Metamorphoses
The Myths

MIDAS

“Then grant me that everything I touch, everything I put my hand to, will turn to solid gold.”
Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry discovers that one of his devoted followers, Silenus has been graciously taken care of by Midas. To reward Midas he grants him one fateful boon.

ALCYONE & CEYX

“She waved at him while the ribbon of black water widened between the ship and shore.”
Ceyx is a sailor destined for distant shores; Alcyone is his true love anxious of his departure. In this story of love lost and reunited, the power of transformation is both eloquent and sublime.

ERYSICHTHON

“Bring me anything to eat! Anything! I’m starving!”
Blinded by his greed, Erysichthon is both defiant and indifferent to the spirit of nature. In return for vandalizing a sacred wood of Ceres, he is cursed for his unyielding character.

ORPHEUS & EURYDICE

“Through that dim domain, with all its shimmering, buried ghost, he passed…”
On his wedding day, Orpheus loses his wife, Eurydice to death. He seeks her out in the Underworld. Sadly, it is his fear that causes him to lose her again.

POMONA & VERTUMNUS

“Lovely, truly lovely. But you, miss, are lovelier still.”
The Roman god Vertumnus is head over heals in love with the wood nymph, Pomona. He will do anything to get her attention. How will he win her heart?

MYRRHA

“You can shut yourself in a room, bolt the door, but love will come through the window.”
Myrrha will simply not fall in love. Aphrodite, the goddess of love is offended at Myrrha’s nature and transforms the young woman’s indifference into a wicked passion.

PHAETON

“Speak, Phaeton, to your father.”
Phaeton, the neglected son of the sun god Phoebus Apollo seeks out his father. The reunion retold by Phaeton harrows disastrous consequences.

EROS & PSYCHE

“She’s married to the god, but she’s never seen him.”
Eros, the son of Aprhodite, has himself fallen in love with Psyche. But it is Psyche that must struggle with the tasks of Aphrodite in order to earn his love.

BAUCIS & PHILEMON

“Poor strangers! Philemon, there are guests at our door.”
Zeus and Hermes disguise themselves as beggars and roam the Greek countryside in search of kindness. In whose home will they be the most welcome?
All photos by Tim Matheson.