Beautiful Cup-Bearer

Zeus, king of the gods, saw the beauty of Ganymede. Swooping down from Mount Olympus in the form of an eagle, Zeus carried Ganymede off to be the cup-bearer to the gods.

The sculpture at right in marble is on exhibit at the Walters in Baltimore. It is by Claude-Clair Francin (French, 1702-1773) and was made ca. 1777-87. Ganymede's cup is missing from the sculpture, but his right hand curves around so that the viewer is certain he held it. Francin depicts Ganymede with a companionable arm around the neck of the eagle. The two look at each other with an easy, comfortable gaze.

Many other artists, from Correggio in 1531 (left),

Michelangelo in 1533 (drawing below ),

Rembrandt in 1635 (right),

Rubens in 1612 (below)

to Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1817 have depicted Zeus and Ganymede at various points in the story. The artists appear to be interested in the juxtaposition of the human form with that of the eagle, flesh and feathers, softness and sharpness. Whether Ganymede is shown as a child or little boy, as a "teen-aged" youth or a maturing young man, the artists show the human carried in the claws of or supported by the wings of the eagle. In the sculptures, obviously for reasons of balance and support in a three-dimensional medium, Ganymede is shown standing with the eagle (Francin) or kneeling alongside him with the cup. The dominance of the eagle is more clearly seen in the paintings. But in the sculpture, the tone of the image is shifted. The marble Ganymedes appear to treat the eagle more as a beloved pet than with the awe or deference the young man should display towards the king of the gods.

Obviously, the homo-erotic nature of Zeus abducting the beautiful youth to serve him (as well as the other gods especially as seen in the Rubens) has been discussed, analyzed, and written about for ages. Whether these artists chose to include that aspect of the story in their art is also open for debate.

Besides the above, many other artists have created works on this subject. The 20th century poet W. H. Auden, wrote a bit of a different take on Ganymede:

He looked in all His wisdom from the throne
Down on that humble boy who kept the sheep,
And sent a dove; the dove returned alone:
Youth liked the music, but soon fell asleep.

But He had planned such future for the youth:
Surely, His duty now was to compel.
For later he would come to love the truth,
And own his gratitude. His eagle fell.

It did not work. His conversation bored
The boy who yawned and whistled and made faces,
And wriggled free from fatherly embraces;

But with the eagle he was always willing
To go where it suggested, and adored
And learnt from it so many ways of killing.
= = = =

Auden's Ganymede turns the tables on Zeus. The poem has to be read with the symbols of the birds in mind. Zeus first sends the dove -- the traditional symbol of peace and an attribute of Venus, goddess of love. Ganymede falls asleep. Zeus re-evaluates his strategy, goes himself in the form of an eagle, and brings Ganymede to Olympus. But in his true form, Zeus does not impress the young man. Only in the form of an eagle, the traditional symbol of power and war -- the opposite of the dove -- only as an eagle does Zeus keep Ganymede's attention, and in fact, Ganymede's love. It is warfare -- killing -- that Ganymede values most.

If Auden's poem seems to echo the interpretation of any of the earlier artworks, it would have to be that of the Ganymede depicted in bronze by Benvenito Cellini from 1546. Cellini's Ganymede rides the eagle. His upraised arm seems about to strike, ready to back-hand the eagle. This is no passive, beautiful cup-bearer. Cellini's Ganymede has taken charge. Zeus' plans for Ganymede have been changed -- the beautiful dove has turned to the eagle and learned its ways -- perhaps too well.