Seahorses in Myth and Reality
These illustrations are for a book I am in the process of designing and illustrating on seahorses in myth and reality. The text is from Helen Scale's book "Poseidon's Steed" and it goes over the seahorses part in history and mythology, and some of its characteristics.
"Hippocampus was never given a main part in any of the Greek myths, but it would often be seen trotting past in the background of vases and murals, ridden by enchanting sea goddesses known as the Nereids. These captivating, shape-changing nymphs were divine spirits that embodied the fascinating lure of the mysterious deep ocean and who liked nothing more than to spend their time dancing and singing. But hippocampus’ most famous master was Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea."
"Poseidon not only held dominion over the seas, but with his torrid and tumultuous nature, he often behaved like them, too. Many times he used the seas to vent his unrelenting and unforgiving anger on his enemies, as we see in Homer’s epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey.
In The Iliad, Laomedon, king of Troy, provokes Poseidon’s outrage by duping him into building the walls of the city without paying him, and even threatens to enslave the great sea god and cut off his ears. In retaliation, Poseidon sets loose a savage sea monster on the city and, throughout the rest of The Iliad, does all he can to help the Greeks in their war against the Trojans. But his siding with the Greeks comes to an end in The Odyssey when the Greek hero Odysseus also makes the mistake of crossing the great monarch of the sea."
