Minoan Lady of the Beasts/Artemis
Artemis is described in the Iliad as Potnia Theron or the Lady of the Beasts. (Potnia is a term of respect, meaning Lady or Mistress.) It is also a title formerly used by a Minoan Goddess - the Lady of the Beasts.
A similar goddess was worshipped throughout the Aegean. In fact, the Mistress of the Beasts - or something similar - was worshipped as far back as the Neolithic, including Crete. I don't think it is a big stretch of the imagination to believe that Artemis either took over the role of her precursor or was the Lady of the Beasts under a different name.
What do we know about Artemis? She was a beautiful winged Goddess, usually associated with the Moon. (Although, since her twin brother was Apollo, the sun, there are solar elements as well. Both were children of Leto and Zeus.) She was passionate about her virginity and could be quite cruel to her nymphs when they lost their theirs, even if usually by rape. Young girls were frequently dedicated to her at the age of somewhere between 9 and fifteen. (Scholars disagree about the age.) Suidas and Arktos e Brauroniols wrote that the Athenians decreed that no virgin could be married unless they played the bear for the Goddess. (Interesting and odd to me in light of the beliefs about young girls who die before marriage and children - who become spirits, or willies.) Martis would have been dedicated as well but, unlike most of her peers, she plans to remain a virgin and dedicated to the Virgin Goddess.
Artemis is also a patron of childbirth, again an interesting juxtaposition with a virgin goddess. Women prayed to her for an easy and safe childbirth and shrines to her were present well into Roman times.
She was also a huntress and is frequently pictured with her golden bow and arrows and a pack of hunting dogs. This is the piece that fits in with the Lady of the Beasts. As a beautiful but unattainable woman, she was frequently the object of men's attentions. With the Greek predilection for violent drama, her reaction toward them tended to be fatal. In one myth, a mortal saw her bathing naked. Artemis turned him into a stag and his own hunting dogs tore him apart.
Although Artemis is a hunter and a protector of women in childbirth, the apparent disconnect does make sense. Fertility of both women and animals, domestic and wild, was necessary for prosperity.
In Classical Greece, Artemis is a daughter of Zeus. But her history is far older than that.
A similar goddess was worshipped throughout the Aegean. In fact, the Mistress of the Beasts - or something similar - was worshipped as far back as the Neolithic, including Crete. I don't think it is a big stretch of the imagination to believe that Artemis either took over the role of her precursor or was the Lady of the Beasts under a different name.
What do we know about Artemis? She was a beautiful winged Goddess, usually associated with the Moon. (Although, since her twin brother was Apollo, the sun, there are solar elements as well. Both were children of Leto and Zeus.) She was passionate about her virginity and could be quite cruel to her nymphs when they lost their theirs, even if usually by rape. Young girls were frequently dedicated to her at the age of somewhere between 9 and fifteen. (Scholars disagree about the age.) Suidas and Arktos e Brauroniols wrote that the Athenians decreed that no virgin could be married unless they played the bear for the Goddess. (Interesting and odd to me in light of the beliefs about young girls who die before marriage and children - who become spirits, or willies.) Martis would have been dedicated as well but, unlike most of her peers, she plans to remain a virgin and dedicated to the Virgin Goddess.
Artemis is also a patron of childbirth, again an interesting juxtaposition with a virgin goddess. Women prayed to her for an easy and safe childbirth and shrines to her were present well into Roman times.
She was also a huntress and is frequently pictured with her golden bow and arrows and a pack of hunting dogs. This is the piece that fits in with the Lady of the Beasts. As a beautiful but unattainable woman, she was frequently the object of men's attentions. With the Greek predilection for violent drama, her reaction toward them tended to be fatal. In one myth, a mortal saw her bathing naked. Artemis turned him into a stag and his own hunting dogs tore him apart.
Although Artemis is a hunter and a protector of women in childbirth, the apparent disconnect does make sense. Fertility of both women and animals, domestic and wild, was necessary for prosperity.
In Classical Greece, Artemis is a daughter of Zeus. But her history is far older than that.
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Owlsinger wrote: "Hi, Eleanor! ~ First, thank you for all the insight, via these blog posts, on the customs and mores of the era in which the Martis series takes place. I'm always up for learning more about less-..."
Hello- A ritual that went all the way from Minoan Crete into Classical Greece. Young girls (I've seen the ages listed from 8 to 11) dressed in bearskins and danced as an offering to Artemis or, later, Athena. Not sure why a bear was chosen but it was a ritual that continued for centuries.
I wanted to add that I chose a teenager because the lifespans then were really short. A typical Cretan girl would be married by 18, a mother shortly thereafter, and a grandmother in her thirties. Also, as per the Theseus and Minotaur myth, young people were used to leap the bull. To do that, she had to be young and agile, and also unencumbered with children.
Thanks of writing in.
First, thank you for all the insight, via these blog posts, on the customs and mores of the era in which the Martis series takes place. I'm always up for learning more about less-well-known historical civilizations; actually, just learning more, in general! The time around the Trojan War, for example - I'm waiting to read Emily Wilson's new translation of The Iliad.
I've finally read "Shadow of the Bull"; my first impression, part way in, was that it might be a miscategorized YA publication. Typical whiny, rebellious young teen, sneaking around and engaging in barely-tolerated activities, operating under the radar because of the impending wedding. After her sister's death, though, the need to investigate moved the story up into for-real (for me!) historical fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, from that point onwards, and retroactively, also.
All that being (finally) said, Thanks again for the post on Artemis and her place in Minoan society, as well as in that time in history. I do have one question about a phrase you used: "Playing the bear"? A Google search brought up a metric gazillion references to the TV show "The Bear", but that's about all. Enlightenment, please?
Thanks!
~ Bill