 Love
triangle: Scylla (room 1)
Scylla was once a lovely girl, who rejected
her suitor Glaucus. He asked Circe for help, unaware the sorceress had a crush
on him. Circe decided to eliminate her rival, pouring a magic potion in the bay
where Scylla bathed. She descended to her waist — and the lower portion of her
body transformed into a mass of snarling dogs. She became a water monster, crushing
ships in order to vent her misery.
Self-absorbed
jerk: Narcissus (room 2)
Everyone fell for handsome Narcissus, but
he was too proud to love back. Echo, a chatterbox nymph, pined away until only
her voice remained. The frigid boy was punished: he fell in love with his own
reflection in a pool. He also wasted away and the gods made him a flower. Party
like it's 1999 ... BC: Triumph of Dionysus (room 4)
The God of Wine
frolicked with randy satyrs and his crazed groupies, the Bacchantes. This scene
is far more likely to inspire wild revels than a cozy holiday. But Cupid (Eros)
does make an appearance, holding open a magnificent peacock tail. Mrs
Robinson: Phaedra and Hippolytus (room 6)
Phaedra, wife of King
Theseus, was tormented by passion for her step-son. When Hippolytus rejected her
advance, she falsely accused him of rape. The truth emerged too late - Neptune
had already killed the boy at the king's request. Phaedra, suddenly overwhelmed
with guilt, committed suicide. The mosaic shows Cupid hovering in mid-air, his
fiery arrow pointed at her cheating heart. Star-crossed
lovers: Pyramus and Thisbe (room 16)
Shakespeare fans will recognise
this story. The beautiful Babylonian lovers came from warring families, who happened
to share a wall. Romance blossomed through a crack. Finally,
they arranged a rendezvous out of town. Thisbe, arriving first, was spooked by
a lioness. As she fled, the beast seized her veil, ripping it apart with bloody
jaws. Pyramus found the shreds, assumed his beloved was dead and stabbed himself.
Thisbe
returned to find an even larger shock: her boyfriend's body. She threw herself
on the sword, begging the gods to bury their bodies together. A mulberry
tree grew from their urn. The poet, Ovid, claims their blood stained the fruit dark
purple.
The
mosaic designer confused Pyramus-the-boy-next-door with an Asian river god of
the same name, somewhat diminishing the impact of this striking scene.
Anything
for a drink: Neptune and Amymone (room 16)
Amymone and her sisters
were searching for water during a fierce drought. She accidentally awoke a Satyr,
who tried to ravish the young girl. Neptune, the God of Water, chased off the
unwelcome suitor and took up where the goat-man left off.
Amymone
was more willing with water on the line. Indeed, she was rewarded with the spring
of Lerna. Cupid makes another appearance, hovering with a torch and odd rectangular
parasol.
Stay
away from my daughter: Apollo & Daphne (room 16)
The nymph Daphne had taken
a vow of chastity, but Apollo wouldn't back down. When sweet words failed, he
tried force. Just as the god was about to catch her, Daphne's father transformed
her into a laurel. The lovesick Apollo made Daphne his sacred tree. The god is
often shown with a laurel crown.
Until
death do us part: Orpheus (House of Orpheus)
Orpheus loved his wife
Eurydice so much he followed her to the Underworld - and bargained for her release.
The only condition: he couldn't look back until they reached the surface. The
famous musician faltered and lost his love again. The mosaic shows him taming
wild animals with his songs.
Thanks
a lot: Theseus (House of Theseus)
The Athenian hero Theseus volunteered
to face the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull living in the Labyrinth. Ariadne,
the Cretan princess, fell head over heels - and helped him defeat the monster.
She gave him a ball of thread to navigate the maze. Victorious, Theseus carried
her off ... but lost interest and dumped her on an island before reaching home.
 On
the wings of love: Leda and the Swan (House of Aion)
Leda, the beautiful
queen of Sparta, is about to bathe in the river. King of Gods, Zeus, sidles
up, disguised as a swan. After their affair, she bore Helen, who launched
a thousand ships, as well as twins Castor and Pollux and blood-thirsty Clytemnestra.
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