Question: So dig it, John. Here's one for ya. I know you said that some females have Sacred Vows; like Athena. Based on what I've read, though, would it be possible for Artemis to fall for a male and want to settle down? According to the book, she simply prefers the touch of women and she made Zeus take a vow not to wed her. That doesn't mean that she took a chastity vow, ya feel me?
Possibly? The book saying she prefers the touch of women is bullshit... that's just... modern lesbian propaganda? Possibly chauvinistic explanation for her not liking dudes? But it has no basis in... anything mythically related.
But has she taken a chastity vow? I'm not sure. We dont have one "on file" as it were, mythically speaking. However, we do know that she doesn't like dudes seeing her naked.
Could she fall in love, though? I suppose it falls in the realm of possibility.
Disagreement time!
ReplyDeleteI think the book's re-envisioning of Artemis as a lesbian has to do with the myth of Zeus and Callisto, in which he impersonates his daughter to seduce one of her followers. The theory being that if he was going to try to seduce her as Artemis, it might be the sort of thing Artemis might do, hence the idea of lesbianism, I guess. Considering how confused and upset about the whole ordeal Callisto is, I wouldn't consider that proof of Artemis having a taste for the ladies unless you want to, though - it's just as likely that Zeus was just impersonating her because he knew she was the only person who could get that close to any of the huntresses.
I would point out, however, that Artemis' request to Zeus in Callimachus was not that she never had to get married, but that she could always get to stay a virgin (I couldn't find the place in the book you were referencing that said otherwise, but it's wrong if it does say that). She did, in fact, take a vow of chastity, not just a vow of singlehood. So while she could fall in love with someone (I actually like the idea that she was chastely in love with Hippolytus, which is why she went so batshit when Aphrodite got him killed), it seems pretty clear that she is not interested in sexytimes in the budoir.