Néctar y ambrosía

NECTAR AND AMBROSIA

Title: The Food of the Gods on Olympus

Artist: Nicola de Urbino

Date: 1530

Medium: Majolica Dish

Location: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

Title: Hebe servs Nectar to the Gods

Artist: Tommaso Piroli

Date: 1793

Medium: Wood carving

Location: Used in one edition of the Iliad of 1795

MYTHOLOGY

In Greek mythology, the ambrosia (ἀμβροσία) is a substance usually associated with gods, generally being considered their food and drink.

The word derives from Greek ἀμ- (an-, ‘no’) y βροτός (brotόs, ‘mortal’) and literally means «immortality», although not everyone agrees with this theory or definition.

In the Homeric anthem to Apollo (verse 123) the ambrosia, although liquid, was eaten; in the anthem to Demeter, she greases Demofonte with ambrosia and this way he gets fed (in the Greek mythology he was the twelfth king of Athens. He was Theseus and Ferda’s son and brother to Acamante. He took part in the Trojan wars together with his predecessor Menestheus and was one of the warriors hidden in the Trojan horse.)

According to Pindar, one of the profanities that Tantalo committed was giving to his guests the ambrosia of the immortals, something similar to what Prometheus did, as Karl Kerenyi states in Héroes de los griegos. Circe mentions to Odysseus that a flock of doves took ambrosia to mount Olympus

By extension, people named “ambrosia” to certain festivities to honor Dionysus or Bacchus – the god of wine – probably because of its predominance in the festivities related.

Title: Ganymede pores a Cup of Nectar

Artist: Bertel Thorvaldsen

Medium: Marble Statue

Location: Hermitage Museum,

St. Petersburg

Title: King Lycurgus of Thrace killing Ambrosia, 

which is changed into a grapevine

Date: End of the 2nd century BC

Medium: Mosaic

Location: Archaeological Museum of Delos

MEANING

The word “nectar” is often used in ¨esto es néctar para mis oídos¨ (“this is nectar to my ears”) to express a pleasurable or enjoyable feeling. For example, it refers to the description of a song or to thank someone “Gracias, tus palabras son néctar para mis oidos” (Thank you, your words are nectar to my ears) which is a reply to a nice remark about someone.

It is encountered in “este plato o comida es ambrosia” (“this meal is ambrosia”) it describes an extremely good food

“Ambrosía”, is also a noun to express extreme craving

OTHER IMAGES

Néctar-Ambrosía-Humor: 

Néctar, ambrosía y unas gotitas de humor (book)

 Javier Gómez Molero (Writer) 

Obra literaria: Fabio Patronelli (Writer)

 Nectar, ambrosia and the food of the gods. 

EXAMPLES