Leda and the swan

 (Probably) Leda and the Swan (Gold signet ring from Thessaly, 2nd c. BC. Benaki Museum, Athens)

Hmmm...Most definitely "Leda and the swan" scene...Which raises a lot of questions...

Seriously sexy Leda...Sitting on a bed being raped by Zeus in a shape of a swan...So far so good :)

Now strange stuff (for me at least):

1. While a satyr is...Watching, wanking, giving running commentary, instructions???...

2. With a hand on a helmet...Whose helmet? 

3. Which is located in front of a temple, tomb...If temple, whose temple? If tomb, whose tomb? Why?

4. What's with the shields and spears under the bed? 

5. What's with the column with a lion on it?

6. What's with the tree? What tree is it?

I can, I think, answer few of these questions. 

Some people thought the tree was a Holly. I believe that the tree is an oak. Oak was the holy tree of Zeus...And Some Mediterranean oaks have leaves which look like Holly leaves. 

Have a look this: Holly

"Holy Oak" (Kermes oak)

I talked about this in my post "Christmas trees from garden of Eden"... 

Most oaks flower between March and May and acorns mature in Summer and Early Autumn. Including most common Mediterranean oaks. You can read about this in "Acorn production and growth in Mediterranean oaks: Trade-offs and the role of climate, modular organization and phenology".  

Now the end of summer beginning of autumn is marked by Leo (end of Jul, early Aug)...Because this is when the main mating season of Eurasian lions starts...

And the 2nd of August, Middle of Leo, the day that marks the end of summer beginning of autumn, is the day when in the Balkans, Serbs celebrate the day of Perun (Slavic thunder god). Today he is known as St Elijah The Thunderer...The thundering sun...And the end of burning summer heat...Symbolised by a Triumph of Perun (Thunder god, Thunderstorm) over Veles (Fire breathing dragon, Drought caused by the burning summer sun)...I talked about thy Dragon symbolism in my post "Dragon who stole rain"...

Oh by the way, did you know that the latest scientific data shows direct correlation between sun and thunder and lightning? Basically it is the sun which powers the lightning...

Which is why Thunder god and Sun god are fused in Sky god, Elijah the thundering sun...Kind of obvious really if you look at these pictures depicting the number of thunderstorms per month in Europe. May - September with peak in June/July...

Swans mate and lay eggs at the beginning of summer, between late April and early May...So in a way their mating season signals the beginning of summer and the beginning of the thunderstorm season in the Balkans...

Thunderstorm season which ends when Lions start to mate, in August...By the way, you know that lions still lived in the Balkans at the time when Greek mythology was created...

So we have Zeus the thunder god, in a shape of a swan (beginning of summer) raping Leda under a lion (the end of summer). During the main thunderstorm season...At the end of summer...When oak, tree of thunder gods, is full of acorns...

Oh yeah, what's with the horse tailed voyeur? Did you know that wild horse mating season starts in Apr and lasts until September? And that it is governed by the sunlight...Which is why it peaks in midsummer...

Which is also the peak of the thunderstorm season...I talked about this in my post "Trojan horse"...

By the way, did I mention that Leda sounds very much like the name of the Slavic goddess of Beauty and Fertility, Lada...And like Slavic word for summer "Leto"...Which is by the way, the name of the goddess, Leto, also impregnated by Zeus, who gave birth to Apollo, the sun god...Who is associated with swans...

And did you know that: 

"In 20th-century sources Leto is traditionally derived from Lycian lada, "wife", as her earliest cult was centered in Lycia. Lycian lada may also be the origin of the Greek name Λήδα Leda. Other scholars (Paul Kretschmer, Erich Bethe, Pierre Chantraine and R. S. P. Beekes) have suggested a Pre-Greek origin"

All very strange...

Anyone has any ideas about any of the other details?