Sea Dwellers

Nicolas Beatrizet
Rana Piscatrix from Aquatilium Animalium Historiæ
1554
engraving (book illustration)
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Nicolas Beatrizet
Sepia Sopina from Aquatilium Animalium Historiæ
1554
engraving (book illustration)
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Nicolas Beatrizet
Serpens Marina from Aquatilium Animalium Historiæ
1554
engraving (book illustration)
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Giovanni Andrea Maglioli
Sea Monster
before 1610
engraving
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Cherubino Alberti
Leviathan with Putto
before 1615
engraving
Graphische Sammlung, ETH Zürich

Roman Empire
Jonah Cast Up
AD 280-290 (early Christian)
marble 
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

Barthel Beham
Triton and Nereid
ca. 1524
engraving
Graphische Sammlung, ETH Zürich

Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich
Combat of Tritons
1763
engraving
Graphische Sammlung, ETH Zürich

Lucas Kilian after Georg Pecham
Equestrian Nymphs in the Waves
ca. 1620
engraving
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Lucas Killian
Ornamental Banner supported by Mermen
1610
engraving
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Alexander Rothaug
On a Northern Beach (Mermaid)
ca. 1910
oil on canvas
Leopold Museum, Vienna

Albert Bierstadt
Farallon Island
1887
oil on canvas
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Jan Sadeler the Elder after Dirck Barendsz
Four Elements - Neptune as Water
1587
engraving
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Virgil Solis
Neptune shaking the Earth with his Trident
ca. 1550-60
woodcut
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wulfenbüttel

Auguste Préault
The Wave
1856
terracotta
Musée Magnin, Dijon

James Ensor
The Skate
1892
oil on canvas
Musée Fin-de-Siècle, Brussels

[Athena has come to the urns and is now standing over them, voting-token in hand.] 

Athena:  This is now my task, to be the last to judge this case; and I shall cast this ballot for Orestes. There is no mother who gave birth to me, and I commend the male in all respects (except for joining in marriage) with all my heart: in the fullest sense, I am my Father's child. Therefore, I shall not set a higher value on the death of a woman, when she had killed her husband, the guardian of her house.  [She drops her ballot into the urn for acquittal.] The defendant wins, even if the judges' votes on him are equally divided. Empty the ballots from the urns at once, you of the judges to whom this function has been assigned. 

[Athena returns to her seat. While the next few lines are being spoken, two of the judges go up to the urns and turn them upside down on the table.]  

Orestes:  O Phoebus Apollo, how will the verdict turn out?

Chorus of Furies:  O black Mother Night, do you see this?

Orestes:  Now for me it's either the fatal noose, or the light of day. 

Chorus:  And for us it's either ruin, or continuing to enjoy our privileges.

[The tellers now lift aside the urns, revealing the two piles of votes, which they count during the following speech.]

Apollo:  Count the emptied ballots correctly, gentlemen, scrupulously respecting justice in determining the outcome. A lack of good judgement can cause great harm, and a single vote can set an afflicted house on its feet. 

[The tellers go up to Athena and quietly inform her of the result of the count.]

Athena [rising and extending her right arm towards Orestes]:  This man stands acquitted of the charge of bloodshed. The votes have been counted, and they are equal.  

– Aeschylus, from Eumenides (458 BC), translated by Alan H. Sommerstein (2008)