that with the greatest delight he may reap the river's harvest.[3]
InRenaissance times, anallegorical painting of theReign of Comus was begun byMantegna for theStudiolo of Isabella d'Este and was completed byLorenzo Costa in 1511/12.[4] This pictured Comus as the ruler of a land ofbacchanals, seated on the left in the company ofVenus andCupid, beside an inlet of the sea.John Milton's later masque ofComus (1634) invents a new genealogy for the god, describing him as the son ofBacchus andCirce. A licentious figure here, as suggested in Costa's allegory too, his attempts to seduce a virtuous lady whom he has kidnapped are only narrowly defeated by her brothers.[5]
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There have been a number of paintings of episodes from the play, including a set of eightwatercolours commissioned fromWilliam Blake in 1801;[6]Samuel Palmer'sThe Dell of Comus (1855, now in the Brighton Museum);[7] andEdwin Landseer'sThe Defeat of Comus, originally painted in 1843 for the garden pavilion in the grounds ofBuckingham Palace.
As a dramatic character, Comus also appears at the start ofBen Jonson'smasquePleasure Reconciled to Virtue (1618) and inLes fêtes de Paphos (The Festivals of Paphos, 1758), an opéra-ballet byJean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville. In addition, he features in thebaroqueoperasLes plaisirs de Versailles (1682) byMarc-Antoine Charpentier andKing Arthur (1691) byHenry Purcell andJohn Dryden.
During the 18th century a Temple of Comus was built as a venue in theVauxhall Pleasure Gardens,[8] where it was depicted byCanaletto during his visit to London and later made the subject of a popular print.[9]
Media related toComus at Wikimedia Commons