Editing Charites

{{Short description|Greek goddesses of grace and beauty}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{Redirect-multi|2|Charis|Graces|other uses|Charis (disambiguation)|and|Grace (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Charitable organization|text=[[Charitable organization|charities]]}}
}}
[[File:The Three Graces, from Pompeii (fresco).jpg|thumb|300x300px|The Three Graces in a [[fresco]] at [[Pompeii]], 1–50 AD]]
{{Greek deities (personifications)}}

In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Charites''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ær|ᵻ|t|iː|z}};<ref>[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/charites Charites  Definition & Meaning], ''dictionary.com'', Retrieved 21 April 2025</ref> {{langx|grc|Χάριτες}}), singular '''Charis''' ({{langx|grc|Χάρις|label=none}}), also called the '''Graces''', are goddesses who personify beauty and grace.<ref>Tripp, s.v. Graces; Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1522? s.v. Charites] (which adds "charm"); Grimal, s.v. Charites (which calls them "goddesses of beauty and perhaps also, in their earliest form, of the powers of vegetation."); Schachter, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e231820.xml? s.v. Charites] (which says they are "goddesses who embody beauty, happiness and abundance".</ref> According to Hesiod, the Charites were [[Aglaia (Grace)|Aglaea]], [[Euphrosyne]], and [[Thalia (Grace)|Thalia]], who were the daughters of [[Zeus]] and [[Eurynome (Oceanid)|Eurynome]], the daughter of [[Oceanus]]. However in other accounts, their names, number and parentage varied. In [[Roman mythology]] they were known as the '''Gratiae'''. Hesiod has Aglaea as the wife of [[Hephaestus]], and in the ''Iliad'' Hera promises to give a Charis named [[Pasithea]] to [[Hypnos]] as bride. Otherwise they have little independent mythology, usually described as attending various gods and goddesses, especially [[Aphrodite]].<ref>Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1522? s.v. Charites]; Schachter, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e231820.xml? s.v. Charites]; Tripp, s.v. Graces; Grimal, s.v. Charites.</ref>

In Roman and later art, the three Charites are generally depicted nude in an interlaced group, but during the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] and [[Classical Greece|Classical]] periods of Greece, they were typically depicted as fully clothed,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Ancient Greek Cults|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreekcult00lars|url-access=limited|last=Larson|first=Jennifer|publisher=Routledge|year=2007|isbn=978-0415491020|location=New York, NY|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientgreekcult00lars/page/n176 162]-163}}</ref> and in a line, with dance poses.

==Parentage, number, and names==
[[File:Sandro Botticelli - Three Graces in Primavera.jpg|thumb|The Three Graces, from [[Sandro Botticelli]]'s painting ''[[Primavera (painting)|Primavera]]'' in the [[Uffizi Gallery]].]]

In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'', the Charites are the three daughters of Zeus: [[Aglaia (Grace)|Aglaea]] ("Splendor"), [[Euphrosyne]] ("Joy"), and [[Thalia (Grace)|Thalia]] ("Good Cheer"), by the [[Oceanid]] [[Eurynome]].<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA208 p. 208]; Gantz, p. 54; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:901-937 906&ndash;11].</ref> The identical genealogy is given by [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]].<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3.1 1.3.1].</ref> The same three names are also given by [[Pindar]], with a possible reference to their "father" Zeus and no mother mentioned.<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Olympian'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/pindar-olympian_odes/1997/pb_LCL056.211.xml 14.1&ndash;16].</ref>  Although the Charites were usually considered to be Zeus' daughters and three in number, their names as well as their parentage and number varied.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA208 p. 208]; Grimal, s.v. Charites; Tripp, s.v. Graces.</ref> [[Homer]] mentions [[Pasithea]] as "one of the youthful Graces",<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/homer-iliad/1924/pb_LCL171.87.xml 14.263&ndash;269]; compare with [[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/statius-thebaid/2004/pb_LCL207.117.xml 2.286].</ref> and perhaps has "Charis" (the singular form of "Charites"), as the name of another,<ref>Gantz, p. 54, which notes that Homer's "Charis" may not, in fact, be a proper name; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/homer-iliad/1924/pb_LCL171.315.xml 18.382&ndash;283].</ref> but does not give their parentage, number, or any other of their names.<ref>Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1522? s.v. Charites]; Schachter, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e231820.xml? s.v. Charites].</ref>

The geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] gives other variations, some regional.<ref>Arafat, [https://oxfordre-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-1522? s.v. Charites]; Schachter, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e231820.xml? s.v. Charites]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:9.35.1 9.35.1&ndash;5].</ref> He says that, according to [[Boeotia]]n tradition, [[Eteocles (Boeotian king)|Eteocles]], the king of [[Orchomenus (Boeotia)|Orchomenus]], established three as the number of Charites, but that the [[Athenians]] and [[Spartans]] worshipped only two. For the Athenians the two Charites were [[Auxo]] and [[Hegemone]], while for the Spartans they were [[Cleta]] and [[Phaenna]].<ref>Parada, s.v. Charites; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:9.35.2 9.35.1&ndash;2].</ref> Also, according to Pausanias, the [[Hellenistic]] poet [[Hermesianax (poet)|Hermesianax]] said that [[Peitho]] ("Persuasion") was one of the Charites, and the poet [[Antimachus]] said that the Charites were the "daughters of Aegle and the Sun <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Helios]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>".<ref>Parada, s.v. Charites; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:9.35.5 9.35.5].</ref>

While Hesiod has Eurynome, and Antimachus has Aegle, as the mother of the Charites, other names were also given. According to ''[[Orphic Hymns|Orphic Hymn]]'' 60, the Charites ("Aglaea, Thalia, ... Euphrosyne") were the daughters of Zeus and [[Eunomia]].<ref>''[[Orphic Hymn]]'' 60, [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780891301196/page/48/mode/2up?view=theater 2&ndash;3].</ref> The [[Stoicism|Stoic]] philosopher [[Lucius Annaeus Cornutus|Cornutus]] includes the names Eurynome, and Aegle, he gives other names for mothers as well: [[Eurydome]], [[Eurymedousa]], [[Hera]], and [[Euanthe (Greek myth)|Euanthe]].<ref>Boys-Stones, [https://topostext.org/work/849#18 c. 15, §§ 18&ndash;20]; Lang, [https://archive.org/details/cornutitheologia00cornuoft/cornutitheologia00cornuoft/page/18/mode/2up pp. 18&ndash;20]; Torres, p. 15; [[Lucius Annaeus Cornutus|Cornutus]], ''Compendium of Greek Theology'' 15. [[Colluthus]], ''The Rape of Helen'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/colluthus-rape_helen/1928/pb_LCL219.555.xml 174&ndash;175] also has Hera as the mother of the Charites.</ref> [[Nonnus]] has his three Charites (Hesiod's Aglaea, Homer's Pasithea, and Hermesianax's Peitho)<ref>Keightley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=lWAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA192 p. 192]; [[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL354.243.xml 24.261&ndash;264].</ref> being the daughters of [[Dionysus]] and [[Coronis (mythology)|Coronis]].<ref>Dionysus as father: [[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL354.13.xml 16.131&ndash;2], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL354.467.xml 33.4&ndash;11]; Dionysus as father by Coronis: [[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL356.465.xml 48.553&ndash;556], with note: "Coronis as mother of the Charites is heard of only here; she seems to have nothing to do with Coronis the mother of Asclepios by Apollo.")</ref>

A purported summary of a lost poem by an otherwise unknown poet "Sostratus", while naming the three Charites, adds to Homer's Pasithea, and Hesiod's Euphrosyne, the name [[Kale (mythology)|Kale]], saying that it was she who was the wife of Hephaestus.<ref>Cameron, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gZk6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 p. 150]. This summary is found in the Homeric commentary of the twelfth-century bishop [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]], whose likely source was [[Ptolemy Chennus]] (O'Hara p. 173). Cameron discusses this summary in his chapter on "Bogus Citations", which argues that Sostratus, as well as the summary of his supposed lost poem, are just one of the many fabrications of Ptolemy Chennus.</ref>

==Mythology==
[[File:Relief Kharites Glyptothek Munich 241.jpg|thumb|6th-century BCE relief|left]]
The Charites' major mythological role was to attend the other Olympians, particularly during feasts and dances.<ref>Milleker, p. 69.</ref> They attended Aphrodite by bathing and anointing her in [[Paphos]] before her seduction of [[Anchises|Ankhises]] and after she left Olympus when her affair with Ares is found out.<ref>''Homeric Hymn 5 to Aphrodite'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D5 58].</ref> Additionally, they are said to weave or dye her [[peplos]].<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D318 5.338]</ref> Along with [[Peitho]], they presented [[Pandora]] with necklaces to make her more enticing.<ref>Hesiod, ''Works and Days'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0132%3Acard%3D59 69]</ref> Pindar stated the Charites arranged feasts and dances for the Olympians.<ref name=":3">[[Pindar]], Olympian Ode 14, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D14 1-20]</ref> They also danced with the [[Horae|Seasons]], [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]], [[Harmonia]] and Aphrodite in celebration of the arrival of [[Apollo]] among the gods of Olympus, while [[Artemis]] sang and Apollo played the lyre.<ref>''Homeric Hymn 3 to Pythian Apollo'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D3 186]</ref> They were often referenced as dancing and singing with Apollo and the [[Muses]].<ref>Hesiod, ''Theogony'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D63 63]</ref> Pindar also referred to them as the guardians of the ancient [[Minyans]] and the queens of [[Orchomenus (Boeotia)|Orchomenus]] who have their thrones beside [[Apollo|Pythian Apollo's]].<ref name=":3" />

The Charites appear to have a connection to [[Hera]], where some ancient authors reference her as their nurse.<ref>[[Colluthus]], ''Rape of Helen'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/colluthus-rape_helen/1928/pb_LCL219.549.xml 88].</ref> In the [[Iliad]], as part of her [[Deception of Zeus|plan to seduce Zeus]] to distract him from the [[Trojan War]], she offers to arrange [[Hypnos]]'s marriage to Pasithea, who is referred to as one of the younger Charites.<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D14%3Acard%3D242 265]</ref>

One of the Charites had a role as the wife of the smith god Hephaestus. Hesiod names the wife of Hephaestus as Aglaea.<ref name=hesiod945>Hesiod, ''Theogony'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D901 945 ff].</ref> In the ''Iliad'', she is called Charis, and she welcomes [[Thetis]] into their shared home on Olympus so that the latter may ask for Hephaestus to forge armor for her son [[Achilles]].<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D18%3Acard%3D360 18.382-385]</ref> Some scholars have interpreted this marriage as occurring after Hephaestus's divorce from Aphrodite due to her affair with Ares being exposed. Notably, however, some scholars, such as [[Walter Burkert]], support that the marriage of Hephaestus and Aphrodite as an invention of the [[Odyssey]], since it is not represented within other [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] or [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] era literature or arts, and it does not appear to have a connection to cult.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Homer's Odyssey|last=Burkert|first=Walter|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780199233328|editor-last=Doherty|editor-first=Lillian E.|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|pages=29–43|chapter=The Song of Ares and Aphrodite: On the Relationship between the Odyssey and the Iliad}}</ref>

== Cult ==
[[File:Canova-Three Graces 0 degree view.jpg|thumb|''[[The Three Graces (Canova)|The Three Graces]]'', [[Antonio Canova]]'s first version, now in the [[Hermitage Museum]]|280x280px]]
The cult of the Charites is very old, with their name appearing to be of [[Pelasgians|Pelasgian]], or pre-Greek, origin rather than being brought to Greece by [[Proto-Indo-Europeans]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Aphrodite and Eros: The Development of Greek Erotic Mythology|url=https://archive.org/details/aphroditeerosdev00brei_533|url-access=limited|last=Breitenberger|first=Barbara|publisher=Routledge|year=2007|isbn=978-0-415-96823-2|location=New York, NY|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aphroditeerosdev00brei_533/page/n115 105]-116|chapter=Goddesses of Grace and Beauty: the Charites}}</ref> The purpose of their cult appears to be similar to that of nymphs, primarily based around fertility and nature with a particular connection to springs and rivers.<ref name=":4" /> One of the earliest centres of worship for the Charites was the [[Cyclades|Cycladic Islands]] including [[Paros]], with epigraphical evidence for a cult to the Charites dating to the sixth century B.C.E. on the island of [[Santorini|Thera]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" /> Scholars have interpreted them as chthonic deities connected to fertility due to the absence of wreaths and flutes in ceremonies. An aetiological explanation for the lack of music and garlands was from a myth involving [[Minos]]. He was said to have been sacrificing to the Charites on the island of Paros when he learned of his son's death in Athens and stopped the music and ripped off his garlands in grief.<ref name=":1" /> Dance, however, appears to be strongly connected with their cult, which is similar to the cults of [[Dionysus]] and [[Artemis]].<ref name=":4" />

Although the Charites were most commonly depicted in the sanctuaries of other gods, there were at least four temples exclusively dedicated to them in Greece. The temple regarded as their perhaps most important was that in [[Orchomenus (Boeotia)|Orkhomenos]] in [[Boeotia]], where their cult was thought to have originated. There were also temples to the Charites in [[Ermioni|Hermione]], [[Sparta]], and [[Elis (city)|Elis]].<ref>Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D34%3Asection%3D10 2.34.10], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D14%3Asection%3D6 3.14.6], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D24%3Asection%3D6 6.24.6]</ref> A temple was dedicated to the Charites near the [[Tiasa|Tiasa river]] in [[Amyclae]], [[Laconia]] that was reportedly founded by the ancient King of Sparta, [[Lacedaemon (mythology)|Lacedaemon]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D18%3Asection%3D6 3.18.6]</ref>

[[File:Les Trois Graces LP 5.jpg|thumb|''Les Trois Grâces'' by [[James Pradier]], 1831. Louvre.|left|280x280px]]
In Orkhomenos, the goddesses were worshipped at a very ancient site with a trio of stones, which is similar to other Boiotian cults to [[Eros]] and [[Heracles|Herakles]].<ref name=":1" /> The local river [[Cephissus (Boeotia)|Kephisos]] and the Akidalia (or Argaphia) spring was sacred to the three goddesses. Orkhomenos was an agriculturally prosperous city because of the marshy Kopaic plain, and the Charites were offered a portion of the produce.<ref name=":1" /> Regarding the foundation of their cult in Orkhomenos, [[Strabo]] wrote:

{{blockquote|Eteokles, one of those who reigned as king at Orkhomenos, who founded a temple of the Kharites, was the first to display both wealth and power; for he honored these goddesses either because he was successful in receiving graces, or in giving them, or both. For necessarily, when he had become naturally inclined to kindly deeds, he began doing honor to these goddesses; and therefore he already possessed this power.<ref>Strabo, ''Geography'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D40 9.2.40] (trans. Jones)</ref>
}}

In cult, the Charites were particularly connected with [[Apollo]] and appear to be connected to his cult on [[Delos]]; however, this connection is not present in other cults to Apollo.<ref name=":4" /> In the Classical era and beyond, the Charites were associated with Aphrodite in connection to civic matters.<ref name=":4" />

There was a festival in honour of the Charites which was called ''Charisia'' (Χαρίσια). During this festival there were dances all night and at the end a cake was given to those who remained awake during the whole time.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=charisia-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Charisia]</ref>

==Visual art==
===Ancient art===
[[File:ACMA Trois Grâces.jpg|thumb|Early 5th-century BCE relief from the [[acropolis of Athens]]; Ancient folklore held that it was sculpted by [[Socrates]], though this is unlikely.]]
Despite the Charites usually being depicted [[History of nude art|nude]] entwined in a "closed symmetrical group" for the last two millennia, this was a later development, as in depictions from [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] and [[Classical Greece]], they are finely dressed,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Milleker|first=Elizabeth J.|date=1988|title=The Three Graces on a Roman Relief Mirror|journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal|volume=23|pages=69–81|doi=10.2307/1512847|jstor=1512847|s2cid=193031954}}</ref> and usually shown in a line, as dancers. In contrast, the third century BCE poets [[Callimachus]] and [[Euphorion of Chalcis|Euphorion]] describe the trio as being nude.<ref name=":5" />

The earliest representation of these goddesses was found in a temple of Apollo in [[Thermos (Aetolia)|Thermon]] dated to the seventh to sixth century BCE.<ref name=":4" /> It is possible, however, that the Charites are represented on a [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenean]] golden seal ring that depicts two female figures dancing in the presence of a male figure, who has been interpreted as Hermes or Dionysus.<ref name=":4" /> Another early representation of the Charites, from a relief at the [[Paros]] colony of [[Thasos (town)|Thasos]] dated to the beginning of the fifth century BCE, shows the Charites with Hermes and either Aphrodite or Peitho, which marked the entrance to the old city.<ref name=":4" /> The opposite side of the relief shows Apollo being crowned by Artemis with nymphs in the background. At the entrance of the [[Acropolis|Akropolis]], there was a famous Classical era relief of the Charites and Hermes, and the popular belief was that the sculptor was [[Socrates]], although this is very unlikely.<ref name=":1" />

[[Kenneth Clark]] describes the "complicated" pose of the Three Graces facing inwards with interlaced arms as "one of the last beautiful inventions of antique art". He thought it was invented in the 1st century BCE, based on the proportions of the figures, and notes that none of the many survivals from antiquity are of "high quality".<ref>They are all "either mediocre commercial pieces or such rough imitations as local masons might make of a subject which was popular, but not yet sanctified by time". Clark, 85</ref>  The opportunity for artists to show their skill in representing figures with three nude female figures seen from different angles has been a factor in the enduring popularity of the subject.
[[File:Three Graces - Piccolomini Library - Duomo - Siena 2016.jpg|thumb|308x308px|The Three Graces from the [[Piccolomini Library]], now in [[Siena Cathedral]]|left]]

One of the earliest known Roman representations of the Graces was a wall painting in Boscoreale dated to 40 BCE, which also depicted [[Aphrodite]] with [[Eros]] and [[Dionysus]] with [[Ariadne]].<ref name=":5" /> The group may have also appeared on a small number of coins to symbolize the union between [[Marcus Aurelius]] and [[Faustina the Younger|Faustina Minor]] and on other coins they were depicted in the hands of [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] or [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]].<ref name=":5" /> The Graces were common subject matter on Roman sarcophagi, and they were depicted on several mirrors.<ref name=":5" />
On the representation of the Graces, the second century CE guide book author [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] wrote:

{{blockquote|Who it was who first represented the Graces naked, whether in sculpture or in painting, I could not discover. During the earlier period, certainly, sculptors and painters alike represented them draped. At [[Smyrna]], for instance, in the sanctuary of the [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemeses]], above the images have been dedicated Graces of gold, the work of Bupalus; and in the Music Hall in the same city there is a portrait of a Grace, painted by [[Apelles]]. At [[Pergamon|Pergamus]] likewise, in the chamber of [[Attalus I|Attalus]], are other images of Graces made by Bupalus; and near what is called the Pythium there is a portrait of Graces, painted by Pythagoras the Parian. [[Socrates]] too, son of [[Sophroniscus]], made images of Graces for the Athenians, which are before the entrance to the Acropolis. Also, Socrates was known to have destroyed his own work as he progressed deeper into his life of philosophy and search of the conscious due to his iconoclastic attitude towards art and the like. All these are alike draped; but later artists, I do not know the reason, have changed the way of portraying them. Certainly to-day sculptors and painters represent Graces naked.
}}

===Renaissance onwards===
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Carle van Loo - The Three Graces, 1765.jpg
| caption1          = ''[[The Three Graces (Van Loo)|The Three Graces]]'' by [[Carle van Loo]] (1765)
| image2            = Jan Brueghel the Younger - The Three Graces, 1635.jpg
| caption2          = ''The Three Graces'' by [[Jan Brueghel the Younger]] (1635)
| width1            = 200
| width2            = 187
}}
Clark writes that "For some reason the nakedness of the Graces was free from moral opprobium, and in consequence they furnished the subject through which pagan beauty was first allowed to appear in the 15th century".<ref name="Clark, 86">Clark, 86</ref> Indeed, a large marble Graeco-Roman group, which was a key model in the Renaissance,<ref name="Clark, 86"/> when it was in the [[Piccolomini Library]], is now displayed in [[Siena Cathedral]].
[[File:Raffael 010.jpg|thumb|[[Three Graces (Raphael)|''The Three Graces'']] by [[Raphael]], 1504–1505.|alt=|193x193px]]

The Charites are depicted together with several other mythological figures in [[Sandro Botticelli]]'s painting ''[[Primavera (Botticelli)|Primavera]]''. [[Raphael]] also pictured them in a [[Three Graces (Raphael)|small painting]] now in the [[Musée Condé]] ([[Chantilly, Oise|Chantilly]], France). Among other artistic depictions, they are the subject of famous sculptures by [[Antonio Canova]] and [[Bertel Thorvaldsen]]. The vast majority use a variant of the closed group pose.

A group of three trees in the [[Calaveras Big Trees State Park]] are named "The Three Graces" after the Charites.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=2&record=6820 |title="The Three Graces", Calveras Big Tree State Park |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724043501/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=2&record=6820 |archive-date=2009-07-24 }}</ref>

=== List of notable artworks with images resembling the three Charites ===

* Anonymous<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=1&record=311086 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707095310/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=1&record=311086 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Anonymous<ref>[[:Image:Mosaico de las tres gracias.jpg|''Mosaico de las tres gracias'']]</ref>
*[[Jean Arp]] (16 September 1886{{snd}}7 June 1966) ''The Three Graces'' (1961)
*[[Francesco Bartolozzi]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=3&record=56523 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707085648/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=3&record=56523 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Jacques Blanchard]] (1631–33) ''Man surprising Sleeping Venus and Graces''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html/b/blanchar/index.html |title=Man surprising Sleeping Venus and Graces |publisher=Wga.hu |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
*[[Giulio di Antonio Bonasone]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=4&record=57110 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707095254/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=4&record=57110 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Sandro Botticelli]] (1482); detail of ''[[Primavera (painting)|Primavera]]'';<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/cgi-bin/highlight.cgi?file=html/b/botticel/5allegor/11primav.html&find=graces |title=detail of ''Primavera'' |publisher=Wga.hu |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
*[[Marie Bracquemond]] (1880) ''[[Trois femmes aux ombrelles]]''<ref>Bouillon, Jean-Paul. Kane, Elizabeth (1984-1985). "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1357962 Marie Bracquemond]." ''Woman's Art Journal''. 5(2): 21-27.</ref> 
*[[Antonio Canova]] (1799) ''[[The Three Graces (Canova)|The Three Graces]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/cgi-bin/highlight.cgi?file=html/c/canova/1/8graces.html&find=graces |title=The Three Graces Dancing by Canova, Antonio |publisher=Wga.hu |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
*[[Agostino Carracci]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=5&record=59476 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724045832/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=5&record=59476 |archive-date=2009-07-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=7&record=57246 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707095318/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=7&record=57246 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Paul Cézanne]]
*[[Antonio da Correggio]] (1518);<ref>{{cite web|author=Olga Mataev |url=http://www.abcgallery.com/C/correggio/correggio17.html |title=Correggio. Three Graces. - Olga's Gallery |publisher=Abcgallery.com |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
*[[Francesco del Cossa]], [[c:File:Aprile,_francesco_del_cossa,_11.jpg|Allegory of April]], [[Palazzo Schifanoia]], [[School of Ferrara (Painting)|School of Ferrara]].
* Maurice Raphael Drouart<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=8&record=44917 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707085653/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=8&record=44917 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Ewen Feuillâtre]] ''The Three Graces : Aglaea, Euphrosyne & Thalia'' (2020)
* Hans Baldung Grien (1540)
* Ludwig Von Hofmann<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=11&position=12&record=54420 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724040557/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=11&position=12&record=54420 |archive-date=2009-07-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Laura Knight]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=10&record=4823 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707095249/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=10&record=4823 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=9&record=4838 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707095338/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=1&position=9&record=4838 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Jean-Baptiste van Loo]] (1684–1745) at the [[Château de Chenonceau]]<ref>[[commons:Image:Chenonceau Three Graces.jpg|''Three Graces'' at Chenonceau]]</ref>
*[[Ambrogio Lorenzetti]] (1348–50) ''Allegory of Good Government''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html/l/lorenzet/ambrogio/governme/2effect1.html |title=Allegory of Good Government |publisher=Wga.hu |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
*[[Jacob Matham]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=11&position=11&record=5870 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707085731/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=11&position=11&record=5870 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Arthur Frank Mathews]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=11&position=14&record=132240 |title=ImageBase |publisher=Search3.famsf.org:8080 |date=1945-02-19 |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707085658/http://search3.famsf.org:8080/view.shtml?keywords=three%20graces&artist=&country=&period=&sort=&start=11&position=14&record=132240 |archive-date=2009-07-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Bruce Peebles|Bruce Peebles & Co.]] advertisement (c. 1900)
*[[Pablo Picasso]] ''The Three Graces'' (1925)
*[[Germain Pilon]]<ref>[[:Image:Monument du coeur d'Henri II.jpg|''Monument du coeur d'Henri II'']]</ref>
*[[Jacopo Pontormo]] (1535)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/html/p/pontormo/drawings/05graces.html |title=Three Graces by Pontormo, Jacopo |publisher=Wga.hu |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
*[[James Pradier]] (1831) ''Les Trois Grâces''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Les_Trois_Gr%C3%A2ces_by_James_Pradier|title=Les Trois Grâces by James Pradier|website=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref>
*[[Jean-Baptiste Regnault]] ''Les Trois Grâces'' (1797–1798)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=16945 |title=''Les Trois Grâces'' |year=1793 |access-date=2011-09-05}}</ref>
*[[Peter Paul Rubens]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rubens/three_graces.jpg.html |title=Rubens: The Three Graces |publisher=Artchive.com |access-date=2010-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010024544/http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rubens/three_graces.jpg.html |archive-date=2006-10-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Raphael Sanzio<ref>{{cite web|author=Olga Mataev |url=http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael10.html |title=Raphael. The Three Graces.- Olga's Gallery |publisher=Abcgallery.com |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
*[[Anna Soghomonyan]], ''Three Graces'' (2020)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Soghomonyan|first=Anna|title=Three Graces - MODERN STILL LIFE – Annuk's Official Website|url=http://annuk.art/portfolio/modern-still-life/#jp-carousel-949|access-date=2022-01-11|language=en-US}}</ref>
*[[Cosimo Tura]] (1476–84) detail of ''Allegory of April''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/p/pontormo/drawings/05graces.html |title=''Allegory of April'' |publisher=Wga.hu |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
* Unknown artist, ''[[The Three Graces (Indianapolis)|The Three Graces]]'' sculpture in Indianapolis
*[[Kehinde Wiley]] ''Three Graces''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/images/02-07_full.jpg |title=''Three Graces'' |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>
*[[Joel-Peter Witkin]]

==See also==

* [[627 Charis]]
* [[Charisma]]
* [[Charis (name)]]
* [[Grâces]]
* [[Three of Cups]] [[Tarot]]

==Footnotes==
''(The Imagebase links are all broken)''
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes'', Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. {{ISBN|0-674-99135-4}}. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Arafat, Karim, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e231820.xml? s.v. Charites], published online 22 December 2015, in the ''[http://classics.oxfordre.com/ Oxford Classical Dictionary]'', edited by [[Tim Whitmarsh]], digital ed, New York,  Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-938113-5}}.
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*{{Cite journal|last=Milleker|first=Elizabeth J.|date=1988|title=The Three Graces on a Roman Relief Mirror|journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal|volume=23|pages=69–81|doi=10.2307/1512847|jstor=1512847|s2cid=193031954}}
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==External links==
{{Commons category|Gratiae}}
* [http://www.historia-del-arte-erotico.com/tres_gracias/home.htm The charites — Judgement of Paris] — art article (Spanish)
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000317 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of the Graces)]

{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Arts goddesses]]
[[Category:Fertility goddesses]]
[[Category:Greek goddesses]]
[[Category:Nature goddesses]]
[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:Triple goddesses]]
[[Category:Beauty goddesses]]
[[Category:Children of Helios]]
[[Category:Children of Dionysus]]
[[Category:Children of Hera]]
[[Category:Olympian deities]]
[[Category:Charity]]

[[sl:Harite]]