Khelone

Khelone 2020 © Oriana Gatta / Giclée Print / 20″ x 16” (unframed)

Punishing women for a disinterest in marriage, the audacity to practice self care, and most sacrilegious of all, for the insolence of disobeying an implied order of a man’s/god’s “invitation” isn’t new material.

I have to confess, though, to mixed feelings about how the classical Greek god Hermes punished the nymph Khelone for not attending Zeus and Hera ‘s nuptials. He turned her into a tortoise, making sure she could never leave home again as it was now on her back.

But, the body and life of a tortoise is quite appealing, predators and habitat destruction via pollution notwithstanding. Swimming, sun bathing, slow & steady movement, and, yes, immediately accessible shelter from danger sound pretty damn good to me.

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