Women and Weasels: Mythologies of Birth in Ancient Greece and RomeIf you told a woman her sex had a shared, long-lived history with weasels, she might deck you. But those familiar with mythology know better: that the connection between women and weasels is an ancient and favorable one, based in the Greek myth of a midwife who tricked the gods to ease Heracles’s birth—and was turned into a weasel by Hera as punishment. Following this story as it is retold over centuries in literature and art, Women and Weasels takes us on a journey through mythology and ancient belief, revising our understanding of myth, heroism, and the status of women and animals in Western culture. Maurizio Bettini recounts and analyzes a variety of key literary and visual moments that highlight the weasel’s many attributes. We learn of its legendary sexual and childbearing habits and symbolic association with witchcraft and midwifery, its role as a domestic pet favored by women, and its ability to slip in and out of tight spaces. The weasel, Bettini reveals, is present at many unexpected moments in human history, assisting women in labor and thwarting enemies who might plot their ruin. With a parade of symbolic associations between weasels and women—witches, prostitutes, midwives, sisters-in-law, brides, mothers, and heroes—Bettini brings to life one of the most venerable and enduring myths of Western culture. |
Contents
1 | |
I The Story of Alcmene Saved by the Weasel | 25 |
II Animal Metaphors and Womens Roles | 135 |
Alcmenes Thoughts | 218 |
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Women and Weasels: Mythologies of Birth in Ancient Greece and Rome Maurizio Bettini No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
A. F. Scholfield Aelian Agnodice Alcmene Alcmene's story Alexander Romance Alinei ancient Greek Antoninus Antoninus Liberalis Aristeas Aristophanes Aristotle Artemis baby Ballads beliefs body born called Cambridge chap child childbirth cited conceived considered Cornelia cultural cunning delivery discussion Eileithyia Enemy Eurystheus example fable fact female folklore Frazer Galanthis galę Galinthias give birth goddess godmother Greece Harvard University Press Hera Heracles hero Homer human husband Ibid identity Iliad interpretation King knots labor pains legend Leipzig London loosening Lucina magic male Maurizio Bettini meaning medieval metaphorical midwife Moirai mother motif mouth Mustela myth Nature of Animals Ovid Paris Pausanias Physiologus Pingiatoglou Pliny Pliny Natural History Plutarch pregnant Rescuer ritual role Roman Rome Scholia seems Semonides sexual Soranus story of Alcmene symbolic tale Teubner tion tradition trans translation trick Virgin weasel Wiesel wife witch witchcraft woman in labor womb women word Zeus