Marble love

This Marble Statue Posestend for a couple. Includes 8 couple poses. 

Each of the sculptures is a different story of love and passion from days of antiquity.
 HOW TO USE - MANUAL HERE
ITEM IN THE STORE : MARBLE STATUE POSESTAND(COUPLE)

Achilles and Penthesilea

Penthesilea was a queen of the Amazons. As the daughter of Ares, she was strong, courageous, and had a natural inclination to fight the good fight. As handy as she was with her weaponry, though, she was not so skilled that she was able to avoid the occasional accident. When she was once hunting with her sister, another queen of the Amazons, she accidentally killed her with an arrow. So distraught was Penthesilea, she decided that she must purify herself of this act.
At the time the Trojan War, the legendary conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans, was in its tenth and last year. As penance and in order to cleanse her soul of her accidental crime, Penthesilea traveled to join the Trojans in their fight against the Greeks. She proved to be quite the asset to the underdog Trojans.
Penthesilea was a strong and skilled warrior. She defeated many men in hand-to-hand combat, and her reputation grew amongst both sides. Her heroic exploits caught the eye of Achilles in particular, who itched to face her on the battlefield.
Penthesilea was graced not only with plenty of courage, physical strength, and prowess, but she was also quite beautiful. Her beauty engrossed Chalon of Cyparissus, a fellow soldier, and he fell in love with her. When he heard of Achiles’ intentions to face the Amazon queen, he tried to intercede to prevent her any harm. But, Achilles killed Chalon, and he was one step closer to the fight.

Achilles, the handsome, strong, and seemingly untouchable son of the nymph Thetis, met his foe in battle, and his reputation as a fierce soldier was not undone. He defeated Penthesilea, and killed her. But even the all-powerful Achilles was not immune to matters of the heart. As Penthesilea lay dying before him, he was struck by her great beauty, and at the very moment of her death, their eyes met, and he fell deeply in love with her.
Achilles instantly regretted his actions and wept in grief and remorse. As he mourned the loss of his unrequited love, he was teased by Thersites, a fellow Greek soldier. Out of anger and sadness, Achilles swiftly killed him. Achilles, showing an instant of surrender in the moment of Penthesilea’s death, proved that he had more than one vulnerability. It seems that love was his second Achilles' Heel.

Mars and venus (A. Canova)

The union of Venus and Mars held greater appeal for poets and philosophers, and the couple were a frequent subject of art. In Greek myth, the adultery of Ares and Aphrodite had been exposed to ridicule when her husband Hephaestus (whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan) caught them in the act by means of a magical snare. Although not originally part of the Roman tradition, in 217 BC Venus and Mars were presented as a complementary pair in the lectisternium, a public banquet at which images of twelve major gods of the Roman state were presented on couches as if present and participating.

 

The uniting of deities representing Love and War lent itself to allegory, especially since the lovers were the parents of Harmonia. The Renaissance philosopher Marsilio Ficino notes that "only Venus dominates Mars, and he never dominates her". In ancient Roman and Renaissance art, Mars is often shown disarmed and relaxed, or even sleeping, but the extramarital nature of their affair can also suggest that this peace is impermanent.

Apollo and Daphne (Bernini)

 
Daphne was Apollo's first love. It was not brought about by accident, but by the malice of Cupid. Apollo saw the boy playing with his bow and arrows; and being himself elated with his recent victory over Python, he said to him, "What have you to do with warlike weapons, saucy boy? Leave them for hands worthy of them, Behold the conquest I have won by means of them over the vast serpent who stretched his poisonous body over acres of the plain! Be content with your torch, child, and kindle up your flames, as you call them, where you will, but presume not to meddle with my weapons." Venus's boy heard these words, and rejoined, "Your arrows may strike all things else, Apollo, but mine shall strike you." So saying, he took his stand on a rock of Parnassus, and drew from his quiver two arrows of different workmanship, one to excite love, the other to repel it. The former was of gold and ship pointed, the latter blunt and tipped with lead. With the leaden shaft he struck the nymph Daphne, the daughter of the river god Peneus, and with the golden one Apollo, through the heart. Forthwith the god was seized with love for the maiden, and she abhorred the thought of loving. Her delight was in woodland sports and in the spoils of the chase. Lovers sought her, but she spurned them all, ranging the woods, and taking no thought of Cupid nor of Hymen. Her father often said to her, "Daughter, you owe me a son-in-law; you owe me grandchildren." She, hating the thought of marriage as a crime, with her beautiful face tinged all over with blushes, threw her arms around her father's neck, and said, "Dearest father, grant me this favour, that I may always remain unmarried, like Diana." He consented, but at the same time said, "Your own face will forbid it."
Apollo loved her, and longed to obtain her; and he who gives oracles to all the world was not wise enough to look into his own fortunes. He saw her hair flung loose over her shoulders, and said, "If so charming, in disorder, what would it be if arranged?" He saw her eyes bright as stars; he saw her lips, and was not satisfied with only seeing them. He admired her hands and arms, naked to the shoulder, and whatever was hidden from view he imagined more beautiful still. He followed her; she fled, swifter than the wind, and delayed not a moment at his entreaties. "Stay," said he, "daughter of Peneus; I am not a foe. Do not fly me as a lamb flies the wolf, or a dove the hawk. It is for love I pursue you. You make me miserable, for fear you should fall and hurt yourself on these stones, and I should be the cause. Pray run slower, and I will follow slower. I am no clown, no rude peasant. Jupiter is my father, and I am lord of Delphos and Tenedos, and know all things, present and future. I am the god of song and the lyre. My arrows fly true to the mark; but, alas! an arrow more fatal than mine has pierced my heart! I am the god of medicine, and know the virtues of all healing plants. Alas! I suffer a malady that no balm can cure!"
The nymph continued her flight, and left his plea half uttered. And even as she fled she charmed him. The wind blew her garments, and her unbound hair streamed loose behind her. The god grew impatient to find his wooings thrown away, and, sped by Cupid, gained upon her in the race. It was like a hound pursuing a hare, with open jaws ready to seize, while the feebler animal darts forward, slipping from the very grasp. So flew the god and the virgin- he on the wings of love, and she on those of fear. The pursuer is the more rapid, however, and gains upon her, and his panting breath blows upon her hair. Her strength begins to fail, and, ready to sink, she calls upon her father, the river god: "Help me, Peneus! open the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger!" Scarcely had she spoken, when a stiffness seized all her limbs; her bosom began to be enclosed in a tender bark; her hair became leaves; her arms became branches; her foot stuck fast in the ground, as a root; her face became a tree-top, retaining nothing of its former self but its beauty, Apollo stood amazed. He touched the stem, and felt the flesh tremble under the new bark. He embraced the branches, and lavished kisses on the wood. The branches shrank from his lips. "Since you cannot be my wife," said he, "you shall assuredly be my tree. I will wear you for my crown; I will decorate with you my harp and my quiver; and when the great Roman conquerors lead up the triumphal pomp to the Capitol, you shall be woven into wreaths for their brows. And, as eternal youth is mine, you also shall be always green, and your leaf know no decay." The nymph, now changed into a Laurel tree, bowed its head in grateful acknowledgment.

 Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss (CANOVA)

There were once a king and queen who had three very beautiful daughters. Psyche, the youngest and most beautiful of them, was venerated like a goddess by the local people.

Jealous and infuriated by such blasphemy, Venus, goddess of Beauty, ordered her son Cupid to avenge her by making Psyche enamored of the lowest of all human beings. But at the sight of the beauteous mortal Cupid fell hopelessly in love. Psyche’s father, in despair at seeing his daughter unmarried despite her beauty, consulted the oracle of Miletus. The oracle predicted terrible disasters if the girl were not abandoned at once on a rock, where a monster would carry her off.

Alone and trembling on the rock, Psyche suddenly felt the caress of a light breeze: this signaled the coming of Zephyr, the gentle west wind. He bore her away to a marble palace covered with precious stones, which would now be her home.

Each night a mysterious visitor came to Psyche’s room and made love to her. But he forbade her to try to see his face.

One night Psyche, curious to see her lover’s face, lit her oil lamp as he slept and saw that he was none other than the god of Love. But a drop of burning oil suddenly woke him; and feeling himself betrayed, he fled.
Desperate, Psyche set out in search of her lost love. Venus inflicted terrible ordeals on her, leading her from the Underworld to Olympus. For the last of these ordeals, Venus sent Psyche to Proserpina, goddess of the Underworld, ordering her bring back a flask she should open under no circumstances. But Psyche, a victim of her curiosity, opened the flask. Inhaling the dreadful vapors, she fell into a deathly sleep. Cupid revived her by touching her with his arrow. Moved by such devotion, the gods finally granted Cupid Psyche’s hand. They gave her nectar and ambrosia, and this made her immortal. They then consecrated her goddess of the Soul.

Since ancient times Psyche has been depicted with butterfly wings. This is a reference to the dual meaning of her name, Psukhē, in Greek: soul and butterfly. Thus did the butterfly become the symbol of the immortality of the soul.

The story of Psyche symbolizes the ordeals the soul must undergo in order to achieve happiness and immortality.

Acis and Galatea

Galatea was a sea nymph, a Nereid, who lived by the island inhabited by the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, who was deeply in love with Galatea. However Galatea liked the young shepherd Acis, son of Pan. Galatea and Acis used to mock Polyphemus's songs of love for Galatea. Polyphemus caught them sleeping on a grassy hill, and killed Acis by crushing him under a huge rock. Acis's blood formed a stream beneath the rock. Galatea turned it into a river and named it after him.



The story of Acis and Galatea was told by Ovid in Book III of his Metamorphoses, and it is also the subject of a 1732 opera by Georg Friedrich Händel; here are excerpts from the Libretto, by John Gay:

Chorus:

Wretched lovers!
Fate has past this sad decree:
No joy shall last. Quit your dream!
Behold the monster Polypheme!
See what ample strides he takes!
The mountain nods, the forest shakes;
The waves run frighten'd to the shores:
Hark, how the thund'ring giant roars!

Acis:

His hideous love provokes my rage:
Weak as I am, I must engage!
Inspir'd with thy victorious charms,
The god of love will lend his arms.

 

Acis (later):

Help, Galatea! help, ye parent gods!
And take me dying to your deep abodes.

Chorus:

Mourn, all ye muses! weep, all ye swains!
Tune, tune your reeds to doleful strains!
Groans, cries and howlings fill the neighb'ring shore:
Ah, ah, the gentle Acis is no more!

 

 

 

But don't despair. Ovid goes on to tell us:

 

 

The stone was cleft, and through the yawning chink
New reeds arose, on the new river's brink.
The rock, from out its hollow womb, disclos'd
A sound like water in its course oppos'd,
When (wond'rous to behold), full in the flood,
Up starts a youth, and navel high he stood.
Horns from his temples rise; and either horn
Thick wreaths of reeds (his native growth) adorn.
Were not his stature taller than before,
His bulk augmented, and his beauty more,
His colour blue; for Acis he might pass:
And Acis chang'd into a stream he was,
But mine no more; he rowls along the plains
With rapid motion, and his name retains.

The Rape of the Sabine Women

The historian Livy retells the legend of how the Sabine women were snatched from their families at a religious festival to populate Rome and how their hearts and minds were won over by violence followed by sweet words and childbearing.

    The Roman state had become strong enough to hold its own in war with all the peoples along its borders, but a shortage of women meant that its greatness was fated to last for a single generation, since there was no prospect of offspring at home nor any prospect of marriage with their neighbours. Then, in accordance with the decision of the senate, Romulus sent messengers to the neighbouring peoples to ask for alliance and the right of marriage for the new people: cities, like everything else, start small but later if their own excellence and the gods assist them, they grow in strength and in fame. It was certain that at the beginning of Rome the gods had been propitiated and that it would not lack in valour. Therefore, men should not disdain to join blood and family ties with other men.

    But nowhere were the emissaries given a fair hearing. Some scorned, others feared the great power growing in their midst, both for themselves and for their descendants. In more than one place the emissaries were asked, even as they were being sent packing, why they hadn't offered asylum to women (criminals) too: that way they'd have had their marriage and with others of their own rank! The youth of Rome took this insult badly and began to think seriously about the use of force. Romulus, to gain time till he found the right occasion, hid his concern and prepared to celebrate the Consualia, the solemn games in honour of equestrian Neptune. He then ordered that the spectacle be announced to the neighbouring peoples. He gave the event great publicity by the most lavish means possible in those days. Many people came, some simply out of curiosity to see the new city, and especially the nearest neighbours, from Caenina, Crustuminum and Antemnae; the entire Sabine population came, wives and children included. Received with hospitality in the houses, after having seen the position of the city, its walls, and the large number of buildings, they marvelled that Rome had grown so fast. When it was time for the show, and everybody was concentrating on this, a prearranged signal was given and all the Roman youths began to grab the women. Many just snatched the nearest woman to hand, but the most beautiful had already been reserved for the senators and these were escorted to the senators' houses by plebeians who had been given this assignment. The story goes that one woman, far and away the most beautiful, was carried off by the gang of a certain Thalassius, and because many wanted to know where they were taking her, they repeatedly shouted that they were taking her to Thalassius, and that it how the nuptial cry came to be.

    The party was over, and the grieving parents of the girls ran away, accusing the Romans of having violated the laws of hospitality and invoking the god who was supposed to have been honoured at that day's festival. Nor did the girls themselves hold much hope. But Romulus went among them in person to assure them that none of this would have happened if their fathers hadn't been so inflexible in not letting them marry their neighbours. But now they would have the status of wives with all the material rewards and civil rights of citizenship and they would have children, than which nothing is dearer. They should cool their anger and give their hearts to the men who had already taken their bodies. A good relationship often begins with an offence, he said. And their husbands would treat them with extra kindness in hope of making up for the parents and country they so missed. The men added their blandishments, saying that they'd been motivated by love and passion, entreaties which are very effective with women.

Satyr and nymph

In Greek mythology, satyrs (in Ancient Greek: Σάτυροι — Sátyroi) are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus that roamed the woods and mountains. In mythology they are often associated with male sex drive and many artists have portrayed them with erections. Satyrs acquired their goat-like aspect through later conflation with the Roman Faunus, a carefree nature spirit of similar temperament. Satyrs are described as roguish but faint-hearted folk — subversive and dangerous, yet shy and cowardly. As Dionysiac creatures they are lovers of wine, women and boys, and are ready for every physical pleasure. They love to dance with the nymphs with whom they are obsessed and whom they often pursue.

Nymph is a general term for the goddesses who coexist with rivers, springs, mountains or any type of natural life-form. The name Nymph literally means Bride. Although Nymphs can live for a very long time, they are not immortal … they can die or be killed.

The goddess Nymphs were first mentioned in the ancient Greek texts after the mutilation of Ouranos (Heavens). The Titan Kronos (Cronos) was prompted by his mother Gaia (Earth) to attack his father Ouranos because he had become overbearing and oppressive. Kronos attacked Ouranos with a sickle made of flint and cut off his male members. The Meliae (Meliai), i.e. Nymphs of the Ash Trees, were created from the blood which Ouranos bled into Gaia. When it came time for Kronos to step aside and allow his children to rule from Mount Olympos (Olympus), he and the other Titans refused to relinquish their authority without a fight. Kronos's son Zeus summoned the Immortals he thought might help him in the war against the Titans … all of the Nymphs came to Zeus's assistance. From that time onward, Nymphs have been called the Daughters of Zeus even though he was not their actual father.

Nymphs have assumed the form of young, beautiful women with a loving and supportive nature. They have been the consorts of the Immortals and even taken mortal men as their lovers and companions. The children of Nymphs have lived lives as poets, soldiers and ordinary men and women. The role of Nymphs has generally been quite passive but there are instances where they became vengeful and assertive.

Poet and muse