A3 pen and ink on watercolour paper.

In Greek Mythology The Hesperides are three Nymphs that guard the Golden apples that grow  on Hera’s sacred tree.  They are described as nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West" Their father is Atlas, the Titan who was condemned to hold the universe on his shoulders.

Unfortunately for Hera, The Hesperides also helped themselves to the sacred apples.  So Hera placed the serpent Ladon in the tree to stop the Hesperides from eating the apples.  In some accounts Ladon is described as a dragon with one hundred heads.

Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276 BC – c. 195/194 BC) was a Greek polymath: a mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. His work is comparable to what is now known as the study of geography, and he introduced some of the terminology still used today.

Eratosthenes identified the Constellation Draco with the serpent Ladon.

However, like my last post.  I would suggest that this story is a Greek version of the Norse Norns.

Atlas the giant of the sky and father of the Nymphs can easily be seen as the Constellation Orion,

The Hesperides being the three sisters on Orion's Belt.

The sacred tree is the tree of life(the milky way).  The Golden apples are stars around the milky way.   And Ladon is the world serpent that can also be identified as the milky way.  Two cultures describing astronomy in very similar stories.  I could go into this in more detail,  although I’m trying this short and sweet.  Which is why I choose to illustrate these stories.

A3 pen and ink on watercolour paper.

The Virgin Suicides

The Pleiades in Astronomy are a cluster of stars just to the left shoulder of Orion.  They were named after seven Greek Nymphs who all killed themselves, when hearing about the death of their three sisters, The Hesperides.

Another Story claims that they killed themselves because of the constant pursuit of Orion.

This is a page from one of my children's books I illustrated, for author Marion Rose Mcfadden

A story about a little girl called Nora, who meets a fairy Prince and takes her to the otherworld.

This is a page from one of my children's books I illustrated, for author Marion Rose Mcfadden

A story about a little girl called Nora, who meets a fairy Prince and takes her to the otherworld.

Enkidu (Sumerian: 𒂗𒆠𒄭 EN.KI.DU10)[6] was a legendary figure in ancient Mesopotamian mythology, wartime comrade and friend of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Their exploits were composed in Sumerian poems and in the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh, written during the 2nd millennium BC. He is the oldest literary representation of the wild man, a recurrent motif in artistic representations in Mesopotamia and in Ancient Near East literature. The apparition of Enkidu as a primitive man seems to be an innovation of the Old Babylonian version (1300 - 1000 BC), as he was originally a servant-warrior in the Sumerian poems.

Enkidu's recap with Shamat

Shamhat plays the integral role in Tablet I, of taming the wild man Enkidu, who was created by the gods as the rival to the mighty Gilgamesh. Shamhat was a sacred temple prostitute or harimtu, She was asked to use her attractiveness to tempt Enkidu from the wild, and his 'wildness', civilising him through continued sacred love-making. She was brought to a water source where Enkidu had been spotted and exposed herself to Enkidu. He enjoyed Shamhat for "six days and seven nights"  twice over 

concept for possible painting

This was a concept drawing for a possible sculpture idea.  I still want to make this piece.  Who is gonna be the person to commission this work of art.