In Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth, Natalie Haynes shoves apart the male-centric lens by means of which we’ve lengthy seen goddesses like Aphrodite, Demeter and Artemis, whether or not in historical past, literature, artwork or music. She steps into that breach armed with a sharpened gaze and copious analysis as she reveals to readers how these otherworldly girls have been misrepresented and misunderstood prior to now, and explores the methods during which they encourage and inform us within the current. BookWeb page requested the acclaimed author/scholar/comic/broadcaster about her fascinating profession and what she thinks we are able to all be taught from the undersung girls of the traditional world.
In final 12 months’s Pandora’s Jar, you introduced the likes of Medusa and Jocasta to the forefront. And now on this e book, you flip to the goddesses in all their energy and glory. What drives you to interrogate and discover how girls have been portrayed in fable and in artwork?
I can’t think about not being within the portrayal of girls: We’re half the world! And since virtually all literature and artwork that survives to us from the traditional world is by males, it supplies a captivating canvas to discover. How did males think about girls, and the way did they think about highly effective girls, once they knew no such individuals in actual life? What form of goddesses would these males worship? I actually needed to discover the goddesses, the temples constructed to them, the tales depicting them, the artwork embodying them. So that’s how Divine Might occurred.
What was probably the most shocking, difficult and/or gratifying factor you found within the course of your analysis, in phrases of seeing echoes of the traditional previous in our current society and tradition? Do you now have a favourite goddess?
The most difficult factor I found was simply how little affect the goddess Hestia—as soon as central to worship of all of the gods in historical Greece—had made on the fashionable world. There have been so few examples of her in modern fiction and artwork that at first of her chapter, I wasn’t certain I’d have the ability to write it in any respect. But it turned out to be a extremely stunning course of, discovering her the place I might, and attempting to clarify how and why she had disappeared. I don’t have favorites—I alter my thoughts with each chapter!
“Female anger is frightening to men. Always.”
Artemis could be probably the most broadly recognized goddess, with hundreds of mentions of her female-archer guise in historical artwork and present popular culture. But whereas her energy and talent are routinely celebrated, you are saying that at her core, “She is a true predator . . . fixed on death.” Will you share a bit extra about what you discovered to be probably the most intriguing contradictions in phrases of how Artemis has been portrayed and seen?
I’m that Artemis is such a well-liked goddess right here! I all the time assume Aphrodite/Venus should be one of the best recognized, simply because of the sheer cultural penetration (and a planet named after her too.). Artemis is a puzzle as a result of she is syncretized with so many different goddesses: each space within the Greek world appears to have recognized her by a special identify and worshiped a special facet of her. This is how you find yourself with a goddess who protects younger ladies, but additionally shoots and kills them, and a virgin goddess who’s carefully linked with the goddess of childbirth. I believe it’s acceptable that she is so arduous to pin down, although. Artemis belongs to the locations away from cities and cities: She is a goddess of wild locations, forests and mountains. We don’t actually belong in her world; she is most at house with wild creatures. So we both settle for we are able to’t perceive her, or we turn out to be somewhat wild ourselves.
What variations do you see in artwork created by males versus girls?
I believe the extra girls make artwork, the extra we’ll see completely different interpretations of what it means to be a lady. I used to be eager about it at this time studying a overview of Britney Spears’ new e book: How she chooses to current herself appears utterly completely different from how her administration/household selected to current her once they managed a lot of her life. There’s a horrible poignancy to how lengthy she has needed to wait to be allowed to be her full self. And—extra cheeringly—have a look at the Taylor Swift juggernaut. She remakes herself with every album, generally greater than as soon as. It’s a grasp class in depicting highly effective womanhood in massively assorted methods. She’s inspiring tens of millions of ladies as she does it, so I believe we might be in for an thrilling time forward.
You describe in colorfully unflinching element some of Hera’s “spectacular and creatively unpleasant revenges.” And you observe that fashionable tradition typically turns this exasperation into fodder for comedy relatively than, say, an affordable clarification for rage. Why do you suppose—even in myths that spoke plainly about homicide, rape and different horrible issues—Hera’s and different goddesses’ anger was assiduously prevented and downplayed?
“. . . women’s stories are every bit as valuable and compelling as men’s, every bit as important as I believe them to be.”
Female anger is horrifying to males. Always. And it’s a lot simpler to disclaim that if you happen to declare that it’s irrational, that it comes out of nowhere, that it’s the consequence of being loopy or merciless. Otherwise you’d have to just accept that structural inequality is irritating and make an effort to alter it for the higher. Sometimes I really feel like Bruce Banner in The Avengers: “That’s my secret, Captain. I’m always angry.” He doesn’t look forward to an alien invasion to be mad, he lives there. Well, me too.
Your first e book, The Ancient Guide to Modern Life, was revealed in 2010, and also you’ve since written a number of books—fiction and nonfiction—that problem our assumptions in regards to the historical world. Have you met with any pushback to the brand new views you’ve provided? How has your work and your life as an author modified since your first e book?
I’m instructed by educational pals that I’m typically appreciated of their career for encouraging so many college students to pursue classics and historical historical past. I’ve little doubt there are some students who hate me—that’s only a statistical actuality—however I can’t truthfully say I give them a second’s thought. Who has the time?
Comedy + classicism is a pairing that’s labored fairly properly for you, to say the least! Which got here first? When have been you first impressed to mix the 2? Does your BBC podcast “Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics” inform your books and vice versa?
Ha—I suppose I’d say I used to be humorous earlier than I used to be a classicist, however I used to be a classicist earlier than I used to be a comic. I began doing stand-up throughout my undergrad years. Since then the 2 have swirled round me most of the time, I suppose. The first few years in comedy have been fairly low on classics (not a lot name for jokes on the traditional world within the late ’90s comedy circuit). But now these two fields have actually merged for me. I really like doing the dwell reveals and making the BBC podcast. I’m extraordinarily fortunate!
What are you most hoping readers take away from this e book?
I’m hoping that readers will come away from the e book pondering that girls’s tales are each bit as precious and compelling as males’s, each bit as necessary as I consider them to be. I hope they’ll have a newfound respect for the massive energy of these goddesses and the centrality of their function within the historical world.
Is there something you’d wish to share about what’s subsequent for you, goddess-y or in any other case?
Next up is season 10 of the podcast, I’ll be recording it within the spring. Still selecting who to incorporate. And the brand new novel is about Medea, so that’s going to be an intense time, writing her. But I wrote my dissertation on Euripides’ portrayal of Medea and Hecabe, so I’ve been squaring as much as tackle this story for many years. It looks like now could be the time. Let’s hope I’m proper.
Photo of Natalie Haynes by James Betts
Read our overview of Divine Might.
Discussion about this post