The unkempt giant stood in the thick darkness, his eyes were round, his blood basin was wide open to the limit, and he was swallowing with his head down... It's his own child! Who is he? Why kill your own flesh and blood?
This is actually a painting by Goya called "The God of Agriculture Devours His Son", and the story behind it is derived from Roman mythology.
At the beginning of creation, gaia, the goddess of the earth, was born from the chaos. Gaia himself gave birth to the god of mountains, the god of the sea and the god of the sky, and combined with the god of the sky, he gave birth to many ugly monsters and giants.
The sky god was bored with these monsters and imprisoned them in the depths of the earth. Gaia, born of love and hate, ordered his youngest son Saturnus to kill the god of the sky.
After killing his father, Saturnus ascended to the throne of the King of the Gods. However, the prophecy left by the sky god on his deathbed, "You will one day be killed by your own children", lingered in his mind, so he swallowed the 5 children he and his wife gave birth to in succession.
The real horror of this painting is not the act of devouring its son. What can be seen in the eyes of Saturnus in Goya's painting is that although he has given up being a human being, he still retains the weakness of human nature, tearing his heart and lungs.
Devouring his son was Saturnus's fate, but the remnants of his humanity resisted such a fate, and they trembled with fear. He despairs of his own meanness and seeks escape in his madness. In the midst of madness, do this beastly act.
In @Dolin Xin's "Timid Don't Look at Painting 4: The Shadow of Human Nature", it is introduced that Goya mentally places himself among the common people. Therefore, his paintings always directly convey a kind of painful sadness.
When we appreciate paintings, we often feel bored by ignoring the story behind them. If you interpret painting as history, or if you look at it from another perspective, you may be able to find new charm in it. The "horror" perspective allows the imagination to fly.
Devouring his own child is certainly terrifying, if this is the fate he must experience, there are more intriguing meanings behind the horror.
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