1140: 2P

Notes on Artemis

I. Another virgin, another masculine activity

A. Some of what we can say about Artemis applies also to Athena, and vice

versa

1. The reason both goddesses are virgins is probably the same at the

most basic level: like war, the hunt and childbirth are spheres that men

are anxious to control, as they are anxious to control the young women

of their families

B. But there are fascinating and important differences

1. What’s the connection between the hunt and childbirth?

2. Why does Artemis have her virginity threatened so often, and

why does she punish so harshly?

II. The hunt in the Odyssey

A. In Book 19 of the Odyssey, we hear the story of Odysseus’ name, and its

connection to the scar he got while hunting. Five things come together in a very

powerful way in this story:

1. the name, given by his grandfather, Autolycus, who is himself a

trickster

a) the name, whose etymology is very hard to trace for sure,

clearly prefigures Odysseus’ destiny whether it means “the guy who

grieves” or “the guy people hate”

b) Autolycus, like Odysseus, is a liar, and so this name carries with

it the essence of Odysseus’ particular heroism

2. the scar, which marks him unmistakably as Odysseus

3. xenia, guest-friendship, which Odysseus practices on the visit to

Autolycus, including (very important) the giving of presents

4. tale-telling—when Odysseus returns home, he “told well the

tale”

5. Near death at the hands of the boar

a) Notably with a symbolic castration, because the boar goars him

in the groin

B. Artemis is absent from the story, but we can tell something very

important about the hunt and Artemis from it: the importance of the hunt as a

RITE OF PASSAGE

III. Rites of passage and Artemis

A. A rite of passage is a practice—frequently a ceremony—that marks a

typical transition in human life

1. Note carefully that a rite of passage is NOT the transition itself—

thus, not marriage but the wedding, not turning sixteen but the Sweet

Sixteen party

2. Rites of passage frequently feature symbolic castration (for

example circumcision) and symbolic death

3. Rites of passage seem to be useful above all to channel and

relieve the anxiety we all feel about transitions

B. It’s very important to make sure that a rite of passage is performed

precisely, because that’s the only way it can relieve anxiety—it’s supposed to be

a way of saying, more or less, “Well, at least THAT went according to plan”

1. A wonderful scene in the film “Four Weddings and a Funeral,”

with Rowan Atkinson as a nervous, new priest presiding at a wedding

and messing it up, illustrates this principle nicely: it’s hilarious because

we know that weddings are supposed to go exactly right

C. That’s why Artemis is associated with deadly punishment for sex

1. like Calliso and Actaeon

D. And why she’s associated with childbirth and death in childbirth

1. In cultures without birth control, childbirth and weddings are,

obviously, things that go together