This sculpture depicts a man facing due east, with his arms raised high, greeting the morning sun and embracing the rosy-fingered goddess of the dawn, Eos. According to Greek mythology, Eos rose up into the sky from the river Okeanos at the start of each day, and with her rays of light dispersed the mists of the night. She was sometimes depicted riding a golden chariot drawn by winged horses, at other times she was shown borne aloft by her own pair of wings. Eos had an unquenchable desire for handsome young men, some say as the result of a curse laid upon her by the goddess Aphrodite.
The story of the man depicted in Embracing Eos is unclear. Does he simply admire the beauty of Eos as she rises each morning? Was he one of her past lovers? Or is he another young man about to fall victim to her lust?
Being a sculpture of black steel and dark wire, Embracing Eos can be difficult to see in the evening twilight. Some visitors have had such difficulty spotting the sculpture that they believe it has disappeared. Perhaps the sculpture is just hard to see in the evening, or perhaps the man of metal does leave at night, only to reappear in the morning to greet his seductive Eos.
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