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172-568: The key concepts associated with the Rhinemaidens in the Ring operas—their flawed guardianship of the Rhine gold, and the condition (the renunciation of love) through which the gold could be stolen from them and then transformed into a means of obtaining world power—are wholly Wagner's own invention, and are the elements that initiate and propel the entire drama. The Rhinemaidens are the first and

344-534: A giant ) sea god Ægir has nine daughters . The name of one of these means "wave" ( Welle in German) and is a possible source for Wellgunde's name. Wagner's operas do not reveal where the Rhinemaidens came from, or whether they have any connection to other characters. Whereas most of the characters in the cycle are inter-related, through birth, marriage, or sometimes both, the Rhinemaidens are seemingly independent. The identity of their father who entrusted them with

516-579: A pederastic light . Alexandrian poets at first, then more generally literary mythographers in the early Roman Empire, often re-adapted stories of Greek mythological characters in this fashion. The achievement of epic poetry was to create story-cycles and, as a result, to develop a new sense of mythological chronology. Thus, Greek mythology unfolds as a phase in the development of the world and of humans. While self-contradictions in these stories make an absolute timeline impossible, an approximate chronology may be discerned. The resulting mythological "history of

688-677: A Christian moralizing perspective. The discovery of the Mycenaean civilization by the German amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in the nineteenth century, and the discovery of the Minoan civilization in Crete by the British archaeologist Arthur Evans in the twentieth century, helped to explain many existing questions about Homer's epics and provided archaeological evidence for many of

860-420: A better hearing". Siegfried is not aware that it is to Brünnhilde that they refer. They swim off, leaving a puzzled Siegfried to ponder their words and to admit to himself that he could happily have seduced any one of them. In her final soliloquy, Brünnhilde thanks the Rhinemaidens for their "good advice". They have apparently told her the full story of Siegfried's ensnarement and betrayal, and advised that only

1032-585: A collection of epic poems , starts with the events leading up to the war: Eris and the golden apple of Kallisti , the Judgement of Paris , the abduction of Helen , the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis . To recover Helen, the Greeks launched a great expedition under the overall command of Menelaus 's brother, Agamemnon, king of Argos, or Mycenae , but the Trojans refused to return Helen. The Iliad , which

1204-492: A combination of their name and epithets , that identify them by these distinctions from other manifestations of themselves (e.g., Apollo Musagetes is " Apollo , [as] leader of the Muses "). Alternatively, the epithet may identify a particular and localized aspect of the god, sometimes thought to be already ancient during the classical epoch of Greece. Most gods were associated with specific aspects of life. For example, Aphrodite

1376-525: A convenient framework into which to fit their own courtly and chivalric ideals. Twelfth-century authors, such as Benoît de Sainte-Maure ( Roman de Troie [Romance of Troy, 1154–60]) and Joseph of Exeter ( De Bello Troiano [On the Trojan War, 1183]) describe the war while rewriting the standard version they found in Dictys and Dares . They thus follow Horace 's advice and Virgil's example: they rewrite

1548-424: A corner of the stage. The 1951 Festival production, by Siegfried's and Winifred's son Wieland , broke with tradition and featured an austere staging which replaced scenery and props with skilful lighting effects. The Rhinemaidens, along with all the other characters, were plainly dressed in simple robes, and sang their roles without histrionics. Thus the music and the words became the main focus of attention. Wieland

1720-413: A domestication that served goals such as reducing stagnant bogs that fostered waterborne diseases, making regions more habitable for human settlement, and reduce high frequency of floods. Not long before Tulla went to work on widening and straightening the river, heavy floods caused significant loss of life. Four diplomatic treaties were signed among German state governments and French regions dealing with

1892-466: A figure which recurs in many musical motives throughout the Ring . The melody itself is reprised during Fricka's denunciation of the Rhinemaidens in Das Rheingold , Scene 2 and, dramatically, at the end of Götterdämmerung when, after Brünnhilde's immolation, the Rhinemaidens rise from the river to claim the ring from Siegfried's funeral pyre. Its first five notes, with an altered rhythm, become

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2064-489: A flat disk afloat on the river of Oceanus and overlooked by a hemispherical sky with sun, moon, and stars. The Sun ( Helios ) traversed the heavens as a charioteer and sailed around the Earth in a golden bowl at night. Sun, earth, heaven, rivers, and winds could be addressed in prayers and called to witness oaths. Natural fissures were popularly regarded as entrances to the subterranean house of Hades and his predecessors, home of

2236-538: A form of disguised malevolence. Wagner drew widely and loosely from those legends when compiling his Ring narrative, and the probable origin of his Rhinemaidens is in the German Nibelungenlied . In one part of the Nibelungenlied narrative Hagen and Gunther encounter certain mermaids or water sprites (Middle High German: merwîp ; mod. Ger.: Meerweib ) bathing themselves in the waters of

2408-558: A god "greater than he", Zeus swallowed her. She was already pregnant with Athena , however, and she burst forth from his head—fully-grown and dressed for war. The earliest Greek thought about poetry considered the theogonies to be the prototypical poetic genre—the prototypical mythos —and imputed almost magical powers to it. Orpheus , the archetypal poet, also was the archetypal singer of theogonies, which he uses to calm seas and storms in Apollonius' Argonautica , and to move

2580-513: A limited number of gods, who were the focus of large pan-Hellenic cults. It was, however, common for individual regions and villages to devote their own cults to minor gods. Many cities also honored the more well-known gods with unusual local rites and associated strange myths with them that were unknown elsewhere. During the heroic age, the cult of heroes (or demigods) supplemented that of the gods. "The origins of humanity [were] ascribed to various figures, including Zeus and Prometheus ." Bridging

2752-405: A musical contest with Apollo . Ian Morris considers Prometheus' adventures as "a place between the history of the gods and that of man." An anonymous papyrus fragment, dated to the third century, vividly portrays Dionysus ' punishment of the king of Thrace , Lycurgus , whose recognition of the new god came too late, resulting in horrific penalties that extended into the afterlife. The story of

2924-417: A natural innocence; their joy in the gold they guard derives from its beauty alone, even though they know its latent power. The veneer of childlike simplicity is misleading; aside from proving themselves irresponsible as guardians, they are also provocative, sarcastic and cruel in their interaction with Alberich. When the demigod Loge reports that the Rhinemaidens need Wotan's help to regain the gold, Fricka ,

3096-458: A number of local legends became attached. The story of Medea , in particular, caught the imagination of the tragic poets. In between the Argo and the Trojan War, there was a generation known chiefly for its horrific crimes. This includes the doings of Atreus and Thyestes at Argos. Behind the myth of the house of Atreus (one of the two principal heroic dynasties with the house of Labdacus ) lies

3268-671: A predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands where it eventually empties into the North Sea . It drains an area of 9,973 km . Its name derives from the Celtic Rēnos . There are two German states named after the river, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate , in addition to several districts (e.g. Rhein-Sieg ). The departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin in Alsace (France) are also named after

3440-549: A reform of operatic stagings which led quite logically to the 'New Bayreuth' style." The innovative centenary Bayreuth Ring , directed by Patrice Chéreau , did away altogether with the underwater concept by setting the Rhinemaiden scenes in the lee of a large hydro-electric dam, as part of a 19th-century Industrial Revolution setting for the operas. For the scene with Siegfried in Götterdämmerung , Chéreau altered

3612-533: A sense of nostalgia and detachment, as the drama approaches its conclusion. From the first complete production of the Ring , at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1876, it was established that the Rhinemaidens should be depicted in conventional human form, rather than as mermaids or with other supernatural features, notwithstanding Alberich's insult to Wellgunde: "Frigid bony fish!" ( Kalter, grätiger Fisch! ). The staging of their scenes has always been

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3784-450: A shadow falls across the music as it descends into the minor key of the "servitude" motive. Newman describes the Rhinemaidens' scene with Siegfried": Frau Sonne..." and "Weilalala leia..." ( Götterdämmerung , Act 3 Scene 1), as a "gracious woodland idyll". The musical elements associated with the Rhinemaidens in this scene have not previously been heard; Holman describes them as alluding to the maidens' seductive nature, as well as conveying

3956-507: A spirit to every aspect of nature. Eventually, these vague spirits assumed human forms and entered the local mythology as gods. When tribes from the north of the Balkan Peninsula invaded, they brought with them a new pantheon of gods, based on conquest, force, prowess in battle, and violent heroism. Other older gods of the agricultural world fused with those of the more powerful invaders or else faded into insignificance. After

4128-494: A test of ingenuity and imagination, since Wagner's stage directions include much swimming and diving and other aquatic gymnastics. Traditionally, therefore, much use has been made of backdrops and lighting to achieve the necessary watery effects. Until the Second World War , under the influence of Cosima Wagner and her (and Wagner's) son Siegfried , a policy of "stifling conservatism" was applied to Bayreuth stagings of

4300-569: A unity, with a composite yet elusive personality. Apart from Flosshilde's implied seniority, demonstrated by occasional light rebukes and illustrated musically by awarding the role to a deeper-voiced contralto or mezzo , their characters are undifferentiated. In The Perfect Wagnerite , his 1886 analysis of the Ring drama as political allegory, George Bernard Shaw describes the Rhinemaidens as "thoughtless, elemental, only half-real things, very much like modern young ladies". The attributes most apparent initially are charm and playfulness, combined with

4472-622: A vision of nature – and as soon as someone appears they hastily throw on some clothes to protect their modesty." While Warner relies on lighting to achieve an underwater effect, Hall used a Pepper's ghost illusion: mirrors at a 45° angle made the Rhinemaidens appear to swim vertically when the performers were in fact swimming horizontally in a shallow basin. Although the roles of the Rhinemaidens are relatively small, they have been sung by notable singers better known for performing major roles in Wagnerian and other repertoire. The first person to sing

4644-640: A waterway in the Holy Roman Empire . Among the largest and most important cities on the Rhine are Cologne , Rotterdam , Düsseldorf , Duisburg , Strasbourg , Arnhem , and Basel . The variants of the name of the Rhine (Latin Rhenus; French Rhin, Italian Reno, Romansh Rain or Rein, Dutch Rijn, Alemannic Ry, Ripuarian Rhing) in modern languages are all derived from the Gaulish name Rēnos , which

4816-747: Is a Central German development of the early modern period , with the Alemannic name R(n) keeping the older vocalism. In Alemannic, the deletion of the ending -n in pausa is a recent development; the form Rn is largely preserved in Lucernese dialects. Rhing in Ripuarian is diphthongized, as is Rhei, Rhoi in Palatine . While Spanish has adopted the Germanic vocalism Rin- , Italian, Occitan, and Portuguese have retained

4988-524: Is a triumphant greeting song based on two elements, which are developed and transformed later in the Ring and put to many uses. For example, the joyful "heiajaheia" cries are converted, in Rheingold Scene 2, into a dark minor version as Loge reports the theft of the gold to the gods and the consequent rising power of the Nibelungen. The "Rheingold!" repetition is sung by the Rhinemaidens to

5160-420: Is misplaced; in his humiliation Alberich decides that world mastery is more desirable than love. As the maidens continue to jeer his antics he scrambles up the rock and, uttering a curse on love, seizes the gold and disappears, leaving the Rhinemaidens to dive after him bewailing their loss. As Wotan, Fricka and the other gods start to cross the rainbow bridge leading to Valhalla, they hear a melancholy song from

5332-786: Is one of the major European rivers . The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps . It forms the Swiss-Liechtenstein border and partly the Swiss-Austrian and Swiss-German borders. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border , after which it flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland . Finally in Germany, the Rhine turns into

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5504-461: Is portrayed as a sacrificer, mentioned as a founder of altars, and imagined as a voracious eater himself; it is in this role that he appears in comedy. While his tragic end provided much material for tragedy— Heracles is regarded by Thalia Papadopoulou as "a play of great significance in examination of other Euripidean dramas." In art and literature, Heracles was represented as an enormously strong man of moderate height; his characteristic weapon

5676-497: Is quite taken in until she suddenly tears away to join the others in a mocking song. Tormented with lust, Alberich furiously chases the maidens over the rocks, slipping and sliding as they elude him, before he sinks down in impotent rage. At this point the mood changes: as a sudden brightness penetrates the depths, a magical golden light reveals, for the first time, the Rhinegold on its rock. The maidens sing their ecstatic greeting to

5848-619: Is set in the tenth year of the war, tells of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, who was the finest Greek warrior, and the consequent deaths in battle of Achilles' beloved comrade Patroclus and Priam 's eldest son, Hector . After Hector's death, the Trojans were joined by two exotic allies, Penthesilea , queen of the Amazons , and Memnon , king of the Ethiopians and son of the dawn-goddess, Eos . Achilles killed both of these, but Paris then managed to kill Achilles with an arrow in

6020-597: Is significantly shortened from its natural course due to a number of canal projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The "total length of the Rhine", to the inclusion of Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine is more difficult to measure objectively; it was cited as 1,232 kilometers (766 miles) by the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat in 2010. Its course is conventionally divided as follows: The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from

6192-784: Is sometimes called Rhinesee ("Lake Rhine"). Besides the Seerhein , the Radolfzeller Aach is the main tributary of Untersee . It adds large amounts of water from the Danube system to the Untersee via the Danube Sinkhole . Reichenau Island was formed at the same time as the Seerhein, when the water level fell to its current level. Lake Untersee is part of the border between Switzerland and Germany , with Germany on

6364-528: Is that "the Greek gods are persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts." Regardless of their underlying forms, the Ancient Greek gods have many fantastic abilities; most significantly, the gods are not affected by disease and can be wounded only under highly unusual circumstances. The Greeks considered immortality as the distinctive characteristic of their gods; this immortality, as well as unfading youth,

6536-643: Is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe (after the Danube ), at about 1,230 km (760 mi), with an average discharge of about 2,900 m /s (100,000 cu ft/s). The Rhine and the Danube comprised much of the Roman Empire 's northern inland boundary , and the Rhine has been a vital navigable waterway bringing trade and goods deep inland since those days. The various castles and defenses built along it attest to its prominence as

6708-752: The Iliad and the Odyssey . Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod , the Theogony and the Works and Days , contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths are also preserved in the Homeric Hymns , in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle , in lyric poems , in

6880-526: The Aare . The Aare more than doubles the Rhine's water discharge, to an average of slightly more than 1,000 m /s (35,000 cu ft/s), and provides more than a fifth of the discharge at the Dutch border. The Aare also contains the waters from the 4,274 m (14,022 ft) summit of Finsteraarhorn , the highest point of the Rhine basin . Between Eglisau and Basel , the vast majority of its length,

7052-665: The Anterior Rhine and the Posterior Rhine join and form the Alpine Rhine. The river makes a distinctive turn to the north near Chur . This section is nearly 86 km long, and descends from a height of 599 meters to 396 meters. It flows through a wide glacial Alpine valley known as the Rhine Valley ( German : Rheintal ). Near Sargan a natural dam, only a few meters high, prevents it from flowing into

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7224-589: The Chimera and Medusa . Bellerophon's adventures are commonplace types, similar to the adventures of Heracles and Theseus. Sending a hero to his presumed death is also a recurrent theme of this early heroic tradition, used in the cases of Perseus and Bellerophon. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes (epic poet, scholar, and director of the Library of Alexandria ) tells

7396-482: The Danube . Hagen steals their clothes, and seeking their return, the mermaid called Hadeburg gives false prophecy that Hagen and Gunther will find honor and glory when they enter Etzel 's kingdom. But afterwards another mermaid, Sigelinde (a name Wagner would adopt again for use elsewhere), tells Hagen her aunt has lied. If they go to Etzel's land, they will die there. The placement of this scene has several possibilities, but according to Þiðrekssaga , it occurred at

7568-476: The Derveni Papyrus now proves that at least in the fifth-century BC a theogonic-cosmogonic poem of Orpheus was in existence. The first philosophical cosmologists reacted against, or sometimes built upon, popular mythical conceptions that had existed in the Greek world for some time. Some of these popular conceptions can be gleaned from the poetry of Homer and Hesiod. In Homer, the Earth was viewed as

7740-520: The Geometric period from c.  900 BC to c.  800 BC onward. In fact, literary and archaeological sources integrate, sometimes mutually supportive and sometimes in conflict; however, in many cases, the existence of this corpus of data is an indication that many elements of Greek mythology have strong factual and historical roots. Mythical narration plays an important role in nearly every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless,

7912-539: The Hellenistic and Roman ages was primarily composed as a literary rather than cultic exercise. Nevertheless, it contains many important details that would otherwise be lost. This category includes the works of: Prose writers from the same periods who make reference to myths include Apuleius , Petronius , Lollianus , and Heliodorus . Two other important non-poetical sources are the Fabulae and Astronomica of

8084-762: The Neckar in Mannheim and the Main across from Mainz. In Mainz, the Rhine leaves the Upper Rhine Valley and flows through the Mainz Basin. The southern half of the Upper Rhine forms the border between France ( Alsace ) and Germany (Baden-Württemberg). The northern part forms the border between the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate in the west on the one hand, and Baden-Württemberg and Hesse on

8256-457: The Obersee with the 30 cm lower Untersee . Distance markers along the Rhine measure the distance from the bridge in the old city center of Konstanz. For most of its length, the Seerhein forms the border between Germany and Switzerland. The exception is the old city center of Konstanz, on the Swiss side of the river. The Seerhein emerged in the last thousands of years, when erosion caused

8428-598: The Parthenon depicting the sack of Troy); this artistic preference for themes deriving from the Trojan Cycle indicates its importance to the Ancient Greek civilization. The same mythological cycle also inspired a series of posterior European literary writings. For instance, Trojan Medieval European writers, unacquainted with Homer at first hand, found in the Troy legend a rich source of heroic and romantic storytelling and

8600-692: The Peloponnesian kingdoms of Mycenae , Sparta and Argos , claiming, according to legend, a right to rule them through their ancestor. Their rise to dominance is frequently called the " Dorian invasion ". The Lydian and later the Macedonian kings, as rulers of the same rank, also became Heracleidae. Other members of this earliest generation of heroes such as Perseus, Deucalion , Theseus and Bellerophon , have many traits in common with Heracles. Like him, their exploits are solitary, fantastic and border on fairy tale , as they slay monsters such as

8772-650: The Rhine knee , a major bend, where the overall direction of the Rhine changes from west to north. Here the High Rhine ends. Legally, the Central Bridge is the boundary between High and Upper Rhine. The river now flows north as Upper Rhine through the Upper Rhine Plain , which is about 300 km long and up to 40 km wide. The most important tributaries in this area are the Ill below of Strasbourg,

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8944-400: The Rhine knee , the river turns north and leaves Switzerland altogether. The High Rhine is characterized by numerous dams. On the few remaining natural sections, there are still several rapids . Over its entire course from Lake Constance to the Swiss border at Basel the river descends from 395 m to 252 m. In the center of Basel, the first major city in the course of the stream, is

9116-600: The Ring operas. Although there had been some innovation in productions staged elsewhere, it was not until the postwar revival of the Festival in 1951 that there were any significant changes in Bayreuth's presentation of the Ring operas. Since 1976, in particular, innovation at the Festival and elsewhere has been substantial and imaginative. In the original 1876 production, the Rhinemaidens were wheeled around on stands behind semi-transparent screens. The stage machinery and

9288-433: The Roman culture because of the story of Aeneas , a Trojan hero whose journey from Troy led to the founding of the city that would one day become Rome, as recounted in Virgil's Aeneid (Book II of Virgil's Aeneid contains the best-known account of the sack of Troy). Finally there are two pseudo-chronicles written in Latin that passed under the names of Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius . The Trojan War cycle ,

9460-453: The ancient Greeks , and a genre of ancient Greek folklore , today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology . These stories concern the ancient Greek religion 's view of the origin and nature of the world ; the lives and activities of deities , heroes , and mythological creatures ; and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study

9632-467: The canton of Ticino is drained by the Reno di Medel , which crosses the geomorphologic Alpine main ridge from the south. All streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. The culminating point of the Anterior Rhine's drainage basin is the Piz Russein of the Tödi massif of the Glarus Alps at 3,613 meters (11,854 ft) above sea level. It starts with

9804-426: The confluence of the Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein and Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein next to Reichenau in Tamins . Above this point is the extensive catchment area of the headwaters of the Rhine. This area belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss canton of Grisons ( Graubünden ), ranging from Saint-Gotthard Massif in the west via one valley lying in the canton of Ticino and Sondrio ( Lombardy , Italy) in

9976-516: The "austerity" (including the willingness to drown people) of the daughters of Ægir. The first lines sung by Woglinde in the Ring are dominated by wordless vocalisations. Weia! Waga! ... Wagala weia! Wallala weiala weia! This attracted comment both at the 1869 premiere of Rheingold and the 1876 premiere of the entire Ring , with Wagner's work being dismissed as "Wigalaweia-Musik". In a letter to Nietzsche dated 12 June 1872, Wagner explained that he had derived Weiawaga from old German and that it

10148-425: The (non-existent) confluence of the Danube and the Rhine. Möringen, where the doomed warriors subsequently ferried across may be Möhringen an der Donau , although Großmehring which is much further east has also been suggested. This story, itself unrelated to the Ring drama, is echoed by Wagner both in the opening Das Rheingold scene and in the first scene in Act III of Götterdämmerung . Wagner first adapted

10320-412: The 19th century. While it was slightly modified during the Roman occupation, it was not until the emergence of engineers such as Johann Gottfried Tulla that significant modernization efforts changed the shape of the river. Earlier work under Frederick the Great surrounded efforts to ease shipping and construct dams to serve coal transportation. Tulla is considered to have domesticated the Upper Rhine,

10492-410: The Ancient Greek pantheon, poets composed the Homeric Hymns (a group of thirty-three songs). Gregory Nagy (1992) regards "the larger Homeric Hymns as simple preludes (compared with Theogony ), each of which invokes one god." The gods of Greek mythology are described as having essentially corporeal but ideal bodies. According to Walter Burkert , the defining characteristic of Greek anthropomorphism

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10664-424: The Anterior Rhine and the Rhine as a whole. The Posterior Rhine rises in the Rheinwald below the Rheinwaldhorn . The source of the river is generally considered north of Lai da Tuma/Tomasee on Rein Anteriur/Vorderrhein , although its southern tributary Rein da Medel is actually longer before its confluence with the Anterior Rhine near Disentis . The Anterior Rhine arises from numerous source streams in

10836-401: The Austrian state of Vorarlberg , and the Swiss cantons of Thurgau and St. Gallen . The Rhine flows into it from the south following the Swiss-Austrian border. It is located at approximately 47°39′N 9°19′E  /  47.650°N 9.317°E  / 47.650; 9.317 . The flow of cold, grey mountain water continues for some distance into the lake. The cold water flows near

11008-450: The Greek leaders (including the wanderings of Odysseus and Aeneas (the Aeneid ), and the murder of Agamemnon) were told in two epics, the Returns (the lost Nostoi ) and Homer's Odyssey . The Trojan cycle also includes the adventures of the children of the Trojan generation (e.g., Orestes and Telemachus ). The Trojan War provided a variety of themes and became a main source of inspiration for Ancient Greek artists (e.g. metopes on

11180-421: The Greek world and noted the stories they heard, supplied numerous local myths and legends, often giving little-known alternative versions. Herodotus in particular, searched the various traditions he encountered and found the historical or mythological roots in the confrontation between Greece and the East. Herodotus attempted to reconcile origins and the blending of differing cultural concepts. The poetry of

11352-420: The High Rhine forms the border between Germany and Switzerland . Only for brief distances at its extremities does the river run entirely within Switzerland; at the eastern end it separates the bulk of the canton of Schaffhausen and the German exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein on the northern bank from cantons of Zürich and Thurgau , while at the western end it bisects the canton of Basel-Stadt . Here, at

11524-454: The Latin Ren- . The Gaulish name Rēnos ( Proto-Celtic or pre-Celtic *Reinos ) belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root *rei- "to move, flow, run", also found in other names such as the Reno in Italy. The grammatical gender of the Celtic name (as well as of its Greek and Latin adaptation) is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian. The Old English river name

11696-442: The Olympians, the Greeks worshipped various gods of the countryside, the satyr-god Pan , Nymphs (spirits of rivers), Naiads (who dwelled in springs), Dryads (who were spirits of the trees), Nereids (who inhabited the sea), river gods, Satyrs , and others. In addition, there were the dark powers of the underworld, such as the Erinyes (or Furies), said to pursue those guilty of crimes against blood-relatives. In order to honor

11868-471: The Posterior Rhine is joined by the Albula , from the east, from the Albula Pass region. The Albula draws its water mainly from the Landwasser with the Dischmabach as the largest source stream, but almost as much from the Gelgia , which comes down from the Julier Pass . Numerous larger and smaller tributary rivers bear the name of the Rhine or equivalent in various Romansh idioms, including Rein or Ragn , including: Next to Reichenau in Tamins

12040-453: The Rhine into Lake Constance forms an inland delta . The delta is delimited in the west by the Alter Rhein and in the east by the modern canalized section of the Alpine Rhine ( Fußacher Durchstich ). Most of the delta is a nature reserve and bird sanctuary . It includes the Austrian towns of Gaißau , Höchst and Fußach . The natural Rhine originally branched into at least two arms and formed small islands by precipitating sediments. In

12212-436: The Rhine overflows its banks the Rhinemaidens appear, making for the ring. Hagen, who covets the ring, shouts to them "Get back from the ring!" ( Zurück vom Ring! ), the last words of the drama. He is seized by Woglinde and Wellgunde and dragged into the Rhine's depths, as Flosshilde grabs the ring, holds it aloft, and joins her sisters swimming in circles as the waters of the Rhine gradually subside. The music associated with

12384-542: The Rhinemaidens has been portrayed by the Wagner commentator James Holman as "some of the seminal music in the Ring "; other descriptions have noted its relative charm and relaxation. In Woglinde's opening song to the Rhine: "Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle,..." ( Das Rheingold , Scene 1) the melody is pentatonic , using the notes E flat, F, A flat, B flat and C. The song begins with a two-note falling step (F followed by E flat),

12556-764: The Roman writer styled as Pseudo- Hyginus , the Imagines of Philostratus the Elder and Philostratus the Younger , and the Descriptions of Callistratus . Finally, several Byzantine Greek writers provide important details of myth, much derived from earlier now lost Greek works. These preservers of myth include Arnobius , Hesychius , the author of the Suda , John Tzetzes , and Eustathius . They often treat mythology from

12728-572: The Trojan cycle, as well as the adventures of Heracles. These visual representations of myths are important for two reasons. Firstly, many Greek myths are attested on vases earlier than in literary sources: of the twelve labors of Heracles, for example, only the Cerberus adventure occurs in a contemporary literary text. Secondly, visual sources sometimes represent myths or mythical scenes that are not attested in any extant literary source. In some cases,

12900-456: The age when gods lived alone and the age when divine interference in human affairs was limited was a transitional age in which gods and mortals moved together. These were the early days of the world when the groups mingled more freely than they did later. Most of these tales were later told by Ovid's Metamorphoses and they are often divided into two thematic groups: tales of love, and tales of punishment. Tales of love often involve incest, or

13072-481: The appropriation or invention of some important cultural artifact, as when Prometheus steals fire from the gods, when Tantalus steals nectar and ambrosia from Zeus' table and gives it to his subjects—revealing to them the secrets of the gods, when Prometheus or Lycaon invents sacrifice, when Demeter teaches agriculture and the Mysteries to Triptolemus , or when Marsyas invents the aulos and enters into

13244-554: The area around the river was made more habitable for humans on flood plains as the rate of flooding decreased sharply. On the French side, the Grand Canal d'Alsace was dug, which carries a significant part of the river water, and all of the traffic. In some places, there are large compensation pools, for example, the huge Bassin de compensation de Plobsheim in Alsace. The Upper Rhine has undergone significant human change since

13416-681: The army of the dead." Another important difference between the hero cult and the cult of gods is that the hero becomes the centre of local group identity. The monumental events of Heracles are regarded as the dawn of the age of heroes. To the Heroic Age are also ascribed three great events: the Argonautic expedition, the Theban Cycle , and the Trojan War . Some scholars believe that behind Heracles' complicated mythology there

13588-454: The arrival of Dionysus to establish his cult in Thrace was also the subject of an Aeschylean trilogy. In another tragedy, Euripides' The Bacchae , the king of Thebes , Pentheus , is punished by Dionysus, because he disrespected the god and spied on his Maenads , the female worshippers of the god. In another story, based on an old folktale-motif, and echoing a similar theme, Demeter

13760-471: The basis for the collection; however, the "Library" discusses events that occurred long after his death, hence the name Pseudo-Apollodorus. Among the earliest literary sources are Homer 's two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey . Other poets completed the Epic Cycle , but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no direct connection with Homer. The oldest are choral hymns from

13932-409: The beginnings of the universe in human language. The most widely accepted version at the time, although a philosophical account of the beginning of things, is reported by Hesiod , in his Theogony . He begins with Chaos , a yawning nothingness. Next comes Gaia (Earth), "the ever-sure foundation of all", and then Tartarus , "in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth", and Eros (Love), "fairest among

14104-404: The canalized Rhine into the lake. Its water has a darker color than the Rhine; the latter's lighter suspended load comes from higher up the mountains. It is expected that the continuous input of sediment into the lake will silt up the lake. This has already happened to the former Lake Tuggenersee . The cut-off Old Rhine at first formed a swamp landscape. Later an artificial ditch of about two km

14276-490: The centers Basel, Strasbourg and Mannheim-Ludwigshafen. Strasbourg is the seat of the European Parliament , and so one of the three European capitals is located on the Upper Rhine. The Upper Rhine region was changed significantly by a Rhine straightening program in the 19th century. The rate of flow was increased and the ground water level fell significantly. Dead branches were removed by construction workers and

14448-789: The changes proposed along the Rhine, one was "the Treaty for the Rectification of the Rhine flow from Neuberg to Dettenheim"(1817), which surrounded states such as Bourbon France and the Bavarian Palatinate . Loops, oxbows , branches and islands were removed along the Upper Rhine so that there would be uniformity to the river. The engineering of the Rhine was not without protest, farmers and fishermen had grave concerns about valuable fishing areas and farmland being lost. While some areas lost ground, other areas saw swamps and bogs be drained and turned into arable land. Johann Tulla had

14620-512: The composition of the story of the Argonauts is earlier than Odyssey , which shows familiarity with the exploits of Jason (the wandering of Odysseus may have been partly founded on it). In ancient times, the expedition was regarded as a historical fact, an incident in the opening up of the Black Sea to Greek commerce and colonization. It was also extremely popular, forming a cycle to which

14792-451: The concept and ritual. The age in which the heroes lived is known as the Heroic age . The epic and genealogical poetry created cycles of stories clustered around particular heroes or events and established the family relationships between the heroes of different stories; they thus arranged the stories in sequence. According to Ken Dowden (1992), "there is even a saga effect: We can follow

14964-417: The country alongside the industrial revolution. For the German state, making the river more predictable was to ensure development projects could easily commence. The section of the Upper Rhine downstream from Mainz is also known as the "Island Rhine". Here a number of river islands occur, locally known as "Rheinauen". Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by

15136-587: The creek Aua da Russein (lit.: "Water of the Russein"). In its lower course, the Anterior Rhine flows through a gorge named Ruinaulta (Flims Rockslide). The whole stretch of the Anterior Rhine to the Alpine Rhine confluence next to Reichenau in Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called Senda Sursilvana . The Posterior Rhine flows first east-northeast, then north. It flows through

15308-400: The culture, arts, and literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes. Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from

15480-518: The dead. Influences from other cultures always afforded new themes. According to Classical-era mythology, after the overthrow of the Titans, the new pantheon of gods and goddesses was confirmed. Among the principal Greek gods were the Olympians, residing on Mount Olympus under the eye of Zeus. (The limitation of their number to twelve seems to have been a comparatively modern idea.) Besides

15652-514: The deathless gods". Without male assistance, Gaia gave birth to Uranus (the Sky) who then fertilized her. From that union were born first the Titans —six males: Coeus , Crius , Cronus , Hyperion , Iapetus , and Oceanus ; and six females: Mnemosyne , Phoebe , Rhea , Theia , Themis , and Tethys . After Cronus was born, Gaia and Uranus decreed no more Titans were to be born. They were followed by

15824-473: The decoration of votive gifts and many other artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Epic Cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles . In the succeeding Archaic , Classical , and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an extensive influence on

15996-473: The depths of the Rhine—the maidens, mourning the loss of the gold. Embarrassed and irritated, Wotan tells Loge to silence the maidens, but as the gods continue across the bridge the lament rises again, now with bitter words of reproach to the gods for their heartlessness. Some time has passed (at least two generations). In a remote wooded valley where the Rhine flows, the ageless Rhinemaidens continue to mourn for

16168-624: The divine-focused Theogony and Homeric Hymns in both size and popularity. Under the influence of Homer the "hero cult" leads to a restructuring in spiritual life, expressed in the separation of the realm of the gods from the realm of the dead (heroes), of the Chthonic from the Olympian. In the Works and Days , Hesiod makes use of a scheme of Four Ages of Man (or Races): Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. These races or ages are separate creations of

16340-480: The earlier part of the so-called Lyric age . Hesiod , a possible contemporary with Homer, offers in his Theogony ( Origin of the Gods ) the fullest account of the earliest Greek myths, dealing with the creation of the world, the origin of the gods, Titans , and Giants , as well as elaborate genealogies, folktales, and aetiological myths. Hesiod's Works and Days , a didactic poem about farming life, also includes

16512-589: The end of Rheingold played on a gramophone by Loge. Peter Hall directed the Bayreuth Ring after Chéreau. His version, staged 1983–86, portrayed the natural innocence of the Rhinemaidens in the simplest of ways; they were naked. Keith Warner adapted this feature in his Ring production for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden , first staged 2004–06. A Covent Garden spokesman explained "The maidens are children of innocence,

16684-480: The end of the Second World War. Similar techniques have been used in more modern productions. In the 1996 Lyric Opera of Chicago Ring cycle, repeated in 2004–05, the Rhinemaidens were suspended on bungee cords anchored in the fly space above the stage, enabling them to dive up and down, as intended by Wagner. The Rhinemaidens were played on-stage by gymnasts, mouthing words sung by singers standing in

16856-476: The evolution of their culture, of which mythology, both overtly and in its unspoken assumptions, is an index of the changes. In Greek mythology's surviving literary forms, as found mostly at the end of the progressive changes, it is inherently political, as Gilbert Cuthbertson (1975) has argued. The earlier inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula were an agricultural people who, using animism , assigned

17028-459: The factors which determine all that follows. Wagner himself devised the "renunciation of love" provision whereby the gold could be stolen and then used to forge a ring with power to rule the world. Since the ring is made from the stolen gold, only its restoration to the Rhinemaidens' care in the waters of the Rhine will lift the curse on it. Hence, the return of the stolen property provides a unifying thematic consistency to Wagner's complex story. As

17200-405: The fates of some families in successive generations." After the rise of the hero cult, gods and heroes constitute the sacral sphere and are invoked together in oaths and prayers which are addressed to them. Burkert (2002) notes that "the roster of heroes, again in contrast to the gods, is never given fixed and final form. Great gods are no longer born, but new heroes can always be raised up from

17372-509: The first known representation of a myth in geometric art predates its first known representation in late archaic poetry, by several centuries. In the Archaic ( c.  750  – c.  500 BC ), Classical ( c.  480 –323 BC), and Hellenistic (323–146 BC) periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has changed over time to accommodate

17544-558: The flow is diverted off the island of Mainau into Lake Überlingen. Most of the water flows via the Constance hopper into the Rheinrinne ("Rhine Gutter") and Seerhein. Depending on the water level, this flow of the Rhine water is clearly visible along the entire length of the lake. The Rhine carries very large amounts of debris into the lake – over three million cubic meters (110,000,000 cu ft) annually. In

17716-416: The goal of shortening and straightening the Upper Rhine. Early engineering projects the Upper Rhine also had issues, with Tulla's project at one part of the river creating rapids, after the Rhine cut down from erosion to sheer rock. Engineering along the Rhine eased flooding and made transportation along the river less cumbersome. These state projects were part of the advanced and technical progress going on in

17888-459: The goddess of marriage, calls them a "watery brood" ( Wassergezücht ) and complains about the many men they have lured away with their "treacherous bathing". They are beguiling and flirtatious with Siegfried, but finally wise as revealed by the undisclosed counsel which they give to Brünnhilde. Sabor sees the personality of the Rhinemaidens as a blend of the "good hearted nature" of the Oceanids and

18060-472: The gods, the Golden Age belonging to the reign of Cronos, the subsequent races to the creation of Zeus . The presence of evil was explained by the myth of Pandora , when all of the best of human capabilities, save hope, had been spilled out of her overturned jar. In Metamorphoses , Ovid follows Hesiod's concept of the four ages. "Myths of origin" or " creation myths " represent an attempt to explain

18232-438: The gold, pleading with the " Sun-woman " to send them a champion who will return the gold to them. Siegfried's horn is heard, and he soon appears, having lost his way while hunting. The maidens greet him with their old playfulness and offer to help him, for the price of the ring on his finger. After a flirtatious exchange, Siegfried offers, apparently sincerely, to give them the ring. But instead of wisely simply accepting his offer,

18404-416: The gold, which rouses Alberich's curiosity. In response to his question Woglinde and Wellgunde reveal the gold's secret: measureless power would belong to the one who could forge a ring from it. Flosshilde scolds them for giving this secret away, but her concerns are dismissed—only someone who has forsworn love can obtain the gold, and Alberich is clearly so besotted as to present no danger. But their confidence

18576-634: The guardianship of the gold is not given in the text. Some Wagnerian scholars have suggested that he may be a "Supreme Being" who is the father of Wotan and all the gods—indeed, of all creation. Others take the German Rheintöchter literally and say that they are the daughters of the Rhine River. The Rhinemaidens have been described as the drama's "most seductive but most elusive characters", and in one analysis as representatives of "seduction by infantile fantasy". They act essentially as

18748-541: The heel. Achilles' heel was the only part of his body which was not invulnerable to damage by human weaponry. Before they could take Troy, the Greeks had to steal from the citadel the wooden image of Pallas Athena (the Palladium ). Finally, with Athena's help, they built the Trojan Horse . Despite the warnings of Priam's daughter Cassandra , the Trojans were persuaded by Sinon , a Greek who feigned desertion, to take

18920-729: The highest social prestige through his appointment as official ancestor of the Dorian kings. This probably served as a legitimation for the Dorian migrations into the Peloponnese . Hyllus , the eponymous hero of one Dorian phyle , became the son of Heracles and one of the Heracleidae or Heraclids (the numerous descendants of Heracles, especially the descendants of Hyllus —other Heracleidae included Macaria , Lamos, Manto , Bianor , Tlepolemus , and Telephus ). These Heraclids conquered

19092-420: The horse inside the walls of Troy as an offering to Athena; the priest Laocoon, who tried to have the horse destroyed, was killed by sea-serpents. At night the Greek fleet returned, and the Greeks from the horse opened the gates of Troy. In the total sack that followed, Priam and his remaining sons were slaughtered; the Trojan women passed into slavery in various cities of Greece. The adventurous homeward voyages of

19264-529: The lake level to be lowered by about 10 meters. Previously, the two lakes formed a single lake, as the name still suggests. Like in the Obersee, the flow the Rhine can be traced in the Untersee. Here, too, the river water is hardly mixed with the lake water. The northern parts of the Untersee (Lake Zell and Gnadensee) remain virtually unaffected by the flow. The river traverses the southern, which, in isolation,

19436-454: The last characters seen in the four-opera cycle, appearing both in the opening scene of Das Rheingold , and in the final climactic spectacle of Götterdämmerung , when they rise from the Rhine waters to reclaim the ring from Brünnhilde 's ashes. They have been described as morally innocent, yet they display a range of sophisticated emotions, including some that are far from guileless. Seductive and elusive, they have no relationship to any of

19608-493: The lighting effects were designed by Carl Brandt, who was the foremost stage technician of the time. One innovation which Cosima did eventually approve was the replacement of the wheeled stands with giant, invisible "fishing rods" on which the Rhinemaidens were dangled. Wires continued to be used in the Bayreuth productions of Siegfried Wagner and, later, those of his widow Winifred , who ran the Bayreuth Festival until

19780-482: The local Alemannic dialect, the singular is pronounced "Isel" and this is also the local pronunciation of Esel (" Donkey "). Many local fields have an official name containing this element. A regulation of the Rhine was called for, with an upper canal near Diepoldsau and a lower canal at Fußach, in order to counteract the constant flooding and strong sedimentation in the western Rhine Delta. The Dornbirner Ach had to be diverted, too, and it now flows parallel to

19952-519: The lovelorn young maiden who drowns herself in the river and becomes a siren, luring fishermen onto the rocks by her singing. Further possible sources lie in Greek mythology and literature. Similarities exist between the maiden guardians in the Hesperides myth and the Rhinemaidens of Das Rheingold ; three females guard a highly desired golden treasure that is stolen in the telling of each tale. Wagner

20124-443: The maidens relax: "Now I laugh at my fears, our enemy is in love", says Flosshilde, and a cruel teasing game ensues. First, Woglinde pretends to respond to the dwarf's advances but swims away as he tries to embrace her. Then Wellgunde takes over, and Alberich's hopes rise until her sharp retort: "Ugh, you hairy hunchbacked clown!" Flosshilde pretends to chastise her sisters for their cruelty and feigns her own courtship, by which Alberich

20296-576: The middle of the Archaic period, myths about relationships between male gods and male heroes became more and more frequent, indicating the parallel development of pedagogic pederasty ( παιδικὸς ἔρως , eros paidikos ), thought to have been introduced around 630 BC. By the end of the fifth-century  BC, poets had assigned at least one eromenos , an adolescent boy who was their sexual companion, to every important god except Ares and many legendary figures. Previously existing myths, such as those of Achilles and Patroclus , also then were cast in

20468-493: The mood of the naive, formerly flirtatious Rhinemaidens suddenly becomes solemn: they warn Siegfried he will be killed that very day unless he delivers the ring to them. But brave Siegfried will never submit to any such implied threat and declares: "By threatening my life and limb, even if it weren't worth as much as a finger, you won't get the ring from me!" The maidens are scornful of his folly: "Farewell, Siegfried. A proud woman will today become your heir, scoundrel! She'll give us

20640-687: The motive of the sleeping Brünnhilde in Die Walküre , Act 3. A variant of the tune becomes the Woodbird's greeting "Hei! Siegfried" in Act 2 of Siegfried . The Rhinemaidens and the Woodbird, in Deryck Cooke 's analysis, are related through nature, as "fundamentally innocent allies of the natural world". The "Rhinemaidens' joy and greeting to the gold": "Heiajaheia, Heiajaheia! Wallalallalala leiajahei! Rheingold! Rheingold!..." ( Das Rheingold Scene 1)

20812-444: The mouth region, it is therefore necessary to permanently remove gravel by dredging. The large sediment loads are partly due to the extensive land improvements upstream. Three countries border the Obersee, namely Switzerland in the south, Austria in the southeast and the German states of Bavaria in the northeast and Baden-Württemberg in the north and northwest. The Seerhein is only 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) long. It connects

20984-492: The musical prelude climaxes, Woglinde and Wellgunde are seen at play in the depths of the Rhine. Flosshilde joins them after a gentle reminder of their responsibilities as guardians of the gold. They are observed by the Nibelung dwarf Alberich who calls out to them: "I'd like to draw near if you would be kind to me". The wary Flosshilde cries: "Guard the gold! Father warned us of such a foe". When Alberich begins his rough wooing

21156-577: The myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the mythical land of Colchis . In the Argonautica , Jason is impelled on his quest by king Pelias , who receives a prophecy that a man with one sandal would be his nemesis . Jason loses a sandal in a river, arrives at the court of Pelias, and the epic is set in motion. Nearly every member of the next generation of heroes, as well as Heracles, went with Jason in

21328-479: The mythological details about gods and heroes. The evidence about myths and rituals at Mycenaean and Minoan sites is entirely monumental, as the Linear B script (an ancient form of Greek found in both Crete and mainland Greece) was used mainly to record inventories, although certain names of gods and heroes have been tentatively identified. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth-century  BC depict scenes from

21500-530: The myths of Prometheus , Pandora , and the Five Ages . The poet advises on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, rendered yet more dangerous by its gods. Lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar , Bacchylides and Simonides , and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion , relate individual mythological incidents. Additionally, myth

21672-440: The myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of mythmaking itself. The Greek myths were initially propagated in an oral-poetic tradition most likely by Minoan and Mycenaean singers starting in the 18th century BC; eventually the myths of the heroes of the Trojan War and its aftermath became part of the oral tradition of Homer 's epic poems ,

21844-627: The north bank and Switzerland on the south, except both sides are Swiss in Stein am Rhein , where the High Rhine flows out of the lake. The High Rhine ( Hochrhein ) begins in Stein am Rhein at the western end of the Untersee. Now flowing generally westwards, it passes over the Rhine Falls ( Rheinfall ) below Schaffhausen before being joined – near Koblenz in the canton of Aargau  – by its major tributary,

22016-492: The one-eyed Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires or Hundred-Handed Ones, who were both thrown into Tartarus by Uranus. This made Gaia furious. Cronus ("the wily, youngest and most terrible of Gaia 's children") was convinced by Gaia to castrate his father. He did this and became the ruler of the Titans with his sister-wife, Rhea, as his consort, and the other Titans became his court. A motif of father-against-son conflict

22188-473: The only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus. This work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c.  180 BC to c.  125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed

22360-506: The open Sztal valley and then through Lake Walen and Lake Zurich into the Aare . The Alpine Rhine begins in the westernmost part of the Swiss canton of Graubünden , and later forms the border between Switzerland to the west and Liechtenstein and later Austria to the east. As an effect of human work, it empties into Lake Constance on Austrian territory and not on the border that follows its old natural river bed called Alter Rhein ( lit.   ' Old Rhine ' ). The mouth of

22532-687: The operas to characterise other individuals and circumstances, and to relate plot developments to the source of the narrative. It is reported that Wagner played the Rhinemaidens' lament at the piano, on the night before he died in Venice, in 1883. Alone of the Ring's characters, the Rhinemaidens do not originate from the Poetic Edda or Prose Edda , the Icelandic sources for most of Norse mythology. Water-sprites (German: Nixen ) appear in many European myths and legends, often but not invariably in

22704-463: The orchestral fortissimo that ends the opera. A slow version of the lament is played on the horns in Siegfried , Act 2, as Siegfried enters Fafner 's cave to claim the gold—the lament, says Cooke, serves to remind us of the gold's true ownership. The lament is played spiritedly during the Götterdämmerung prologue, as part of the orchestral interlude known as Siegfried's Rhine Journey , before

22876-433: The other characters, and no indication is given as to how they came into existence, beyond occasional references to an unspecified "father". The various musical themes associated with the Rhinemaidens are regarded as among the most lyrical in the entire Ring cycle, bringing to it rare instances of comparative relaxation and charm. The music contains important melodies and phrases which are reprised and developed elsewhere in

23048-547: The other hand, in the east and north. A curiosity of this border line is that the parts of the city of Mainz on the right bank of the Rhine were given to Hesse by the occupying forces in 1945. The Upper Rhine was a significant cultural landscape in Central Europe already in antiquity and during the Middle Ages . Today, the Upper Rhine area hosts many important manufacturing and service industries, particularly in

23220-851: The part of Woglinde in full was Lilli Lehmann at Bayreuth in 1876. In 1951, when the Bayreuth Festival re-opened after the Second World War, the same part was taken by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf . Other Bayreuth Rhinemaidens include Helga Dernesch who sang Wellgunde there between 1965 and 1967. Lotte Lehmann played Wellgunde at the Hamburg State Opera between 1912 and 1914 and the Vienna State Opera in 1916. Recorded Rhinemaidens have included Sena Jurinac for Furtwängler and RAI , Lucia Popp and Gwyneth Jones for Georg Solti , and Helen Donath and Edda Moser for Karajan . Citations Bibliography Rhine River The Rhine ( / r aɪ n / RYNE )

23392-476: The perpetual youth aspect of the Rhine Maidens by depicting them as "no longer young girls merrily disporting themselves; they have become tired, grey, careworn, and ungainly". Since this production "the assumption of unrestricted interpretive license has become the norm". For example, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, in his 1987 Bayerische Staatsoper production, placed the Rhinemaidens in a salon and had their lament at

23564-459: The problem of the devolution of power and of the mode of accession to sovereignty. The twins Atreus and Thyestes with their descendants played the leading role in the tragedy of the devolution of power in Mycenae. The Theban Cycle deals with events associated especially with Cadmus , the city's founder, and later with the doings of Laius and Oedipus at Thebes; a series of stories that lead to

23736-417: The rainbow bridge into Valhalla at the end of Das Rheingold , Loge ironically suggests that, in the absence of the gold, the maidens should "bask in the gods' new-found radiance". The maidens' lament then becomes a stern reproof: "Tender and true are only the depths", they sing; "False and cowardly is all that rejoices up there". In the final Götterdämmerung scene they show ruthlessness as, having recovered

23908-407: The return of the ring to the waters of the Rhine can lift its curse. Brünnhilde sings: "What you desire I will give you: from my ashes take it to yourselves. The fire...will cleanse the curse from the ring". She exhorts the Rhinemaidens to "carefully guard it" in the future, then leaps into the flames of Siegfried's pyre. The fire blazes up to fill the stage, representing the destruction of the gods. As

24080-431: The ring, they drag the hapless Hagen down into the waters of the Rhine. The Rhinemaidens are the only prominent characters seen definitely alive at the end of the drama; the fates of a few others are ambiguous, but most have certainly perished. Despite the relative brevity of their roles in the context of the four-opera cycle, they are key figures; their careless guardianship of the gold and their provocation of Alberich are

24252-523: The river. Some adjacent towns are named after it, such as Rheinau , Rheineck , Rheinfelden (CH) and Rheinfelden (D). The International Commission for the Hydrology of the Rhine Basin (CHR) and EUWID contend that the river could experience a massive decrease in volume, or even dry up completely in case of drought, within the next 30 to 80 years, as a result of the climate crisis . The Rhine

24424-513: The same falling step that marked the start of Woglinde's song. This figure recurs constantly in the later stages of the drama; in Das Rheingold Scene 3 a minor key version is used as a motive for the evil power of the ring that Alberich has forged from the gold. It comes to represent the theme of servitude to the ring; in Götterdämmerung , enslaved to the ring by his desire for it, Hagen utters his "Hoi-ho" call to his vassals using

24596-474: The same minor two-note figure. The lament "Rheingold! Rheingold! Reines Gold!..." ( Das Rheingold Scene 4) is sung by the maidens at the end of Das Rheingold , as the gods begin to cross the Rainbow Bridge into Valhalla. It begins with the music from the greeting, but develops into what Ernest Newman describes as a "haunting song of loss", which becomes increasingly poignant before it is drowned by

24768-510: The seduction or rape of a mortal woman by a male god, resulting in heroic offspring. The stories generally suggest that relationships between gods and mortals are something to avoid; even consenting relationships rarely have happy endings. In a few cases, a female divinity mates with a mortal man, as in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite , where the goddess lies with Anchises to produce Aeneas . The second type (tales of punishment) involves

24940-593: The ship Argo to fetch the Golden Fleece. This generation also included Theseus , who went to Crete to slay the Minotaur ; Atalanta , the female heroine, and Meleager , who once had an epic cycle of his own to rival the Iliad and Odyssey . Pindar , Apollonius and the Bibliotheca endeavor to give full lists of the Argonauts. Although Apollonius wrote his poem in the 3rd century BC,

25112-483: The society while the beliefs were held. After they ceased to become religious beliefs, few would have known the rites and rituals. Allusions often existed, however, to aspects that were quite public. Images existed on pottery and religious artwork that were interpreted and more likely, misinterpreted in many diverse myths and tales. A few fragments of these works survive in quotations by Neoplatonist philosophers and recently unearthed papyrus scraps. One of these scraps,

25284-673: The south to the Flüela Pass in the east. The Rhine is one of four major rivers taking their source in the Gotthard region, along with the Ticino (drainage basin of the Po ), Rhône and Reuss (Rhine basin). The Witenwasserenstock is the triple watershed between the Rhine, Rhône and Po. Traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of

25456-615: The stone, which had been sitting in Cronus's stomach all this time. Zeus then challenged Cronus to war for the kingship of the gods. At last, with the help of the Cyclopes (whom Zeus freed from Tartarus), Zeus and his siblings were victorious, while Cronus and the Titans were hurled down to imprisonment in Tartarus . Zeus was plagued by the same concern, and after a prophecy that the offspring of his first wife, Metis , would give birth to

25628-406: The stony hearts of the underworld gods in his descent to Hades . When Hermes invents the lyre in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes , the first thing he does is sing about the birth of the gods. Hesiod's Theogony is not only the fullest surviving account of the gods but also the fullest surviving account of the archaic poet's function, with its long preliminary invocation to the Muses . Theogony also

25800-500: The story for use in his early libretto of Siegfried's Death (which eventually became Götterdämmerung ), introducing three unnamed water-maids ( Wasserjungfrauen ), and locating them in the Rhine , where they warn Siegfried of his impending death. Later these water-maids became Rhinemaidens ( Rheintöchter ), and were given individual names: Flosshilde, Wellgunde, and Bronnlinde. As Wagner continued working on his reverse chronology from Siegfried's death, he arrived at what he determined

25972-412: The surface and at first does not mix with the warmer, green waters of Upper Lake. But then, at the so-called Rheinbrech , the Rhine water abruptly falls into the depths because of the greater density of cold water. The flow reappears on the surface at the northern (German) shore of the lake, off the island of Lindau . The water then follows the northern shore until Hagnau am Bodensee . A small fraction of

26144-422: The tale known to us through tragedy (e.g. Sophocles' Oedipus Rex ) and later mythological accounts. Greek mythology culminates in the Trojan War, fought between Greece and Troy , and its aftermath. In Homer's works, such as the Iliad , the chief stories have already taken shape and substance, and individual themes were elaborated later, especially in Greek drama. The Trojan War also elicited great interest in

26316-400: The three valleys named Rheinwald , Schams and Domleschg - Heinzenberg . The valleys are separated by the Rofla Gorge and Viamala Gorge. Its sources are located in the Adula Alps ( Rheinwaldhorn , Rheinquellhorn , and Güferhorn ). The Avers Rhine joins from the south. One of its headwaters, the Reno di Lei (stowed in the Lago di Lei ), is partially located in Italy. Near Sils

26488-400: The upper Surselva and flows in an easterly direction. One source is Lai da Tuma (2,345 m (7,694 ft)) with the Rein da Tuma , which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the Rein da Medel , the Rein da Maighels , and the Rein da Curnera . The Cadlimo Valley in

26660-420: The war of the Seven against Thebes and the eventual pillage of that city at the hands of the Epigoni . (It is not known whether the Seven figured in early epic.) As far as Oedipus is concerned, early epic accounts seem to have him continuing to rule at Thebes after the revelation that Iokaste was his mother, and subsequently marrying a second wife who becomes the mother of his children—markedly different from

26832-414: The works of the tragedians and comedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age , and in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias . Aside from this narrative deposit in ancient Greek literature , pictorial representations of gods, heroes, and mythic episodes featured prominently in ancient vase paintings and

27004-434: The world" may be divided into three or four broader periods: While the age of gods often has been of more interest to contemporary students of myth, the Greek authors of the archaic and classical eras had a clear preference for the age of heroes, establishing a chronology and record of human accomplishments after the questions of how the world came into being were explained. For example, the heroic Iliad and Odyssey dwarfed

27176-637: Was adapted in Roman-era geography (1st century BC) as Latin Rhenus , and as Greek Ῥῆνος ( Rhēnos ). The spelling with Rh- in English Rhine as well as in German Rhein and French Rhin is due to the influence of Greek orthography, while the vocalization -i- is due to the Proto-Germanic adoption of the Gaulish name as * Rīnaz , via Old Frankish giving Old English Rín , Old High German Rīn , early Middle Dutch ( c.  1200 ) Rijn (then also spelled Ryn or Rin ). The modern German diphthong Rhein (also used in Romansh ) Rein, Rain

27348-431: Was an enthusiastic reader of Aeschylus , including his Prometheus Bound which has a chorus of Oceanids or water nymphs. One author, Rudolph Sabor, sees a link between the Oceanids' treatment of Prometheus and the Rhinemaidens' initial tolerance of Alberich. Just as in Greek myth the Oceanids are the daughters of the titan sea god Oceanus , in Norse mythology —specifically the Poetic Edda —the jötunn (similar to

27520-543: Was central to classical Athenian drama . The tragic playwrights Aeschylus , Sophocles , and Euripides took most of their plots from myths of the age of heroes and the Trojan War. Many of the great tragic stories (e.g. Agamemnon and his children, Oedipus , Jason , Medea , etc.) took on their classic form in these tragedies. The comic playwright Aristophanes also used myths, in The Birds and The Frogs . Historians Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus , and geographers Pausanias and Strabo , who traveled throughout

27692-417: Was dug. It was made navigable to the Swiss town of Rheineck . Lake Constance consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee ("upper lake"), the Untersee ("lower lake"), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein ("Lake Rhine"). The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps. Specifically, its shorelines lie in the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg ,

27864-423: Was influenced by Adolphe Appia , whose Notes sur l'Anneau du Nibelungen (1924–25) had been dismissed by Cosima: "Appia seems to be unaware that the Ring was performed here in 1876. It follows that the staging is definitive and sacrosanct." Wieland and his brother Wolfgang praised Appia: "the stylised stage, inspired by the music and the realisation of three-dimensional space – constitute the initial impulses for

28036-478: Was insured by the constant use of nectar and ambrosia , by which the divine blood was renewed in their veins. Each god descends from his or her own genealogy, pursues differing interests, has a certain area of expertise, and is governed by a unique personality; however, these descriptions arise from a multiplicity of archaic local variants, which do not always agree with one another. When these gods are called upon in poetry, prayer, or cult, they are referred to by

28208-592: Was probably a real man, perhaps a chieftain-vassal of the kingdom of Argos . Some scholars suggest the story of Heracles is an allegory for the sun's yearly passage through the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Others point to earlier myths from other cultures, showing the story of Heracles as a local adaptation of hero myths already well established. Traditionally, Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene , granddaughter of Perseus . His fantastic solitary exploits, with their many folk-tale themes, provided much material for popular legend. According to Burkert (2002), "He

28380-404: Was related to Weihwasser , meaning holy water. Other words were intended as parallels to those found in German nursery lullabies ('Eia Poppeia', 'Heija Poppeia' and 'Aia Bubbeie' are common forms). Thus Woglinde's lines portray both the childish innocence of the Rhinemaidens and the holiness of Nature. The Rhinemaidens' sorrow in the loss of the gold is deep and heartfelt. As the gods are crossing

28552-511: Was repeated when Cronus was confronted by his son, Zeus . Because Cronus had betrayed his father, he feared that his offspring would do the same, and so each time Rhea gave birth, he snatched up the child and ate it. Rhea hated this and tricked him by hiding Zeus and wrapping a stone in a baby's blanket, which Cronus ate. When Zeus was full-grown, he fed Cronus a drugged drink which caused him to vomit, throwing up Rhea's other children, including Poseidon , Hades , Hestia , Demeter , and Hera , and

28724-488: Was searching for her daughter, Persephone , having taken the form of an old woman called Doso, and received a hospitable welcome from Celeus , the King of Eleusis in Attica . As a gift to Celeus, because of his hospitality, Demeter planned to make his son Demophon a god, but she was unable to complete the ritual because his mother Metanira walked in and saw her son in the fire and screamed in fright, which angered Demeter, who lamented that foolish mortals do not understand

28896-522: Was the bow but frequently also the club. Vase paintings demonstrate the unparalleled popularity of Heracles, his fight with the lion being depicted many hundreds of times. Heracles also entered Etruscan and Roman mythology and cult, and the exclamation "mehercule" became as familiar to the Romans as "Herakleis" was to the Greeks. In Italy he was worshipped as a god of merchants and traders, although others also prayed to him for his characteristic gifts of good luck or rescue from danger. Heracles attained

29068-431: Was the goddess of love and beauty, Ares was the god of war, Hades the ruler of the underworld, and Athena the goddess of wisdom and courage. Some gods, such as Apollo and Dionysus , revealed complex personalities and mixtures of functions, while others, such as Hestia (literally "hearth") and Helios (literally "sun"), were little more than personifications. The most impressive temples tended to be dedicated to

29240-432: Was the initial act of the drama— Alberich 's theft of the Rhine gold. Believing that a simple abduction of the unguarded gold would lack dramatic force, Wagner made the Rhinemaidens the guardians of the gold, and he introduced the "renunciation of love" condition. Bronnlinde became Woglinde, probably to avoid confusion with Brünnhilde . Wagner may also have been influenced by the Rhine River-based German legend of Lorelei ,

29412-450: Was the subject of many lost poems, including those attributed to Orpheus, Musaeus , Epimenides , Abaris , and other legendary seers, which were used in private ritual purifications and mystery-rites . There are indications that Plato was familiar with some version of the Orphic theogony. A silence would have been expected about religious rites and beliefs, however, and that nature of the culture would not have been reported by members of

29584-415: Was variously inflected as masculine or feminine; and its Old Icelandic adoption was inflected as feminine. The length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in "Rhine-kilometers" ( Rheinkilometer ), a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the 0 km datum at Old Rhine Bridge in the city of Konstanz , at the western end of Lake Constance , to the Hook of Holland at 1,036.20 km. The river

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