Jacques-Louis David - The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis - Google Art Project

Eucharis, who does not appear in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, was one of the nymph Calypso's attendants in Fénelon's novel ''

Les Aventures de Télémaque :''"Les Aventures de Télémaque" is also the title of a 1922 seven-chapter story by Louis Aragon.'' ''Les aventures de Télémaque, fils d'Ulysse'' (English: ''The adventures of Telemachus, son of Ulysses'') is a didactic novel by François F ...

'' (1699). In Fénelon's modern prose epic, an improvisation upon

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

ic themes,

Telemachus Telemachus ( ; grc, Τηλέμαχος, Tēlemakhos, lit=far-fighter), in Greek mythology, is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who is a central character in Homer's ''Odyssey''. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in se ...

while searching for his father,

Odysseus Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...

, has been shipwrecked on

Ogygia Ogygia (; grc, Ὠγυγίη, Ōgygíē , or ''Ōgygíā'' ) is an island mentioned in Homer's ''Odyssey'', Book V, as the home of the nymph Calypso, the daughter of the Titan Atlas. In Homer's ''Odyssey'', Calypso detained Odysseus on Ogy ...

, Calypso's island, and there has fallen in love with Eucharis but must leave her, dutifully to pursue his quest. Fénelon, in charge of the education of the prospective heir to the French throne, admonished his readers to see the work "not as a frivolous novel, that is offered here, reader, for your idleness, but a learned

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...

". Its theme of the conflict between duty and love is a persistent one, central in French 17th-century classical theater, but peripheral to the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'' in spite of its erotic episodes. A sub-theme in ''Les Aventures de Télémaque'', that of spiritual education, is summed up within the novel by Mentor, who says, "He who has not felt his weakness and the violence of his passions is not yet wise; for he does not yet understand himself and does not know how to distrust himself." (In the tradition of the ''Odyssey'', Mentor was a friend of Odysseus; Odysseus placed Mentor in charge of his son Telemachus when he himself left for the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

.) The story is perhaps best known from

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

's painting ''

The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis ''The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis'' is a painting from 1818 by Jacques-Louis David, now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. Painted during David's exile in Brussels, it was purchased by the Count von Schönborn-Wiesent ...

'', painted during David's exile in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

(1818), and now at the

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood, Los Angeles, Brentwood neighborhood ...

. She is also depicted in

Frederick Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical antiqui ...

's ''Eucharis – A Girl with a Basket of Fruit'' ( 1863). She also appears, somewhat elliptically, in

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he starte ...

's ''Après le déluge'': : : "Then, in the violet wood, budding, Eucharis said to me it was Spring."

Etymology

''Eucharis'' (Εὔχαρις) is from the Greek compoun
εὖ
prefixed t
χάρις
(meaning ''grace'' or ''charm'', the prefix "eu-" denoting ''good'' or ''beautiful''). There may also be a connotation of granting sexual favors (from the verb χαρίζειν - charizein).

External links

Mary Vidal, "David's 'Telemachus and Eucharis' : Reflections on love, learning and history"
in ''The Art Bulletin,'' December 2000. {{Authority control Female characters in literature Literary characters introduced in the 1690s French literature Calypso (mythology)