Ode to Wild Women

Happy Women’s History Month to my fellow females, feminists, and friends! If you’re like me, dedicating your professional and personal life to feminist academia and activism, then every day is international women’s day, and every month is women’s history month. Even

so, I love March so much because it’s my birthday month of all the feminist celebration and online presence. For instance, I did this Twitter thread of women to recognise on International Women’s Day. One of the tweets in my thread, in particular, got a fair amount of attention - it was regarding Indira Gandhi (the first and only female president of India); a lot of people liked and retweeted it, but a lot of people also pointed out that she is hardly an uncomplicated feminist hero. For the record, I completely agreed with every person who criticised Indira Gandhi and I definitely do not ‘stan’ her, but I do think her inclusion in my thread was valid because she challenges Western “white feminist” misconceptions regarding race and gender intersections of oppression. I wanted to challenge the idea that Indian women are unilaterally oppressed, and female politicians are not limited to Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, Nicola Sturgeon, and Theresa May. Clearly, Indian women can be problematic politicians alongside white, western women. 

Anyway… Moving on. 

In celebration of Women’s History Month, I am giving you two wild and wonderful women from Greek myth, one goddess and one hero(ine). I am giving you Artemis and Atalanta.

 Artemis

In the contemporary world, you still can't throw a stone without someone waxing lyrical about Athena. "She was born from Zeus' head, wearing full armour, the goddess of intelligence in war..." &c. &c., completely blind to the fact that she was actually horrid. Like her fellow Olympians, she was vengeful and horrible, using humans as playthings and pawns. Take, for instance, Arachne, who she turned into a spider for being a better weaver than her; or Medusa, who she turned into a Gorgon because Poseidon raped her in Athena's temple; or when she then sent Perseus to kill Medusa because - by this point - why not? Don't worry, if you’ve found yourself supporting Athena, you’re not alone. She was also beloved by Zeus, as well as by the greatest heroes, such as Heracles, Perseus, and wily Odysseus himself. 

This continued reverence towards Athena feels particularly erroneous to me, especially considering if you’re in the market for a badass virgin goddess of the Greek pantheon to worship, Artemis really is the girl with all the gifts.  

The Diana of Versailles 

Before we get into some of the better Artemis stories, have this list of Artemis’ gifts, just to hammer this point home:  

• Virgin deity (This was apparently a very valuable attribute, because Ancient Greek women were like olive oil and their value was dependant on their virginity. Thank the gods we’ve moved on from that antiquated mentality …)

• Protector of young girls

• Goddess of childbirth

• Moon goddess

• Patron goddess of the bow (especially a silver bow & arrows)

• Knee-length tunic, for hunting 

• Patron goddess of mountains and forests 

• Goddess of animals, domestic and wild, specifically dogs and stags 

That’s right, she’s the goddess of dogs! Need I go on? The point is that I could go on, because she had innumerable appellations and epithets, which are the fancy titles attributed to gods and, later, heroes and rulers. She also had a large cult of young girls who would leave the society of men to hunt, eat cake, and pretend to be bears in her honour; she was often depicted as surrounded by young women, who were there to protect her from having to spend any time around men. 

I don't know about you, but I’m about ready to head to the woods with my girlfriends and a cake to honour Artemis. 

Now, it’s time for a few of my favourite Artemis myths…

Twinning

Let’s start with her first power move. As with most stories from Greek myth, it starts with Zeus being the absolute worst: He has sex with the Titan Leto and there is no indication in the myths of whether or not she consented. This actually makes a pleasant change to all of the other stories in which Zeus literally chases down women who do not want to have sex with him and then he has sex with them anyway. We can assume that this case isn’t any different though, both because of Zeus’ horrid track record and since Leto is solely characterised by her demureness, which is to say her meekness, shyness, and virtue. 

You know who else is the absolute worst? Hera. Her husband Zeus sexually assaults anyone he fancies, and then she takes out her jealousy and rage on the victims, because gods forbid Zeus (or a man in general, for that matter) is held accountable for his atrocious actions. Anyway, I digress. As per the trope, jealous Hera punishes Leto for Zeus’ actions, enlisting her mother Gaia (the Earth) to help; Hera gets Gaia to refuse Leto any land on which to give birth, meaning that when Leto goes into labour she is forced to travel around Greece, agonised, looking for somewhere to give birth and rest. Poseidon takes pity on her and directs her boat to Delos, where she gives birth to Artemis. Immediately after she is born, Artemis turns to her mother and helps her to give birth, despite complications, to her twin, Apollo. Power move, much? 

Artemis vs. Men

Okay, I know what you came here for. Do you want to hear about Actaeon, who was a hunting companion of Artemis? One day he saw her bathing, and tried to rape her, whereupon she turned him into a deer. That sounds fine, right? Sure… Except that his dogs didn’t recognise him any more, and so hunted him down and killed him. Siproites also saw Artemis bathing and tried to rape her, and she turned him into a girl for the same crime. It’s kind of depressing, when you think that even a goddess with all the gifts had to  protect herself from sexual assault so aggressively. 

Or what about the Aloadae, twin sons of Poseidon, who were fated to never die, unless they killed each other? Oh, they were also gigantic. They grew and grew, until they were so massive that they thought they could take on the gods. They bragged that they were going to storm Olympus, and take Hera and Artemis as their prizes and rape them. All of the gods were scared of them, except for our Artemis, who turned herself into a prize doe and stood between them. They both threw their spears at her, missed, and killed each other. 

Do you hate Agamemnon, Greek warmonger during the Trojan War? I certainly do, and so did Artemis. Agamemnon killed a deer (beloved of the goddess) in Artemis’ own temple. In punishment, she calmed the sea, meaning that the Greeks couldn't sail to Troy to begin the war. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia in order to get favourable winds; Artemis was touched by Iphigenia’s bravery, so took her to become a handmaiden to the goddess herself.

***

Alas, no one is perfect. Artemis was a Greek goddess after all, and therefore was prone to vengefulness and a … blind spot, when it comes to Zeus’ behaviour. Callisto was an attendant of Artemis, and therefore had taken a vow of chastity. Zeus, being Zeus, raped her, and she had a son named Arcas. Artemis took revenge on Callisto for breaking her chastity vow by turning her into a bear, and Arcas hunted the bear. Zeus, at the last second, took pity on Callisto and turned her into a constellation. Least he could do, really, seeing as it was his fault. I can only defend Artemis here by suggesting that the myths were of course written by men, for men, therefore accounting for Zeus’ unchecked behaviour and Artemis’ (and everyone else’s) flaws when it came to the Sky God. 

Atalanta

Beloved by Artemis was Atalanta. As a baby, Atalanta was exposed on a mountainside and left to die, because she was born a girl. A female bear was soon attracted by the noise of the crying baby, but instead of maiming/killing/eating her, the bear weaned and raised Atalanta. A group of hunters later discovered the child, gave her the name Atalanta, and taught her the skills of hunting and killing, presumably adding to the lessons taught to her by her bear-mother. They also taught her about the society of humans, their customs, traditions, and religions. Because of her affinity for hunting, Atalanta was naturally drawn to the goddess of the chase and the chaste, Artemis. Atalanta gained a reputation for hunting when she was cornered by two centaurs in the woods. For those of you who weren’t aware… centaurs are rapists. Plain and simple. Atalanta, though, shot them both with arrows before they had a chance to even get near her, earning her a name in Greece as a renown huntress. 

Atalanta was also loved by Meleager. Artemis had sent a great boar to ravage Calydon, because they had been lazy in offerings and worship to the goddess. The boar was wreaking havoc, so the King called to arms the greatest warriors and hunters to join the Calydonian Hunt. He offered the greatest trophy - being allowed to keep the pelt - to whomever killed the boar. Amongst those who gathered was Jason and some of his ex-Argonauts, but the hunt was to be led by the Calydonian King’s son, prince Meleager. Meleager met Atalanta when she arrived at the welcoming feast for those wishing to join the Calydonian Hunt, where she was met with mockery and derision from most of the men, including Meleager’s uncles (his mother’s brothers) who vowed that they would prove themselves to be better hunters than this woman. During the hunt, these uncles, the Thestiades, hung back on horseback while numerous brave men were maimed and killed by this monstrous boar. Eventually, Meleager was able to throw a net over its head, and Atalanta shot the boar with an arrow. 

In that moment, Meleager fell in love. 

The Calydonian King tried to give his son Meleager the pelt and trophies for killing the boar but Meleager spoke out, saying that Atalanta deserved the reward. The Thestiades were enraged, their masculine pride injured and their familial honour tarnished, refusing to give Atalanta her well-earned prize. Love-struck and justice-driven, Meleager killed his uncles in a rage, and named Atalanta the victor. A real feminist ally, right? 

I should probably have mentioned that Meleager’s mother had been visited by the Fates when he was a baby - they pointed to a log in the fire, and said that when the log was burned to ash, her son would die. She, of course, quickly took the log out of the fire and hid it, knowing how cruel the gods and Fates were. After the hunt, having heard that her son had killed her brothers, the Queen threw the log into the fire, and Meleager died. 

Atalanta was heartbroken and left Calydon, never to return. On Olympus, Artemis smiled at the punishment she had sent, in the forms of both the boar and her loyal follower, Atalanta. 

Hippomenes also loved Atalanta. Or, rather, Atalanta’s inheritance. After the famed Calydonian Hunt, Atalanta went back to her father, King Schoeneus… you know, the guy who had left her exposed on a mountain for the sin of being born a girl. Now, because of her hunting fame, he accepted his daughter back into his kingdom. He had just accepted Atalanta back into his palace, then he demands that she gets married. He didn’t care that she was a devotee of Artemis; he didn’t care that she had vowed chastity; he didn’t care that she had lost her love, Meleager, in the Calydonian hunt; he didn’t care that she didn’t want to get married. So, as a compromise, Atalanta agreed that she would marry any man who could beat her in a foot race. Many men arrived and challenged Atalanta, and she beat every one of them: She was confident in her abilities, knowing that she could outrun any eligible man in Ancient Greece, by a combination of her skill and the providence of her patron, Artemis. 

That is, until Aphrodite got jealous. 

Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, was one of the most jealous goddesses, along with Hera. It’s not hard to guess why that is, what with the two of them embodying the most “feminine” aspects of life, beauty, marriage, and love. Clearly, the ancient Greek men who created these empowered figures of femininity also had to make them petty and catty to undermine them, thus sending a clear message to the women in their society: Your strong feminine role models are unrelenting bitches. It really is no leap of the imagination to draw a line between the treatment of these goddesses and the way that strong women in modern times are demeaned as bossy, frigid bitches, and - somehow simultaneously - sluts and whores. 

Again, I digress. 

Aphrodite was jealous of Atalanta’s devotion to Artemis and her lack of interest in Aphrodite’s arts. So, she gave Hippomenes three of Hera’s golden apples, closely guarded by the Hesperides. Hippomenes then dutifully followed Aphrodite’s orders. He challenged Atalanta to a race, and when she began to easily outstrip him, he threw one of the golden apples out ahead of him. Intrigued, Atalanta detoured to collect the apple, and Hippomenes overtook her. The skilled Atalanta easily caught up to him and overtook him again, whereupon Hippomenes threw ahead of him the second golden apple. Again, Atalanta collected the apple, allowing Hippomenes to gain some ground. Atalanta remained in the lead though, and they were drawing close to the finish line. Hippomenes threw the final golden apple ahead of them, and Atalanta - spellbound under the duress of Aphrodite - retrieved the third apple. But they were too close to the finish line, and Hippomenes was able to overtake her and win the race! 

It didn’t matter that he had cheated; it didn’t matter that the deck was stacked against her; it didn’t matter that the machinations of the gods will always trump the actions of the mortals. Hippomenes won, and Atalanta was honour-bound to marry him. 

Finally, Atalanta is loved by me. The name “Atalanta” means “equal in weight”, and she proved over and over again that she was more than equal to any man. Isn’t that the equality we’re all striving for? Her story ends with Hippomenes’ defeat as, supposedly, married women couldn’t run off and have hunting adventures. On both a personal and political level, I take massive issue with this, but we could hardly expect the male mythographers of ancient Greece to allow Atalanta to continue in her wild and wilful ways, casting off the societal expectations of the time and choosing the call of the wild over the domestic duties of womanhood. 

I just want to end by saying that I did not give you these two huntresses as a way to advocate for hunting. I am definitely not pro-hunting. I am, however, pro- overcoming the shackles of patriarchal society and proving that we as women are more than equal in weight to men. 

Source note:
I mostly referred to Stephen Fry's Mythos & Heroes for this post, because they're brilliant, narrative sources. I also referred to Robert Graves' The Greek Myths and Homer's The Homeric Hymns. 

Cover artwork by Kimberly Faye