The capital of the Rape of Ganymede at San Madeleine in Vézelay is a representation of the story of the rape or abduction of Ganymede. On the front side of the capital an eagle is depicted holding the young shepherd Ganymede in its mouth. Ganymede is held upside down helplessly with a look of terror on his face. On the left are two adults holding their heads and staring helplessly as the eagle takes the boy. On the right side there is a demon who looks at the viewer while happily sticking out his tongue, as if to provoke us. In the claws of the eagle there is a dog, which looks like a hyena, showing its teeth. The capital depicts a story from the Aeniad, where Jupiter becomes infatuated with the handsome shepherd boy Ganymede and, according to his version of the story, sends an eagle down to kidnap the boy. Ganymede then acts as Jupiter's cupbearer, and this evokes Juno's jealousy, thus incurring her wrath which is presumably one of the factors initiating the Trojan War. Virgil's version of the story is similar, but includes the visual element of the barking dog and the guardians at the side, unable to help the boy. Both versions of the story come from antiquity. When I started analyzing this capital, it took me a while to understand what was going on. There's a lot of content crammed into a small space in this capital city. All figures are oversized and extremely close to each other. I noticed the caricatural representation of the figures. This seems to be the case in all the capitals of Vézelay. I was particularly interested in facial expressions. Ganymede's face is full of dearness and confusion as he hangs upside down. The dog looks scary and angry, but it is not clear to me whether it is on the side of Jupiter's eagle or whether it is... in the center of the card... Meaning on a capital representing the fall of man. Betrayed 55 (2000): 105-123. Forsyth, Ilene H. "The Ganymede Capital at Vézelay." Gesta 15, n. 1/2. Essays in honor of SumnerMcKnight Crosby. (1976): 241-246. Kolve, VA “Ganymede/Son of Getron: Medieval Monasticism and the Drama of Homosexual Desire.” Speculum 73, no. 4 (1998): 1014-1067. Mills, Robert. “Gender, Sodomy, Friendship, and Medieval Anchorhold.” Journal of MedievalReligious Cultures 36, No. 1 (2010): 1-27.Quinn, Patricia A. Better than Kings' Sons: Boys and Monks in the Early Middle Ages. (New York, 1988) Van Buren, Anne H. Review of Ganymed: Studien zur Typologie, Ikonographie und Ikonologie di GerdaKempter. Speculum 57, no. 3 (1982): 624-625. Wolfthal, Diane. “'A Hue and a Cry': Images of Medieval Rape and Its Transformation.” Il Bollettino dell'Arte75, n. 1 (1993): 39-64.