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ikhet_sekhmetBeen meaning to get to this approximately forever.
"An independent and unrestrained female in the divine realm, the Maiden Anat plays an active role in the Ugaritic myths. Although she is described as a nubile female, Anat aggressively engages in the masculine pursuits of hunting and warfare... Delighting in the carnage of battle, Anat wades in blood up to her thighs... Yet, Anat's violence also serves a positive function... Indeed, her vigorous extirpation of Death allows fertility to return to the earth. Thus, Anat is an ambivalent force in Ugaritic myth." (p 1)
"In particular, the combination of feminine and masculine attributes in Anat's mythic character demonstrates her ambiguous identity. Anat's apparent disdain for domestic responsibility and rejection of an exclusively feminine social identity demonstrates the importance of gender to her symbolic identity. Indeed, as this study argues, Anat holds a liminal position with respect to the gender system and social ideology of the ancient patriarchal culture." (p 2)
Ugaritic cuneiform sources show that Anat is "a distinct goddess rather than a western manifestation of Ishtar". (p 2)
Discussing ancient Greece, Walls notes how women were portrayed as "less civilised" than men, lustful and lacking self-control, closer to nature and animals - with "virginal girls in particular" thought of as "wild, unbroken, and untamed fillies" whose dangerous energies need to be contained in marriage lest they threaten social stability. (p 19-20) Women who don't complete the transition from daughter to wife, whose sexuality is not under male control, are a threat, people with no place or role recognised by society, except as whores. (p 21-22)
Walls argues there can only be "virgin goddess", not "virgin gods", because "sexual experience is never central to the mythic identity of male deities. 'Virgin gods' with prominent mythical roles are virtually nonexistent". (p 22)
"Although many scholars assume a typology of 'goddesses of love and war' from the ancient Near East, only some erotic goddesses are warlike. More central to their symbolic identity is their unrestrained power and independence from male dominance." (p 24)
(There is tons and tons of juicy stuff about women, sex, and myth. I'll have to skip a lot of it or I'm going to end up quoting half the book.)
Walls contrasts "mythic warrior women" who "perform martial and militaristic roles normally reserved for males" with "the tantrums of otherwise benevolent goddesses" (p 26). He notes that the sexuality of these "fierce and violent goddesses" ranges from "virginal chastity to erotic excess". "Virgin warriors" are "liminal characters" who "reject their normal social and sexual position as females, claiming independence from male domination", permanently or temporarily (p 27). They "preserve their powerful potential within themselves". (p 67) Walls argues that Anat fits this virginal type and discusses the meaning of btlt (pp 78, 113). (He also discusses her ambiguous relationship to gods like El and Baal.)
Anat is "a liminal figure, both socially and sexually, in that she is outside of the normative feminine categories of mother, wife, or dependent daughter. In social terms, she is an adolescent female who has yet to accept the social position of a mature woman as wife and mother... the two themes of Anat's unrestrained behaviour and her sexual ambiguity may both be intimately connected to her symbolic identity as a female of marriageable age who has maintained her independence from male dominance." (pp 159-160)
The third important element of Anat's character and function is her mourning of Baal. Walls draws parallels with Inanna and Isis. (p 67-)
Evidence of Anat's "ruling authority" include some of her epithets ("the Mistress of Kingship, the Mistress of Dominion, the Mistress of the High Heavens, the Mistress of the (royal) Headdress") and the fact that she has her own palace. (pp 110-111)
"[Georges] Dumézil [in Littleton, C. S. The New Comparative Mythology. 3rd ed. Berkeley 1982] points out that warrior deities often fight to support the institutions of cosmic order against the symbolic forces of chaos, yet their very attributes as virile warriors make them a threat to stable social institutions." (p 126)
Uggggh that's enough for one day. Lots more later.
__
Walls, Neal H. The goddess Anat in Ugaritic myth. Atlanta, GA, Scholars Press, 1992.
"An independent and unrestrained female in the divine realm, the Maiden Anat plays an active role in the Ugaritic myths. Although she is described as a nubile female, Anat aggressively engages in the masculine pursuits of hunting and warfare... Delighting in the carnage of battle, Anat wades in blood up to her thighs... Yet, Anat's violence also serves a positive function... Indeed, her vigorous extirpation of Death allows fertility to return to the earth. Thus, Anat is an ambivalent force in Ugaritic myth." (p 1)
"In particular, the combination of feminine and masculine attributes in Anat's mythic character demonstrates her ambiguous identity. Anat's apparent disdain for domestic responsibility and rejection of an exclusively feminine social identity demonstrates the importance of gender to her symbolic identity. Indeed, as this study argues, Anat holds a liminal position with respect to the gender system and social ideology of the ancient patriarchal culture." (p 2)
Ugaritic cuneiform sources show that Anat is "a distinct goddess rather than a western manifestation of Ishtar". (p 2)
Discussing ancient Greece, Walls notes how women were portrayed as "less civilised" than men, lustful and lacking self-control, closer to nature and animals - with "virginal girls in particular" thought of as "wild, unbroken, and untamed fillies" whose dangerous energies need to be contained in marriage lest they threaten social stability. (p 19-20) Women who don't complete the transition from daughter to wife, whose sexuality is not under male control, are a threat, people with no place or role recognised by society, except as whores. (p 21-22)
Walls argues there can only be "virgin goddess", not "virgin gods", because "sexual experience is never central to the mythic identity of male deities. 'Virgin gods' with prominent mythical roles are virtually nonexistent". (p 22)
"Although many scholars assume a typology of 'goddesses of love and war' from the ancient Near East, only some erotic goddesses are warlike. More central to their symbolic identity is their unrestrained power and independence from male dominance." (p 24)
(There is tons and tons of juicy stuff about women, sex, and myth. I'll have to skip a lot of it or I'm going to end up quoting half the book.)
Walls contrasts "mythic warrior women" who "perform martial and militaristic roles normally reserved for males" with "the tantrums of otherwise benevolent goddesses" (p 26). He notes that the sexuality of these "fierce and violent goddesses" ranges from "virginal chastity to erotic excess". "Virgin warriors" are "liminal characters" who "reject their normal social and sexual position as females, claiming independence from male domination", permanently or temporarily (p 27). They "preserve their powerful potential within themselves". (p 67) Walls argues that Anat fits this virginal type and discusses the meaning of btlt (pp 78, 113). (He also discusses her ambiguous relationship to gods like El and Baal.)
Anat is "a liminal figure, both socially and sexually, in that she is outside of the normative feminine categories of mother, wife, or dependent daughter. In social terms, she is an adolescent female who has yet to accept the social position of a mature woman as wife and mother... the two themes of Anat's unrestrained behaviour and her sexual ambiguity may both be intimately connected to her symbolic identity as a female of marriageable age who has maintained her independence from male dominance." (pp 159-160)
The third important element of Anat's character and function is her mourning of Baal. Walls draws parallels with Inanna and Isis. (p 67-)
Evidence of Anat's "ruling authority" include some of her epithets ("the Mistress of Kingship, the Mistress of Dominion, the Mistress of the High Heavens, the Mistress of the (royal) Headdress") and the fact that she has her own palace. (pp 110-111)
"[Georges] Dumézil [in Littleton, C. S. The New Comparative Mythology. 3rd ed. Berkeley 1982] points out that warrior deities often fight to support the institutions of cosmic order against the symbolic forces of chaos, yet their very attributes as virile warriors make them a threat to stable social institutions." (p 126)
Uggggh that's enough for one day. Lots more later.
__
Walls, Neal H. The goddess Anat in Ugaritic myth. Atlanta, GA, Scholars Press, 1992.
