Arte - Great Greek Myths: Set 1 (2015)

Tales of love, sex, power, betrayal, heinous crimes, unbearable separations, atrocious revenge, and metamorphoses - the poetic force of the myths has crossed the centuries.
This series sets out to recount these ancient stories using animations created especially for the occasion, and illustrations chosen from the entire history of art. This dynamic blend, a bridge between modernity and history, ancient narrative and contemporary dramatic art, is a new way to discover or re-discover this part of our universal heritage.
With passion and precision, and based on the oldest texts, the destinies of Zeus, Theseus, Aphrodite or Orpheus are recounted, the myths whose strong poetic and universal scope have nourished the imagination of artists over the centuries. In the images, the masterpieces of Botticelli, Picasso, Goya and Klimt meet animated silhouettes, inspired by the vases of ancient Greece: a unique medium for an exploration of Greek mythology and its original stories.

Part 1: Zeus and the Conquest of Power
To earn the title of Master of Olympus, Zeus took many important steps, and overcame many challenges. His story is one of an incredible conquest of power, dating back to time immemorial, when the world began. Born from Chaos, Gaia - Mother Earth - mated with Uranus, the sky. Many children were born from their union, notably the Titans and the Cyclops. The youngest of the Titans, Kronos, revolted against his father, who had suffocated his mother and their children. Having beaten his father, he decided to swallow all his own children to avoid the risk of one of them stealing power from him. Yet the youngest child survived, and waged a war against Kronos, the Titans, and many other creatures. This God was none other than Zeus.

Part 2: Zeus in Love
Having become Master of Olympus, the great seducer Zeus embarked upon many a romantic conquest, thereby reinforcing his power, through the many children he engendered.
His first wife was Metis. His second, who was known as his wife on Olympus, was the jealous Hera. But there was also Themis, the goddess of Justice, with whom he produced the Hours, the Fates and the Mnemosyne - meaning "memory" - who gave birth to nine Muses. In order to achieve his aims, Zeus metamorphosed. He was an expert at changing shape and form. He turned into a charming prince in order to seduce Semele, the king of Thebes' daughter, who gave birth to the god Dionysos. He also turned into a golden shower, a bull and even into another God. In order seduce the nymph Callisto, who was a follower of Artemis, the Goddess of Hunting, Zeus turned into Artemis herself.

Part 3: Prometheus - The Rebel of Olympus
Taking revenge against Prometheus, Zeus created the first woman - the beautiful Pandora. He gave her a manipulative and deceptive character, and subjected Prometheus to terrible torture.
Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were the sons of a Titan, Iapetus. Iapetus clashed with Zeus in the Battle of the Titans, whereas Prometheus - which means "forethought" - guessing that Zeus would be the victor, sided with him. But although Zeus and Prometheus both shared a shrewd and cunning nature, they clashed fiercely. Prometheus wanted to be of help to mankind, and managed to convince Zeus to give them fire. But when Zeus decided to relegate humans to their place, and to create a hierarchy between the gods and man, Prometheus opposed him…

Part 4: Hades - A Reluctant King
Having become organiser of the world, Zeus entrusted the world of the sea to his brother Poseidon, and the underworld, or the kingdom of the dead, to Hades.
Alone, in a place he had not chosen himself, Hades reigned over the people of the shadows and over the grimacing creatures that surrounded him. One day, having left his kingdom to breath a little air on the surface, he crossed paths with the beautiful Persephone, with whom he fell in love - and abducted her. Her mother, Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture and Harvest, was beside herself with grief. When she heard her daughter had been abducted, she threatened to render the earth barren and the fields impossible to cultivate. Caught between Hades' desire and love for the young girl, and Demeter's resolution and sadness, Zeus had to settle the dilemma swiftly.

Part 5: Athena - Armed Wisdom
The Goddess of War Athena was the wisest, most level headed and rational deity. She was born out of Zeus' skull, wearing a helmet and holding a spear. She was the protector of heroes, the State, and mankind, to whom she passed on many inventions.
She was also a very beautiful woman, who attracted a great deal of attention, including that of the lame god Hephaestus. She regularly clashed with her arch-rival Poseidon. At Poseidon's expense, she won the vote of the people of Athens. Athena experienced jealousy on just the one occasion: the young woman Arachne, an expert weaver, claimed she could weave better than anybody else – including Athena. For a God, even the highly reasonable Athena, this proved difficult to bear.

Part 6: Apollo - Shadow and Light
Although they were the son and daughter of Zeus, Apollo and his twin sister Artemis were born under threats from the goddess Hera. Zeus' wife Hera never forgave the twins' mother - the nymph Leto - for her union with the King of Mount Olympus, and she forced Leto into exile.
As a result, Apollo was a wandering god, who did not grow up on Olympus. He was a musician and an excellent archer, and was both gentle and cruel. He was also very handsome, but this did not spare him from being disappointed in love. At the service of his father, he created the first sacred site in Delphi, where mortals from all over the world came to question Pythia. But Apollo also incurred Zeus' wrath several times, even endangering himself in the process, and almost found himself in the depths of Tartarus.

Part 7: Aphrodite - Dictated by Desire
Kronos revolted against his father Uranus. He severed his father's genitals, and threw them into the sea, where they mingled with the foam and gave birth to Aphrodite.
Aphrodite was born from this highly unusual union. She inspired romantic love and physical attraction in equal measure. Aphrodite was a magnificent goddess. Zeus married her to Hephaestus, the lame god. But Aphrodite soon chose a lover - the god of war, Ares. Nobody could resist the goddess Aphrodite, who was the object of much jealousy on Olympus. One day, Eris, the goddess of discord, threw an apple between Athena, Aphrodite and Hera. On it was written "To the most beautiful". The task of choosing between the three goddesses was entrusted to a young shepherd, Paris. His decision led to a war that lasted for ten years: the infamous Trojan War.

Part 8: Dionysus - An Outsider in the City
Zeus had a reputation for being a seducer of women. One day he lay with a mortal - Semele, the daughter of the king of Thebes. Their son Dionysos was brought up by nymphs. One day he discovered the vine, and decided to travel the world teaching mankind the art of making wine out of it.
He was an errant, wandering God, and was often considered marginal. He left for Thrace, and then for India, accompanied by a noisy procession of Maenads and Silenus. He often aroused the suspicion of the people he encountered, and they sometimes rejected him. In Thebes, his birth city, he wanted to make his voice heard, that of the "Other", the different one. His message of tolerance and openness, his encouragement of poetry, theatre, cross-dressing, and festivities, all slowly but surely became a cult – that of the God Dionysos.

Part 9: Hermes - The Impenetrable Messenger
Hermes was the youngest of the Gods of Olympus. Right from birth, he was an insolent, thieving, trickster God. While still a baby, he escaped from the cave in which his mother Maia gave birth to him, and stole Apollo's herd.
Zeus admired the young God Hermes, and entrusted him with several missions: to become a messenger, to become an intercessor between the living and the dead, to promote trade and to encourage the circulation of travellers. But he was also his father's best ally, and helped him carry out numerous attempts at seduction. He was a difficult God to fathom, and one could never be sure he was not trying to trick them. Hermes was well liked on Olympus, but sometimes also aggravated the Gods by making objects disappear or by playing tricks!

Part 10: Tartarus - The Damned of the Earth
Located in the bowels of the Earth, Tartarus was the prison of the Underworld, the place where fallen Gods and banished heroes ended up. The Gods also sent three men there…
The first was Sisyphus. A roguish trader, Sisyphus dared denounce Zeus for taking away a young woman he was intending to seduce. His punishment was to roll a boulder up a mountain for evermore. The second man to be sent to Tartarus was Tantalus. Close to the Gods, King Tantalus committed an unforgiveable act: having no food to eat, he killed his own son to give him to the Gods to eat. As for the dishonest and cruel Ixion, he was reckless enough to try and seduce Zeus' wife Hera. All three men were condemned to eternal suffering for believing they were invincible in the face of the Gods.