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Author
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Comment
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DawnReiser
Registered User
(1/6/06 10:07 am)
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Re: women in myth
I agree with all the suggestions - Greek myth is such fodder - and would add Eurydice who got stuck in hell because her boyfriend didn't listen and turned back for one final look.
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catja1
Registered User
(1/10/06 1:07 am)
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Re: Philomela!
No kidding. Though, to add a bit to the rape issue, a classicist friend of mine pointed out that in Athenian law, it was a much worse crime to have seduced a married woman -- or be seduced -- than it was to rape her/be raped. The idea was that rape was a physical violation of a husbands' property, but that seduction was both physical AND mental violation. So, both women and men caught having consensual extramarital affairs tended to claim that it had been rape -- the penalty for the man was a fine, and a woman lost none of her (few) social and legal privileges as a married woman. But if it was seduction, the woman could be cast out by her husband, lose her social standing, and so on, and the man could be subjected to some rather bizarre punishments (IIRC, having all the hairs on his scrotum pulled out!), and could be exiled or jailed. Seduction was much more of a threat to the Athenian social structure than rape was, and a woman who had been raped was considered to have more-or-less kept her virtue. That's why there are so many stories that use the term "rape" and then have the heroine fall in love, etc., with her rapist -- it keeps the heroine from appearing unvirtuous.
Of course, then there are the myths where it's clear that it was actual rape, and the heroine STILL gets punished; I always found it interesting that in the nastiest cases -- Medusa, Callisto -- it's a virgin goddess (Athena, Artemis) who does the punishing. Also, the rapist tends to be a powerful god, that even a goddess would have trouble going after, so they take out their anger on the hapless mortal woman. I tend to read Hera that way, too -- she can't do anything to her husband, so she goes after his lovers, with little concern for whether they actually wanted to be with Zeus or not.
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kristiw
Unregistered User
(1/10/06 9:57 am)
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virgin goddesses
My mythology professor told us stories of virgin goddesses punishing dallying nymphs like Callisto are doublets of original myths involving the goddess herself... the nymphs are part of a little judicious editing later down the line to protect Artemis' virtue. Similar story for Zeus and Hera-- originally all these different regions had their own version of the hieros gamos, the sacred marriage, so it was Zeus and Hera, but elsewhere Zeus and Europa, Zeus and Semele, Zeus and Io, and so forth.
When the various regions started communicating more, all the local stories started to conflict. Zeus had to be either a polygamous deity or an adulterous one, and since the Greeks were monogamous, Zeus ended up a philanderer and Hera ended up on Olympus for political reasons. Adds an interesting angle to Hera's violence towards the other women-- it's a legitimate competitions for divine status, not just a woman scorned.
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avalondeb
Registered User
(1/11/06 2:20 pm)
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Re: Need help brainstorming: Greek mythology
Medea - Although she kills her children, Jason treated her soooo badly. Basically used her to betray her family and then cast her aside.
Megara - Hercules wife. Hera drives Hercules crazy and he kills both her and his children. His penance was the 12 Labors of Hercules
Daphne - Apollo had a crazy infatuation with her (she was a dryad) caused by an arrow from Eros, who was jealous because Apollo had made fun of his archery skills. Daphne prayed to the river god to help her and he changed her into a Lauraceae tree, which became sacred to Apollo.
Io - Princess that Zeus lusted after. Turned her into a cow to disguise her from Hera. Hera sent a gadfly to torment Io into fleeing to Egypt. NOT a good life, eventhough she eventually returns to human form.
Callisto - Zeus fell in love with her and disguised himself as Apollo in order to get her. Hera, then turned Callisto into a bear out of revenge. Later, Arcas, the son of Callisto and Zeus, nearly killed her in a hunt but Zeus placed them both in the sky as the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Semele - Another of Zeus' mortal lovers. Hera, discovered the affair when Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that her husband was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her, so Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood. Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he agreed. Mortals, however, cannot look upon a god without dying, and she perished, consumed in flame.
Helen - in some versions, she didn't go willingly to Troy. After all, it isn't her fault she was so beautiful!
Dido - Made to fall in love with Aeneas by Juno. When he is ordered to leave Dido (Jupiter sends him on his way), she is heartbroken and kills herself.
Andromeda & Cassiopeia - Cassiopeia, having boasted herself equal in beauty to the Nereids, drew down the vengeance of Poseidon, who sent a sea-monster, which destroyed man and beast. An oracle said that no relief would be found until the king exposed his daughter Andromeda to the monster, she was fastened to a rock on the shore, but later saved by Perseus. I felt sorry for both, actually! How many mothers haven't bragged about their children?!?!?!
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