In Greek mythology , Comus ( / ˈ k oʊ m ə s / ; Ancient Greek : Κῶμος , Kōmos ) is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. Cup-bearer of the god Dionysus , he was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr . His mythology occurs only in later antiquity . During his festivals in Ancient Greece , men and women exchanged clothes. He was depicted as a young man on the point of unconsciousness from drink , with a wreath of flowers on his head.
9-647: A description of Comus as he appeared in painting is found in Imagines ( Greek Εἰκόνες, translit. Eikones) by Philostratus the Elder , a Greek writer and sophist of the 3rd century AD. Dionysos sails to the revels of [the island of] Andros and, his ship now moored in the harbour, he leads a mixed throng of Satyroi (Satyrs) and Bakkhantes (Bacchantes) and all the Seilenoi (Silens). He leads Gelos (Laughter) and Komos (Comus, Revelry), two spirits most gay and most fond of
18-453: Is framed in terms of explaining art, its symbols and meaning, to a young audience. The author of the work in the introduction states that the ten-year-old son of his host was the immediate cause of the composition of this work and that the author will structure the book and each of its chapters as if this boy is being addressed. The second Imagines (consisting of 17 chapters) is by the grandson of Philostratus of Lemnos, known as Philostratus
27-503: Is presumably the author more commonly referred to as Philostratus of Lemnos , who himself was the son-in-law of the famous sophist Philostratus of Athens . The dating of this work, the only known activity of its author, varies between 250 and 300 AD; if the earlier date is correct, this Philostratus may well be the same man who was archon of Athens in 255 AD. [REDACTED] Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: Φιλόστρατος ο νεώτερος This biography of
36-553: Is the title of two works in ancient Greek by two authors, both named Philostratus, describing and explaining various artworks. The first of these two works called Imagines consists of two books (one consisting of an introduction and 31 chapters and the other of 34 chapters) are generally attributed to Philostratus of Lemnos , or possibly to his more famous father-in-law Philostratus of Athens . Imagines ostensibly describes 65 works of art seen by Philostratus in Naples. The entire work
45-539: The baroque operas Les plaisirs de Versailles (1682) by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and King Arthur (1691) by Henry Purcell and John Dryden . During the 18th century a Temple of Comus was built as a venue in the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens , where it was depicted by Canaletto during his visit to London and later made the subject of a popular print. Imagines (work by Philostratus) Imagines ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Εἰκόνες )
54-605: The Brighton Museum); and Edwin Landseer 's The Defeat of Comus , originally painted in 1843 for the garden pavilion in the grounds of Buckingham Palace . As a dramatic character, Comus also appears at the start of Ben Jonson 's masque Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue (1618) and in Les fêtes de Paphos ( The Festivals of Paphos , 1758), an opéra-ballet by Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville . In addition, he features in
63-603: The Younger . Philostratus the Younger Philostratus the Younger ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Φιλόστρατος ὁ Νεώτερος ; fl. 3rd century AD), also known as Philostratus of Lemnos , was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period . He was author of the second series of Imagines , which does not survive completely; in the preface, he praises his mother's father, who wrote the first series of Imagines ; this
72-511: The drinking-bout, that with the greatest delight he may reap the river's harvest. In Renaissance times, an allegorical painting of the Reign of Comus was begun by Mantegna for the Studiolo of Isabella d'Este and was completed by Lorenzo Costa in 1511/12. This pictured Comus as the ruler of a land of bacchanals , seated on the left in the company of Venus and Cupid , beside an inlet of
81-569: The sea. John Milton 's later masque of Comus (1634) invents a new genealogy for the god, describing him as the son of Bacchus and Circe . A licentious figure here, as suggested in Costa's allegory too, his attempts to seduce a virtuous lady whom he has kidnapped are only narrowly defeated by her brothers. There have been a number of paintings of episodes from the play, including a set of eight watercolours commissioned from William Blake in 1801; Samuel Palmer 's The Dell of Comus (1855, now in
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