Metis

Metis, the goddess of prudence, was said to be Zeus’s first love. However, she went to great lengths to avoid succumbing to his advances. A shapeshifter, she cycled through a number of forms with Zeus matching every one until she finally gave in. However, it was prophesied that Metis would bear a son capable of overthrowing Zeus, leading to him tricking her into turning herself into a fly and swallowing her. However, Metis was already pregnant, causing Zeus great pain as she hammered away inside his head making weapons and armour for her unborn daughter. Eventually Zeus asked Hephaestus to crack his head open, causing Athena to leap out fully grown and complete with armour and weapons (Zeus was fine, by the way).

Io

Perhaps not one of Zeus’s best choices due to the fact that she was a priestess of Hera, Io was one of several (named) nymphs to catch the eye of the king of the gods. Zeus transformed her into a beautiful white heifer in an attempt to hide her from Hera’s jealous gaze but she was not fooled. Demanding the heifer as a gift (and with both of them knowing that Zeus’s refusal would be indicative of his guilt), Hera took Io and placed her under the watchful eye of Argus Panoptes (or rather eyes as he had well over a hundred of them all over his body). Zeus ordered Hermes to kill the unfortunate Argus, who according to Ovid did so by disguising himself as a shepherd and charming all of his many eyes to sleep at once before doing the deed. Hera then forced Io to wander the earth by plaguing her with a stinging gadfly (arguably not the best of Greek holidays). Zeus eventually restored her to human form, Io ultimately going on to marry the Egyptian king Telegonus.

Callisto

Callisto was one of Artemis’s nymphs, and like all of the goddess’s followers took a vow of chastity. This, of course, didn’t stop Zeus, who assumed the form of Artemis herself in order to force himself on Callisto when she was separated from the goddess and her fellows. Some months later while she and the other nymphs were bathing together, Artemis realised that Callisto was pregnant. The goddess cast her out, delivering the coup degrace after she gave birth by transforming her into a bear. Sixteen years later, Callisto’s son encountered and almost killed his mother while hunting in the forest, leading to Zeus avoiding this unbearable (yeah, I went there) fate by placing them both in the sky as constellations (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor respectively).

Danaë

Daughter of King Acrisius and Queen Eurydice of Argos. Acrisius sought an heir, but upon consulting an oracle was told that if Danaë gave birth to a son he would kill him. In an effort to prevent the possibility of her ever conceiving, he locked her away in a bronze tower (essentially like some kind of ancient Greek Rapunzel). Such trifles meant nothing to Zeus, of course, who entered the tower as a shower of gold (no sniggering, please) and the rest, as they say, is ancient mythological history. Acrisius did not want to risk upsetting Zeus by attempting to kill one of his offspring and so cast Danaë and the newborn Perseus into the sea in a wooden chest. Poseidon allowed them to survive at Zeus’s behest, the pair washing ashore on the island of Seriphos where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys. Despite Danaë spurning his advances, Dictys looked after both of them well and raised Perseus as his own.

Leda

Leda was the wife of the king of Sparta, but again this, of course, meant little to Zeus. Disguising himself as a swan, he artfully fell into her arms under the pretence of seeking protection from a hungry eagle. Following their theoretically unlikely union (which is probably best not thought about in too much detail) Leda laid two eggs, these hatching into Clytemnestra, Castor, Pollux and Helen of Troy (although in some versions of the story Helen’s mother is Nemesis, the resulting egg having simply been given to Leda to raise). Clearly not that fussed about hiding his exploits from Hera this time, Zeus created the Cygnus constellation in order to celebrate Helen’s birth (the divine equivalent of bragging to anyone who’d listen, perhaps?).

Ella, while pretty sure she’s not in any gods’ little black books, is pretty sure she could outrun Zeus if it came to it.

From time to time we here at This Blog Rules like to get a little surrealistic. Don’t you? You may remember our post about Josh Sommers’ insane photo montages, the contents of which I think we can all agree were very insane indeed. Now Italian artist Giuseppe Mastromatteo has taken surrealism to a whole new level in his project called “Indepensense”.

In the photos above and below, Mastromatteo makes it look like the body parts of his nude subjects have been melted together. It’s almost like the human body is transparent, causing noses, ears and mouths to peek through hands, arms and hair.

Mastromatteo writes about the arts, teaches advertising at several academic institutions, and works as an art director at the Triennale Museum of Milan. If you ever bump into him on the street, be sure to mention that you saw his art featured on TBR.

These, on the other hand, are deliberate. In fact, some of these are actually photos of the same poodle named Cindy. She’s the one with the thousand yard stare, pleading to God to end her suffering.

20. Buffalo

So…you wanted to make your dog look like a buffalo complete with bloody handprint because…you hate Native Americans? You hate dogs? Both? Help us out here, crazy groomer person.

19. Shih Tzu Dreads

This is a not a Komondor. This is a Shih Tzu. This is an extremely unhappy Shih Tzu.

18. Cyldesdale

This dog is not proud to be your Bud. Especially since it seems Saturday Night Live’s Pat has retired from “comedy” and gone into torturing animals.

17. Rooster

We think the look of resignation and sadness on this dog’s face really says it all. And what the hell is that on its back? Fried eggs?

16. Tie Dye

“She’s done this to us for the last time, Jeremy. When you see the signal, go for the throat and then run.”

15. Fade

A little known quote by Mark Twain: “Do not try to give your dog a fade. It wastes time and makes the terrier you inflicted it on a sad puppy, you monster.”

14. Giraffe

Gah! What the hell is that, and why did you glue it to a dog?

13. Pac-Man

This does not get the high score, unless you’re adding bonus points for shame and humiliation.

12. Fish

The dog here is giving that girl one of two looks: either “Save me” or “Why did you betray me, oh loving master?”

11. Panda

“Oh, great, you’ve made me into a panda. That’s just wonderful. Can we make this any tackier? Oh, you brought some bamboo, for set dressing. How cute. I wish you people had been neutered instead of me.”

10. Camel

On the bright side, at least the owner didn’t dress herself in a belly dancing costume or put up a little set labeled “Arabian Nights”.

9. Steelers

We thought that this couldn’t be more humiliating, and then somebody helpfully pointed out that it could be a lot worse. How, you ask? It could be a Cleveland Browns uniform.

8. Snail

“Why did you make me a snail? I am not a snail. I don’t even like snails! Can we just go outside and play catch like a normal human and dog? Please? Anybody?”

7. Dragon

“I wish I was puffing the magic dragon right now.”

6. Duckie

The first time Muffin looked in the mirror, she understood why her master’s husband drank so much.

5. Peacock

You know what really makes this photo awful? If you look closely, you realize this poor dog has not only been subjected to this haircut, but has also had her nails painted.

4. Cow

“Boy, I just had to laugh at the poodle, didn’t I? ‘Oh, that’ll never happen to me! I’m not ugly enough! My owner would never dye my hair or make me look stupid to win a pointless trophy!’ I bet Butch never has to put up with this.”

3. Ninja Turtle

At least the mask hides their shame.

2. Horse

“It’s bad enough the kid tries to ride me like a pony, you have to go and encourage him?!”

1. Tiger

Max’s disguise was finally complete: the gigantic cats in the zoo were about to learn what happened when a real dog came to tree them.

By Dan Seitz

He started as a random fisherman with great interest in ichthyology, when he suddenly began to represent different sea specimen in an unusual way. Iori Tomita is the man that we’re talking about. He catches different creatures that live in the sea and makes them colorful by making them transparent.

His methods are tricky; first he gets rid of the fish skin and scale. Then the sea creature is getting soaked into bluish color. Afterwards he breaks down the muscles and proteins by using chemicals like trypsin so the creatures look transparent. At the end they are dyed red and placed into jars with glycerin. The pop of colors are amazing and gives the jars special touch. It’s like the creatures are fake, made of glass, but that is not the case, it’s all so very real.

Tomita says that he wants to show people the hidden beauty of nature that we tend to miss out on. Speaking of colorful sea creatures, prepare to meet the “Strawberry Crab”.

If this is horrible or just another piece of bizarre art is something that we cannot decide yet. Horse lovers are definitely going to get goosebumps when see these shoe creations that draws lot of attention.

They are made by German artist Iris Schieferstein who has worked with dead animals for many years, and is using their raw material for her work. Her shoe line “Gun Hoofs” is made from horse hooves and guns, hence the name. The guns or pistols are used as heels, and the hooves are hollowed-out with zippers so it’s completely possible to actually wear them. Disturbing for some, fascinating for others. What do you think? While contemplating, you can take a look at some shoes made from something much less disturbing, like paper.