From the birth of Venus to the fall of Icarus, the surrealist master Salvador Dalí often depicted scenes from classical mythology in his paintings and prints. Dalí’s interest in mythology stemmed from his admiration for the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who taught that ancient myths reveal fundamental truths about the human psyche. Dalí, who had been disowned by his father, was especially drawn to Freud’s theories about the Oedipus complex (the idea that a son will hate his father and desire his mother), which Freud named after the Greek myth. Between 1961 and 1965, Dalí explored the symbolism of these ancient tales with his “Mythologies” series, a collection of 16 prints featuring Oedipus, Medusa, and other mythic figures.

Dalí illustrated Mythology by drawing very closely upon the symbolism of the ancient Greek legends. Using what he called “hazard objectif”(the meaningful manifestation of chance), he would often start with an abstract smudge, created in a single motion, and he developed his theme from this sign of Fate, like the Pythia of Delphi who interpreted the Oracle from the smoke coming out of the cave.