Series 6 Post 3: Goddess of good cheer, joy, chastity and mirth; Euphrosyne was one of the Charites, known in ancient Rome as the Gratiae (Graces).
She was sometimes called Euthymia or Eutychia.
🌸 According to Hesiod, Euphrosyne and her sisters Thalia and Aglaea were daughters of Zeus and the Oceanid Eurynome.
Alternative parentage may be Zeus and Eurydome, Eurymedousa, or Euanthe; Dionysus and Kronois; or Helios and the Naiad Aegle.
In some accounts, Euphrosyne was a daughter of the primordial gods, Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night).
🌸 Her name is the female version of a Greek word euphrosynos, which means "merriment".
The Greek poet Pindar states that these goddesses were created to fill the world with pleasant moments and good will.
Usually the Charites attended the goddess of beauty Aphrodite.
In art, Euphrosyne is usually depicted with her sisters dancing.
🌸 She is depicted with the other two Graces, Aglaea and Thalia, at the left of the painting in Botticelli's Primavera.
The sculptor Antonio Canova made a well-known piece in white marble representing the three Graces, in several copies including one for John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford.
🌸 Euphrosyne is a goddess of mirth, joy, chastity and cheerfulness.
Her name is the feminine version of a Greek word euphrosynos, meaning "joy".
The Greek poet Pindar claims that these goddesses were created to fill the world with pleasant moments and goodwill.