The Greek gods were a vengeful and devious lot: Prometheus was chained to a rock while a vulture pecked out his liver; Tantalus was condemned to stand in water, food and drink forever out of reach; Zeus disguised himself a white bull to seduce Europa and as a swan to do the same to Leda; and Salmacis got the gods to ensure that she and Hermaphroditus would never be parted by fusing their bodies as one. In happier piece of magic, Aphrodite gave Pygmalion a wife by bringing to life his statue of a beautiful woman. A student, distracted by both her mobile and a Lapith woman about to be abducted by a Centaur, seems oblivious of the approaching discus thrower.
Photo: University of Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology, February 2019