awakening

I was thinking of the sculpture "The Awakening" by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. which was originally at Hains Point, Washington, D.C. circa 1980. I always wondered about the meaning behind this sculpture. Everyone seems to agree it is scary but some even think it represents the resurrection of Baal.

It seems to be a very common theme, such as Bassin d'Encelade by Gaspard Masey, 1675-77. Masey's is most captivating of this theme, in my opinion. It is said that it really depicts the battle between the Giants or Titans, children of Gaia. Enceladus was one of the Titans. Enceladus was disabled during war by a spear of Athena and buried on Sicily, under Mount Etna. The volcanic fires of Etna were said to be the breath of Enceladus. The locals even said that Mt. Etna's tremors were said to be him rolling beneath the mountain. In Greece, an earthquake is still often called a "strike of Enceladus." ref

The Monumento al Ahogado in Punta del Este, Uruguay, 1982.


Mano del Desierto in the Atacama Desert in Chile, 1992.

Let's not forget, Enceladus also got sixth-largest of the moons of Saturn as his namesake. It was discovered in 1789. What a guy.