Students Create Life-size Mythological Statues

Check out this article from the news. Students at Holten Richmond Middle School in Danvers, Massachusetts have created - as part of their studies on classical myth - life-size papier-maché sculptures of the Cyclops, the Medusa, the Minotaur, a centaur, and other figures. The sculptures are on display at a local library. Other art projects the students undertook included masks of the Hellenic gods and fictional retellings of Greek myths. Sadly, no photographs of the students' work are available with the news piece, but it is great news nonetheless!

Pardon my tardiness in posting to the blog this week - things are quite hectic given the preparations for Issue 2 of Dante's Heart and (on a personal note) the preparations for an upcoming wedding. In atonement for the tardiness, here is a slew of other Cyclops from our century, a morbid tribe that might arouse interest, gasps of horror, polite amusement, or wonder at our persistent interpretation of the physically deformed and disadvantaged as both other and monstrous.

First, the stop-action Hollywood Cyclops:


Second, Odilon Redon's remarkable painting Cyclops (1914), which walks the line between cute and deeply unnerving:


Third, Ray Harryhausen's conceptual image of the Battle of the Cyclops for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad:


Fourth, an interesting piece from Julio Garay's studio, blending the illustration of cannibalism with echoes of the old "contemplation of death" motif. That is to say, is Julio Garay's Cyclops groaning, "Munchings and crunchings!" or "Alas, poor Yorick!"


And finally, not to be forgotten, the X-Men Cyclops, regarded as much as a mutant and other as his ancestor Polyphemus, and unlucky in love despite his ability to shoot lethal fire out of his mono-opthalmic visor:

Enjoy this gallery, and stay tuned for news of our Issue 2, which is only a few days away.