Mosaic Portrait

Atlas

Greek Mythology: ATLAS

Cesar Aramburo Samano

Art History

                Atlas was not a Greek god but rather a Titan who during the Titanomachy allied with his brother Menoetius who were punished after their defeat at the hands of the Greek gods Zeus and his brothers Poseidon and Hades. It was Atlas’s punishment to be sent to Tartarus with the other titans but instead his punishment was far crueler. He was sent to the edge of Gaia, the earth, and there he was to hold the skies above his shoulders so neither would resume their primordial embrace. It is commonly though that what Atlas is holding on his shoulders is the Earth but it has been proven several times that it is indeed not the global sphere but the celestial spheres he is carrying.

                As most Titans Atlas is assigned one the seven planetary powers instead of how Greek gods are given an Earthly representation. Atlas along with Phoebe governs the moon although Atlas commonly represents strength and endurance due to him being able to carry such a heavy load on his shoulders. One of the most famous stories in which Atlas appears is during the Twelve Labors of Heracles.

Here Heracles must get apples from the garden of Hera but this place is tended to by the daughters of Atlas and a dragon. So in order to get them Heracles grabs the skies from Atlas so he can get the apples. As the Titan came back he intended to leave Heracles there but the hero knowing that this might happen asked if the titan could grab the skies for a while as he fixed his coat to cover his shoulders. Then Heracles grabbed the apples and ran leaving Atlas trapped again with the skies on his shoulders yet again. There are variations where Heracles makes two columns and not only gets the help from the titan but also frees him from his eternal torment just like he did with Prometheus. 

Egyptian Collage

As we all know egyptians had all architectural and artistic influences go to the pharaoh's journey after death with the building of pyramids as well as having several gods each for different concerns as well as the afterlife.

Prehistoric Essay

Prehistoric Astronomers

Cesar Antonio Aramburo Samano

Art History

Jimena Aranda Ledezma

                As I watched the video of prehistoric astronomers I was pleasantly surprised with a notion that has been speculated before. As many of us have seen before man during the Stone Age has always been represented as Neanderthals who ride mammoths, fight with spears and have a basic language of grunts and screams. It is this idea that has been firmly set in our minds thanks to the general idea that these were times when man had no idea of what was surrounding them. This documentary showed us how back in that day and age man was not a dumb animal who walked on all fours and gasped when he saw fire as if it was a divine sign of the gods. Man was smarter back then and was able to chart constellations different in name and shape from those we know now but they were able to figure out the heavens. It was this knowledge that proves that man at this time had no knowledge of science as we do today but with this piece of information they were able to know where they were and where to go.

This documentary served to shatter that image from that Saturday morning cartoon we all grew up with, this image that has been fed to us since we were young that our prehistoric ancestors were nothing but animals that would eventually evolve to what we are now. Now I see these men are astronomers who would look at the sky and with one glance know where their location was or which direction to head. Now in our day and age technology has made us, the general populace, lose all this knowledge. Sure these men still had basic knowledge of science but this shred of proof that they knew the skies has helped me see them from a different perspective.