Browsing the archives for the Goddess Profile category

What’s in a name: Irene, Greek goddess of…you’re kidding!

Well, here’s an irony for you. Irene, the hurricane which is currently pounding the east coast with wind, rain, storm surge, tornadoes, etc is named after the Greek goddess of peace, Εἰρήνη (Eirene, pronounced eye-RAY-nay). The Romans called her by the more familiar name of Pax. Eirene/Irene was one of the three horai, goddesses of the […]

Sopdet, Egypt’s Herald of the New Year

Set your calendars, Egypt. No, not for 2/11/2011. (Congratulations and good luck!) I’m talking about August 2nd, when a very old Egyptian goddess is set to rise. Like most agrarian societies, the Egyptians watched the skies closely. They needed some sort of calendar to tell them when to plant and plan their harvests. The regular […]

The Goddess Athena: Feminist or Misogynist?

Applying modern standards to ancient symbols, myths, and civilizations is as anachronistic as a Shakespearean production of Antony and Cleopatra in Elizabethan garb. Nevertheless, when we hail these ancient gods and goddesses, we must remember whom we are calling. As a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, which regards Athena as a muse of the mind, […]

Demeter and Persephone

Of Lady Demeter, goddess of the golden grain, I sing, and her fair-ankled daughter Persephone whom the ancients addressed as Kore, The Maiden, in whose laughter is the promise of spring. Now Kore was playing away from the protection of her mother, who is also the lady of the golden sword. In a meadow she […]

The Goddess Athena

In ancient times, there was not simply Apollo or Athena. Each area, city, or shrine had its particular god, who may have evolved from an earlier local deity that later became merged with one of the popular, Olympian gods that spread throughout the Greek-speaking world. (Amazingly, the popular epics about the Trojan War composed by […]