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About Athena, muahahahaahahahahaha
Jan. 4th, 2006 03:51 pmI've mentioned different things about Athena that are not quite "usual" about her, I mean, I've mentioned the masks and the fact that she was not a virgin exactly, here's the website where a long time ago, I took the info from, aand I'm posting some excerpts from it, so you can see what I mean, ok?
Site: The Moon Speaker
Athena:
(...)Athena was a virgin in the sense that she belonged only to herself, her gorgoneum representing menstrual mysteries and hidden knowledge of the afterlife.
About the masks:
(...)Always a defender of women and guardian of women's mysteries, Athena didn't merely wear the gorgon mask, or attach it to her aegis. She was the Gorgon, and prevented men from seeing or interfering with women's mysteries on pain of death. Her priestesses proved resilient despite intense persecution, titled their Goddess Apaturia 'guardian of secrets,' and dedicated new temples to her, defying all attempts to wrest control of women's rites from them. Some others tried to explain temples of Athena Apaturia as bitter monuments from women she had lied to. The frankly ludicrous gloss was hurriedly suppressed.
About Artemis, so the concept of "virgin" is better explained
(...)Greatest Artemis. Myths called her a chaste virgin, unnecessary now, but then to be a virgin meant to belong to oneself, to have no outside restraints. As originally conceived of, a virgin could and did have sex. Her followers were remembered as nymphs and Amazons, roaming free in the forests and mountains. All wild animals seemed tame around her, since they understood that she too was wild, and had no desire to cage them. Artemis' throne was covered with a wolfskin, a possible reference to her ability to take the form of the wolf. She was commonly considered the midwife of her supposed brother Apollo.
There is a lot more of info here, if you have the time and go and check the site, you'll like it. ^^
Site: The Moon Speaker
Athena:
(...)Athena was a virgin in the sense that she belonged only to herself, her gorgoneum representing menstrual mysteries and hidden knowledge of the afterlife.
About the masks:
(...)Always a defender of women and guardian of women's mysteries, Athena didn't merely wear the gorgon mask, or attach it to her aegis. She was the Gorgon, and prevented men from seeing or interfering with women's mysteries on pain of death. Her priestesses proved resilient despite intense persecution, titled their Goddess Apaturia 'guardian of secrets,' and dedicated new temples to her, defying all attempts to wrest control of women's rites from them. Some others tried to explain temples of Athena Apaturia as bitter monuments from women she had lied to. The frankly ludicrous gloss was hurriedly suppressed.
About Artemis, so the concept of "virgin" is better explained
(...)Greatest Artemis. Myths called her a chaste virgin, unnecessary now, but then to be a virgin meant to belong to oneself, to have no outside restraints. As originally conceived of, a virgin could and did have sex. Her followers were remembered as nymphs and Amazons, roaming free in the forests and mountains. All wild animals seemed tame around her, since they understood that she too was wild, and had no desire to cage them. Artemis' throne was covered with a wolfskin, a possible reference to her ability to take the form of the wolf. She was commonly considered the midwife of her supposed brother Apollo.
There is a lot more of info here, if you have the time and go and check the site, you'll like it. ^^
