Artwork Information

The subject is taken from Pindar’s Pythian, Ode II lines 21–89. When Ixion tries to seduce Hera, the wife of Zeus, the latter transforms Nephele the cloud-goddess into a replica of his wife and Ixion makes love to her instead. Centaurus, the product of their union, goes on to mate with the mares of Mt Pelion, creating the race of centaurs. Zeus punishes Ixion by binding him to a flaming spinning wheel on which he is forced to continuously repeat, ‘Show gratitude to your benefactor’.