Olympus tarot

Art Style & Visual Character

The artwork features lifelike colored line drawings with clearly restrained compositions, much in keeping with ancient Grecian forms of beauty. Golden-brown borders frame each scene in the sunny colors of Greek terracotta vases, and a brown tiled design encloses each card image. Raimondo exhibits elegant skill with simpler, bolder compositions than his Casanova work. The overall aesthetic evokes the Mediterranean warmth of classical antiquity — sun-drenched, earthy, and mythologically rich.

Core Concept & Symbolism

Characters and scenes from the Theogony, Jason and the Argonauts, the Iliad, the Odyssey, and other masterworks of Greek mythology are mapped onto the tarot framework. Each Major Arcana card is associated with one Olympic divinity whose story or character matches the card's meaning. The Minor Arcana suits are uniquely structured: Wands represent mythological creatures, Cups represent places, Swords represent heroes, and Pentacles represent objects — each drawn from the Greek myths. This creates a coherent mythological world within the tarot structure.

Reading Experience

The deck is described as a working tarot for experienced readers rather than beginners. Reviewers note that a working knowledge of Ancient Greek history and myth, combined with general tarot familiarity, is necessary to interpret readings meaningfully. The Aeclectic Tarot community praises the deck's visual appeal and the clever mapping of Greek mythology to tarot archetypes. It is appreciated as both an art piece and a functional reading deck, though its out-of-print status has made it more of a collector's item in recent years.

Best Used For

• Readers passionate about Greek mythology and classical antiquity
• Experienced tarot readers who enjoy mythological correspondences
• Study of archetypes through the lens of Greek gods and heroes
• Collectors of Lo Scarabeo and out-of-print tarot decks
• Meditative exploration of classical mythological themes
• Academic or literary tarot study

Not Ideal For

• Beginners unfamiliar with both tarot and Greek mythology
• Readers seeking modern, diverse, or non-Western representation
• Those who prefer standard RWS imagery without thematic overlays