sisterofiris: dwellerinthelibrary: witchesversuspatriarchy: May the Godess have the final word. One
sisterofiris: dwellerinthelibrary: witchesversuspatriarchy: May the Godess have the final word. One of my great disappointments was not being able to find any evidence that Artemis or Diana was given the title “bitch”. For one thing, that would have been hella cool. For another, it was my first inkling, as a baby Pagan, that The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets contained an awful lot of made-up stuff. That made me the librarian-witch I am today – always nit-picking and nay-saying in the face of invention. (If I just didn’t look hard enough, and you’ve got evidence that either goddess was called “bitch”, please don’t hesitate to tell me!) You’re right to be skeptical. This book passage is not only wrong, it’s impressive in just how wrong it is. Let’s break it down.“[Bitch] became a naughty word in Christian Europe”1. When and where in Christian Europe? That’s a time period spreading from the 4th century to the modern day, and a geographic area that encompasses everything from Portugal to Iceland to Greece to Russia.2. Insulting someone by comparing them to a dog was common practise in Ancient Greece (and presumably Rome, though I’m not well-versed enough in Latin to confirm). In the Iliad, Achilles insults Agamemnon by calling him “dog-eyed” (κυνὸς ὄμματ’ ἔχων, Il. 1.225), and Menelaus calls the Trojans “bad bitches” (κακαὶ κύνες, Il. 13.623). “Bitch” was particularly used as an insult towards women, including by women towards other women: Helen calls herself a bitch twice (Il. 6.344 and 6.356), and Hera calls Artemis a “reckless bitch” (κύον ἀδδέες, Il. 21.481) just before smacking her. This last passage might be where the author of the above quote got their idea from, but given the context it’s clear it’s an insult, not a title.Note that comparisons to dogs were and are also insults in other cultures. While dogs had a lot of positive connotations in Mesopotamia, they could also be negative. A text from the royal archives of Mari (in present-day Syria) sneers: “What are they? Dogs!” (mīnum šunuma kalbu, ARM 1 27:28) A letter in Akkadian found in Ḫattuša (central Turkey) states of someone: “What kind of dog is he?” (mannu UR.GI₇ šû, KUB 3.61 6) In modern Arabic, “bitch” is also used as an insult - so it’s far from just “a naughty word in Christian Europe”.(Also, in case it wasn’t clear, I’m basing this on translations of “dog” or “bitch” into various languages, because the idea that the Ancient Greeks, Hittites or Assyrians used the literal term “bitch”, a word of Germanic origin, would be even more ludicrous than the claims the above text makes.)This should be enough to debunk the entire passage, but for the sake of being thorough, let’s keep going.“it was one of the most sacred titles of the Goddess, Artemis-Diana”It was never used as a title for either Artemis or Diana. The only instance of “bitch” being applied to Artemis is in the above example, where Hera uses the term to insult her.“the Scythian alani or ‘hunting dogs’”The… what? Are we referring to the Alans, a Scythian people who are the ancestors of modern-day Ossetians? If so, their name does not mean “hunting dogs” but is in fact a dialectal variant of “Aryan” - but I suppose that’s not the statement you want to make here?If we’re not referring to the Alans, however, I have no idea what this line is supposed to mean.“The Bitch-Goddess of antiquity was known in all Indo-European cultures, beginning with the Great Bitch Sarama who led the Vedic dogs of death.”“she was known in all Indo-European cultures” *only mentions three*I’m not well-versed in Hinduism, but from what I can find, Sarama is indeed a dog/wolf deity whose children, the Sarameyas, are guard dogs and messengers of Yama, a death deity. This would make this sentence one of the most correct in this passage, but even then, it’s imprecise. “Mother of the guard dogs of Yama” and “leader of the Vedic dogs of death” aren’t the same thing (though in defence of the latter, it does sound pretty metal).And in case you were wondering, no, not all Indo-European cultures had a dog deity. The Hittites didn’t, as far as I’m aware. On the other hand, the Sumerians, a non Indo-European culture, did have a deity, Gula, associated with dogs.“The Old English word for a hunting dog, bawd”Incorrect. Bawd comes from Old French baud, meaning “bold” or “jolly”. It has nothing to do with hunting dogs.“the divine Huntress’s promiscuous priestesses”When did Artemis or Diana ever have promiscuous priestesses? What part of “virgin Goddess” do you not understand? Oh, right, you’re taking “virgin” as meaning unmarried, not as someone who has never had sexual intercourse. In that case, allow me to point you towards this fragment of Sappho:Ἄρτεμις δὲ θέων] μέγαν ὄρκον ἀπώμοσε·νὴ τὰν σὰν κεφά]λαν, ἄϊ πάρθενος ἔσσομαιἄδμης οἰοπό]λων ὀρέων κορύφαισ᾿ ἔπιθηρεύοισ᾿· ἄγι καὶ τά]δε νεῦσον ἔμαν χάριν.ὢς εἶπ᾿· αὐτὰρ ἔνευ]σε θέων μακάρων πάτηρ.πάρθενον δ᾿ ἐλαφάβ]ολον ἀγροτέραν θέοιἄνθρωποί τε κάλε]ισιν ἐπωνύμιον μέγα.κήναι λυσιμέλης] Ἔρος οὐδάμα πίλναται…[Artemis] swore the great oath [of the Gods]: [by your own he]ad, I will always be a virgin [unmarried, hunting] on the summits of the [lone]ly mountains; [come, and] agree to this as my favour. [So she spoke; and he agreed,] the father of the blessed Gods. [The virgin, the deer-]shooter, the huntress, Gods [and men ca]ll her, a great title. [The loosener of limbs,] Eros, never comes near her… (Sappho fr. 44A 4-11, transl. my own)(Note that, as I’ve said before, this doesn’t contradict Artemis being understood by certain people, including lesbian women who generally left little trace in the historical record, as having sexual intercourse with women. You are also welcome to view her that way, if that’s how you relate to her best. I’m just pointing out that ancient sources view her strictly as a virgin whom Eros and Aphrodite have no influence over. That is, not promiscuous.)And before you ask, no, there is no evidence of her priestesses being promiscuous either. In fact, when it comes to promiscuous priestesses in general, you may want to consider more nuanced views.“Harlots and ‘bitches’ were identified in the ancient Roman cult of the Goddess Lupa, the Wolf Bitch, whose priestesses the lupae gave their name to prostitutes in general.”Again, I’m no Latinist, but colour me skeptical here too. The only Roman wolf I know of is the she-wolf who raised Remus and Romulus and who, as far as I’m aware, did not have her own cult (though she was a symbol of the Roman state cult). There was the Lupercalia, which could be in some way linked to her, but its priesthood was called the Luperci and they were *gasp* men.Lupa was indeed a slang term for a prostitute in Latin, but this is probably due to the aforementioned comparisons to dogs as insults, not to prostitutes’ participation in some vague and unattested cult of a she-wolf.Also, it might be interesting to point out that wolves were associated with Mars. That’s right, a male deity.“Earthly representatives of the Wolf Bitch ruled the town of Ira (sic) Flavia in Spain, as a queen or series of queens named Lupa.”The source for this seems to be the Codex Calixtinus, a manuscript from the 12th century. In this text, Queen Lupa lives near Iria Flavia and owns a temple where she worships a pagan idol. She converts to Christianity after St. James body is brought to her home, and she turns her temple into a church.Despite the homonym, there is no evidence that Queen Lupa was linked to wolves. She may, however, have been a pre-Christian deity from the area, possibly the female form of Lug.“In Christian terms, ‘son of a bitch’ was considered insulting not because it meant a dog, but because it meant a devil - that is, a spiritual son of the pagan Goddess.”No. -- source link