Tuesday’s election to choose a new mayor for the city of Los Angeles, with each candidate promising great contributions to the betterment of the community if they’re chosen, reminded me of an ancient Greek election, also between a woman and a man, to choose the leader of the city of Athens. Athena, goddess of wisdom, craft and diplomacy was vying with Poseidon, god of the sea, to become the patron of the yet unnamed city of Athens. 

They agreed that each would give the citizens one gift and the one whose gift was chosen would be the leader.  Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring bubbled up.  Well, that was marvelous.  The city was a seaport and water was a means for trade.  However, since the water was salty it wasn’t suitable for drinking.  Athena produced an olive tree from the rocky soil.  She pointed out that the olive would provide food for humans, oil for sacrifices to the gods, and finally wood to be used for fire, a real triple treat.  Since the city was named Athens, I believe you can figure out which gift was considered the best.  I wonder if our new mayor, even though we won’t rename the city,  can give Los Angeles an equally great legacy that will resonate through the ages. 

Friday night I had the pleasure of attending a semi-staged production of  Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”  presented as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s subscription series at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. In attempting to entice a new, younger audience Gustavo Dudamel has been collaborating with architects, dress designers—haute couture no less,  and lighting designers to bring exciting new productions to the philharmonic programming. By adding visual components to an already gorgeous sound environment he is enriching the concert-going experience enormously.  You might ask where does the “me” figure in with Dudamel and Mozart.

I know from my research in PsychoNeuroImmunology (PNI) that the more of the senses that are brought into an experience the richer and more enjoyable the experience is.  When my book, “The Art of Myths and Music”, was published, along with the pictures and story-telling about the shattered-glass art pieces,  I included a compact disc of piano music characterizing each of the works. 

When I do lecture/concerts, I tell the stories about each image and either display the art or show pictures.  I even bring in fragrance—flowers or candles— whenever possible.  You might say, like Dudamel,  I’m collaborating ——-if only with myself. By combining  my many design interests in setting the stage with art, music, aroma and story-telling, I’m turning a rather ordinary event into a “happening” for my audience.   I guess that validates the “Me” in  Dudamel,  Mozart and Me.

As I was eating my delicious lemon-ricotta pancakes, made for me by my daughter for Mother’s Day, I was reminded of the most famous mother/daughter duo, that of Demeter and Persephone.

Demeter was the nurturer, the mother goddess who presided over bountiful harvests.  Persephone was the maiden, the Korae, the young untested woman who was anxious to please others.  When Persephone was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld, Demeter’s grief allowed nothing to grow or be born.  Finally,  when it seemed as if  the worlds of gods and mortals would die, Zeus had to step in  and mediate.  He sent Hermes, the messenger god, to bring Persephone home.  When Demeter questioned her about what she had eaten in the underworld, she explained how she had been careful to have nothing, except some pomegranate seeds which Hades kindly gave her for her return journey.  Since she had eaten in the world of the dead, she could not live in the world of the living.  And if Persephone had not been returned to her mother, Demeter would have allowed nothing to grow in the land.  So the gods were faced with quite a conundrum, a “catch-22” situation.  Zeus, in a King Solomon-like decision, decided that Persephone would reign as Queen of the Underworld for one third of the year and live in her mother’s world for two thirds of the year, roughly the seasonal division of the year between the resting of winter and the growing and reaping times of Spring, Summer and Autumn.  To paraphrase an old ad: “Never underestimate the power of a mother.”

At  New York’s Plaza Hotel, the talk of the town was the gala party for Baz Luhrmann’s 3-D version of “The Great Gatsby.”  The Avery Fisher Hall audience was treated to a sumptuous ball after the screening, their 20s style clothes and dancing mirroring the extravagant style of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic. This gala will be followed by an equalling spectacular launch event at the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival. 

Throwing a fabulous party to introduce something new was probably started when Pandora was introduced to the Olympian gods .  The back story is that Zeus had Pandora, the first woman on Earth, created as an instrument of revenge against Prometheus who, contrary to Zeus‘ wishes, gave fire to mankind. 

She was made in the image of Aphrodite, the most beautiful of goddesses, and was given a gift from each of the gods—hence her name which means “all gifted one.” Before she was to be sent down to earth, the gods held a banquet in her honor.  When she entered she was so ravishing that even the gods were awed.  It was told that  she was wearing clothes made of silvery, gossamer-like fabric, an embroidered veil and garlands of flowers  in her hair and crowned with a golden tiara.   Before she left she was given an engraved golden jar filled with other  gifts from the gods, and told never to open it.  You know the outcome to that. Let’s hope Baz Luhrmann has a better finale.

Tony Bennett, the jazz artist, and his wife have brought to Los Angeles’s Torres High School their New York City based non-profit organization, “Exploring the Arts.”  The foundation’s purpose is to strengthen the role of the arts programs amidst school budget cuts.  Both Bennett and his wife were products of arts schools in New York and were inspired to give others similar opportunities.

Grant Gershon, conductor of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, is clearly bringing the arts to children.  This Friday he led nearly 1,000 students from twenty three area high schools in the annual Los Angeles Master Chorale High School Choir Festival at Walt Disney Concert Hall. 

The nine muses were Greek goddesses who dedicated their lives to the arts and sciences.  Their heavenly choir led by Apollo, god of music, sat near the throne of Zeus and sometimes in front of mortals, and sang of the gods’ greatness and of the glorious deeds of heroes.   

I wonder if Grant Gershon sees himself in such a godlike role.

 So what do Tony Bennett and Grant Gershon have in common with the Greek Muses? 

According to Bennett “Quality arts in our public schools gives them (children) something to feed their souls.” One look at the joyous faces of the teen-agers in Torres High School and the festival choir shows us how profoundly these youngsters are affected.  Just as the muses were dedicated to bringing the beauty of the arts to the gods and mortals,  Bennett, Gershon and people like them are bringing the soul-stirring beauty of the arts to our children.

Broadway is buzzing  about the new show with Bette Midler playing Hollywood icon Sue Mengers,  the 1970s superstar agent for the superstars Barbra Streisand, Candice Bergen, Michael Caine, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Ali McGraw, Burt Reynolds and Nick Nolte. 

Success in  business then depended on who you knew and how socially and personally involved you were.  As Hollywood became a more corporate realm, that style of working became passe and Sue Mengers’ star faded. 

I wondered what happened to the Greek goddesses when their  power  diminished. The first I thought of was Hestia (Vesta), one of the original Olympians, the oldest and youngest child of Zeus, being the first one born and the last disgorged after he swallowed his offspring.  She was the quiet, inward focused  goddess of the hearth for the home and temple.  When Dionysus became more influential, she was moved aside.  All that was left for her were that any gifts  given to the Vestal Virgins were given in her name.  Then we have Aphrodite, one of the most flamboyant  goddesses .  When the adoration that she felt should come to her was showered on the mortal Psyche, her jealousy had her send her arrow-shooting son Eros (Cupid) to cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest man alive.  Instead she and Eros fell in love and Zeus, feeling sympathy for the lovers, made her immortal.  However, for Aphrodite, unlike Sue and Hestia, this was just a minor setback and her romantic adventures continued unabated.   

Book festivals are in the news now and it reminds me of the pleasures I’ve had not only of reading but also of writing.  It occurs to me that I’ve been writing most of my life, and it has been for different reasons. 

When I was working as an interior designer, I spent a lot of my time lecturing  on wellness-enhancing design, the field of Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)—the mind/body connection.  My writing then was for teaching and communicating the principles of PNI and the application of these principles to the design of the built environment. So the written word was to inform in an engaging way. 

When I authored my book, The Art of Myths and Music (avail on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-Myths-Music-Millicent-Gappell/dp/0981988873) I wrote the stories to illustrate my shattered glass art work on the Greek Gods and Goddesses. I’ve always been a storyteller, and that  writing was pure pleasure, just  describing  the myths delineating my art works.

Now I’m writing a blog, and that has been the most fun since I’m combining my love of Greek myths with whatever triggers my interest.  It could be current events, a theater experience, music I’ve heard, people I’ve met, places I’ve been—anything.  

It’s the first chance I’ve had to write without limits or restrictions, and the freedom is fabulous. I don’t have to be concerned with editors, course requirements or deadlines, all the things that create pressure.  I just write for the sheer pleasure of it.  It doesn’t get better than that.

Reading about the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has reminded me of what a perfect characterization of  the Greek Goddess Athena she was.  Athena was the goddess of wisdom, craft and war.  Born from the head of her father Zeus, and never acknowledging a mother, she was the defender of patriarchal right and male power. Athena was also the patroness of her namesake city, Athens, having defeated the god Poseidon to attain this position. Wearing her coat of mail, she was often depicted standing beside Zeus,  king of the Olympians,  offering advice on tact and diplomacy.  Margaret Thatcher, however,  took this position one step further. Rather than standing beside the powerful one, she became the powerful one.

According to Carl Jung and his theory of archetypes, an Athena woman represents the logical, self-assured female who is ruled by her head rather than her heart.  We recognize these characteristics in powerful women in history like Marie de Medici, Catherine the Great, Indira Ghandi and Golda Meir. I think Margaret Thatcher, whether or not you agreed with her politics, can join this remarkable pantheon of “women warriors.”

The Plutonium, Pluto’s ‘Gate to Hell’, has been located in the Turkish city of Hieropolis.  A small cave near the temple of Apollo is an ancient pilgrim site considered the entryway to the underworld.  Caves have always been considered to be the doorway between worlds, and this one emits deadly gases which hasten the death which is the requirement to join Pluto’s realm.  Near the cave are the remains of a temple, a pool and a series of steps used by those on pilgrimage.

 In Greek mythology when the Olympians came into power the gods divided the world into three parts  with Zeus getting sovereignty in heaven, Poseidon, the sea and Hades (Pluto-Roman) the underworld.  I’ve always found it interesting that these male gods never concerned themselves with the earth itself, leaving that to the women.

Hades  ruled over an extremely rich kingdom, possessing all the gemstones, minerals and metals found underground. Perhaps this was one of the reasons that Persephone rather enjoyed her role as Queen of the Underworld during the third of the year she reigned there.  I’m sure you remember that after her abduction by Hades, since she had eaten some pomegranate seeds with him in the land of the dead, she could not live  for the whole year in the land of the living.  And who could forget the abortive attempt by Orpheus to rescue his beloved wife, Euridice, from Hades’ world.  So this marvelous archeological discovery explains  that the road to hell is not paved with good intentions, but rather blanketed with  noxious gases.

The Watts Towers, the seventeen piece sculpture that Simon Rodia spent thirty three years constructing, is featured in yesterday’s news. This incredible art reflects one man’s life-long passion.  I wonder what he imagined when he covered these interconnected metal structures with pieces of glass, pottery and seashells. It is such a personal statement.   How did he or how does any artist choose what media excites him and compels him to work. 

With me it was simple.  Ever since I was a little child and saw my first rainbow refracted from a prism, I’ve been fascinated with glass and the colors it produces.  Using shattered glass on lucite allows me to play with light since the illumination is both in front of and behind the art piece.  When I smash bottles, witch balls and other glass containers,   I end up with many sharp edges to bounce light off, and I place the shards so that each piece reflects  the surrounding pieces.  I’m literally manipulating the light, painting with crystal. 

http://vimeo.com/55047557

Like Rodia I also use found objects, and  these help me tell my stories in shattered glass assemblages, my first series and book being the Greek myths and my new series, Theater.  In addition I always add a piece of piano music to enhance the experience of the art. Like Simon Rodia, my work reflects my passion, or I should say my three passions: glass art, story-telling and music. I can only hope that they will delight people in years to come as have the Watts Towers.

Vanity Fair Magazine just featured a gorgeous ad for EROS, Gianni Versace’s new fragrance for men. 

As my last two blogs concerned the Greek god, Eros, I couldn’t  help relating more of his story.  Eros (Cupid) was Aphrodite’s (Venus’) son and co-conspirator, known for shooting his arrows of passion into the hearts of gods and humans.

 To get revenge against some taunts from Apollo, he fired his golden tipped arrow into Apollo’s heart which made the god fall in love with Daphne, and fired a lead-tipped arrow into her heart which caused her to become completely indifferent to him.  To escape Apollo’s relentless pursuit she asked for help from the river god, who then turned her into a Laurel Tree. I’m not sure that this was exactly the outcome she desired.

In another myth, Aphrodite was jealous of Psyche who was renowned for her beauty.  She sent Eros to shoot his arrow to make her love the ugliest man alive.  But Eros fell madly in love with Psyche, “hoist by his own petar(d)”, if you will.  They met secretly to escape Aphrodite’s anger, and she was told never to look at him.  But curiosity overtook her and she did.  He left, but Zeus took pity on the lovers and  granted her immortality so that she could be Eros’ constant companion.

So Eros was a powerful god of creation in Chaos, a divinity for homosexual lovers, a wanton, mischievous god, and a lover in his own right. Now he adds a new arrow to his quiver as he lives once again as the symbol for men’s fragrance.  It’s interesting to me that Versace’s logo is the head of Medusa.  Who said mythology is dead?

Eros comes down to us as two gods in two myths, or one god in two forms.  He first appears in the earliest account of creation, the story of how the cosmos, the gods and mortals came into being.  Hesiod, writing in the eighth century BC, told  how the world evolved out of an enormous, shapeless darkness called Chaos, the Greek word meaning “a yawning void”.  Chaos contained five original elements:  Gaia, the Earth: Tartarus, the underworld; Erebus, the gloom of Tartarus;  Nyx (Night),  the power of darkness; and Eros, the force of love.  Some later accounts say that the world came into being with the mating of Eros and Chaos, which made him so powerful that even the gods owe their existence to him.

As the myths evolved  from Chaos to the Titans to the  Olympians,  Aphrodite became the personification of love, and Eros, who was then known as Aphrodite’s son, became the male ideal of love.  In this depiction he was less powerful and his appearance became less impressive; he was pictured as a charming, mischievous, winged  cherub with a light-hearted attitude toward love.  He is shown with his bow and arrows of desire:  the gold-tipped ones caused his victims to fall totally and desperately in love, and the lead-tipped ones  made the recipients turn away from those who fell in love with them….a perfect recipe for calamity.