Athena is the goddess of wisdom, warfare and craftsmanship. His horned appearance may have been an inspiration for the depiction of Satan with horns. Above: Athena, center, in a mural by John Singer Sargent, AphroditeWhile the goddess of love is not identified prominently as lesbian herself, the Greek poet Sappho (as in sapphic) of Lesbos (yes, as in lesbian) told many homoerotic tales and named Aphrodite as the greatest patron and ally of lesbians and homosexuals within the Greek pantheon of gods. Siebog, god of love and marriage. Son of Baldr and Nanna. Above: Johann Georg Platzer, The Amazon Queen Thalestris in the Camp of Alexander the Great, TeiresiasThe blind prophet of Apollo was most famous in Greek myth for being transformed from a man into a woman for seven years. Lugh was the god associated with justice and held power over oaths and law. Artemis would count as an example of celibacy, because she's a sworn virgin. Aetna (aka Aitna) - Nymph Goddess of the volcano Mount Etna, located in Sicily. She is often associated with abundance and plentifulness. Are you asking if asexuality can be read into the texts through a modern understanding of sexuality, or are you looking for evidence that asexuality in the modern sense is a concept we share with the ancient Greeks? I'm going to have to poke through the sources you linked, too. 73 Photos of Naturally Naked Men by Terry Hastings, 23 Masturbation Tips for People With Vaginas, 22 Terrifying Sexual Fantasies That Must Be Talked About, 30 Kinky Terms Every Gay Man Needs To Know, 10 Sex Toys for All Genders and How to Use Them, Alternative Orgasms: 20 New Ways to Hit the Spot, LGBTQ+ Rights Lawyer Shannon Minter's Home Hit by Tornado, 'First Deep Breath' Is a Moving Story of a Black Family & Queerness, Karine Jean-Pierre on Tennessee Anti-Drag Law: Unacceptable & Unfortunate, Texas GOP May Censure Congressman Over Support for Marriage Equality, 12 LGBTQ+ Films and TV Shows to Watch in March, The Dildo Nazi: Sex Toy-Selling White Supremacist Umasked, Lesbian Gov. @Emrakul That's fair; I'd also like some stronger evidence, e.g. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. The Top 10 Aztec Gods of Mexica Mythology - ThoughtCo Above: Athena, center, in a mural by John Singer Sargent, AphroditeWhile the goddess of love is not identified prominently as lesbian herself, the Greek poet Sappho (as in sapphic) of Lesbos (yes, as in lesbian) told many homoerotic tales and named Aphrodite as the greatest patron and ally of lesbians and homosexuals within the Greek pantheon of gods. As a child C Chulainn was known by the name of Stanta. Majorities or pluralities of Muslims (66%), Christians (68%), Sikhs (57%) and Buddhists (39%) say "there is only one God.". Yeah, this is still a very interesting answer. Iphis was born female but raised male by his mother, who concealed the truth because her husband wanted a male heir. For a long time she was associated as being a woodland goddess, somewhat similar to the Roman goddess Diana, scholars now deem this association with woodland to be incorrect. During his female years, Teiresias became a priestess of Hera, married, and even had children, according to Hesiod. Alastor - God of vengeance and family feuds. t. e. In Hindu mythology, there are deities or heroes whose attributes or behavior can be interpreted as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender ( LGBT) or have elements of gender variance and non-heterosexual sexuality. It's one of my favorite videos on the channel. I am not familiar with the Greek sources enough to know whether the detail of Hermaphroditus being uninterested in sex with Salmacis is them. Male lovers of the god included the satyr Ampelos and the famously handsome Adonis. Brigid was the goddess Celtic people turned to when they needed to be healed. (Note: "virgin" means "no sexual relations with men" in ancient Greek works. Aglaia - The Goddess of beauty, splendour, glory and adornment. The accuracy of this suggestion is still debated by scholars.. @BESW I suppose the former. However, many scholars now consider this myth as a creation of the Franciscan friars during the post-Conquest period. Hestia, goddess of the hearth, the fireside, architecture, domesticity, the family, the home, and the state. Actividad de Greek gods and goddesses. She was the first-born child of wily Cronos and youngest too, by will of Zeus who holds the aegis, a queenly maid whom both Poseidon and Apollo sought to wed. Maestri, Nicoletta. As with the rest of his children, Cronos ate her but eventually regurgitated her. The goddess ine is strongly associated with the feast of midsummer and the summer sun. And yeah. Also - isn't "Athena wanted to make love to [Hephaestus]" something of a direct counterexample to her asexuality? In Aztec mythology, Tonatiuh governed the era under which the Aztec believed to live, the era of the Fifth Sun; and it is Tonatiuh's face in the center of the Aztec sun stone. She is said to be responsible for the rage and fury of a battle and her terrifying scream can kill or paralyze a man. As a mother goddess figure, she is most usually associated with, Some scholars have argued that Danu may be, The crow symbol is thought to connect with, in Irish). He also had a bottomless cauldron to ensure that no man left his table feeling hungry. Above: Johann Georg Platzer, The Amazon Queen Thalestris in the Camp of Alexander the Great, TeiresiasThe blind prophet of Apollo was most famous in Greek myth for being transformed from a man into a woman for seven years. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. This website saves cookies to your browser in order to improve your online experience and show you personalized content. Boann is thought to have done something similar and created the River Boyne. She is a triple goddess with two other sisters who are also confusingly also called Brigid and each of the three Brigid goddesses has one main attribute. Mona Koza, Welcome to the first episode of the history of asexuality! - Poseidon, god of the seas, was bisexual. ApolloThe sun god, one of the most important in all literature, was also quite the libertine. Irish mythology usually depicts the sun as being feminine and interestingly there appears to have been two goddesses connected with the sun. Watch. Size queen. rev2023.3.3.43278. Some of the Dagdas most prized possessions included an enchanted harp and a magical staff, with which he could kill 9 men at once with or restore their lives at will. Manannan was well equipped with armor and weapons, some of which he supplied to the god Lugh when the Fomorians attacked the Tuatha d Danann. Seemingly not all of them, Lugh is said to have been speared and drowned in Loch Lugborta(or Loch Lugh) in County Westmeath, by the sons of Cermait after he killed their father. It's something that most people now don't understand, but back then, I guess it really wasn't a problem. Above: Logios Hermes (Hermes Orator); marble, Roman copy from the late first century B.C.-early second century A.D. after a Greek original of the fifth century B.C. Due to his extensive power and influence, the early Christain church tried to demonize Cernunnos. Hesiod wrote that after this tryst was discovered, Callisto was turned into a bear before she gave birth to son Arcas. Of these three Aphrodite cannot bend or ensnare the hearts. Anu is associated with the province of Munster in Ireland, where two rounded mountains near the Cork-Kerry border are known as the Paps of Anu (Breasts of Anu). He covered the mounds in mist so as to make them invisible to outsiders. At this time, the Dagda was living in. Aengus skill with poetry was thought to be so great that he was able to break magic spells with this gift, such as the one placed on tain in the love story with Midir. katepanomegas/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0. By These LGBT Greek gods and demigods prove gay culture is no modern invention. Monolithic Statue of Tlaltecuhtli from the Aztec Templo Mayor, Mexico City. Given all their relationships, the Celtic gods family tree is a complex one! Didn't seem to be as much of a phenomenon among the rest of society in old Greece. If so, is there both asexuality in the Pantheon and asexuality outside of it, or is it just one of the two? Given the overlapping focus of the major Celtic deities, it has been suggested that some of the Celtic deities equate to the Roman ones. But I'm going to focus specifically on Athena. This doesn't necessarily mean she was gay or aro ace. 20 Gay Greek Gods - Gay News, LGBT Rights, Politics, Entertainment 17 Favourites. The son of Hermes and Aphrodite, he was a remarkably beautiful youth, but uninterested in sex. Consort: Iunn. He was closely related to Tlaloc and is usually represented as a young man with a maize cob sprouting from his headdress. Short story taking place on a toroidal planet or moon involving flying, How to handle a hobby that makes income in US. Lugh is thought to have been the father of demi god and famous Irish warrior, Are Celtic gods immortal? Hod. Badb and Nemain were the wives of Neit, the Irish god of war. Bustin' Out! Asexual Goddess Births - Vassar College They were chosen at a young age, and it was considered the greatest honor a girl could ever have to be chosen to serve Vesta. He is credited with the creation of a large hunting game. Are Celtic gods immortal? Are there any recorded discrepancies between The Odyssey as oral tradition and The Odyssey as Homer transcribed it? List of Norse Gods and Goddesses - Gods and Goddesses Alternatively, he also had a self-navigating boat called Sguaba Tuinne or wave-rider, which seems advanced even in the technology era of today! Also, we're talking about beings that had not exclusively sex with humans, meaning not only mythical creatures but animals, or being themselves in animal form and having sex. Above: Pentheus Scorns The Prophecies of Tiresias, AthenaThe goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens was a virgin by nearly every mythological account but did express a romantic attraction to the Attic maiden Myrmex. vegan) just to try it, does this inconvenience the caterers and staff? In some myths, Pandora is the first woman, created by Hephaestus for Zeus to punish humanity. Deals with the adventures and challenges of the warriors, kings and queens around the 1st century C.E. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Tlaltechutli represents the surface of the earth, who angrily devours the sun every evening to give it back the next day. Bri - Ruler of Prehistory, the first god and father of Borr. Wolfgang Sauber/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0. In addition to the connection of the holy wells, Brigid and Catholic Saint Brigid are also connected by the, For a long time she was associated as being a, Lugh, is one of the most important of all the gods of the Celts. Like her son Enki/Ea she is also associated with magic. Mayahuel is also known as "the woman of the 400 breasts" to feed her children, the Centzon Totochtin or 400 rabbits. We don't even have any evidence that the men outnumbered the gods significantly. A few more things that I find interesting about Athena and her asexuality is that she really does seem sexless in the way that she acts. The Dagda is the Celtic god of. By contrast, most Hindus (61%) and Jains (54%) say that there is . Athena really did not have any interest in sex at all. and . IsisThe Egyptian goddess, also worshipped by Greeks, is known for solving a gender identity issue of yore. Above: Chrysippus, kidnapped by Laius, looks for his father Pelops running behind the chariot; Volute Krater image (320 B.C.). Athena, Artemis, and Hestia come to mind as examples. Replacing broken pins/legs on a DIP IC package. 1 ESO. It is possibly fitting then that Aengus, the Irish god of love, youth, summer and poetry, was in fact a love child himself. Much like in Greece, Roman Gods and Goddesses were also arranged in couples: Jupiter-Juno, Neptune-Minerva, Mars-Venus, Apollo-Diana . There are plenty of instances of goddesses sleeping with mortal men. List of Egyptian deities - Wikipedia she became a he. Many of the other gods wanted to marry her, but she would have none of it. - Hermes, menssager of the gods, was bisexual as well. Half man. This is a series I started about asexual greek gods. Dionysus. Huitzilopochtli (pronounced Weetz-ee-loh-POSHT-lee) was the patron god of the Aztecs. Isis was one of the last of the ancient Egyptian gods to still be worshipped. Along with her sister Nephthys, Isis acted as a divine mourner, and her maternal care was often depicted as extending to the dead in the underworld. He also once made a journey to Hades and was guided by the shepherd Prosymnus, who led the way in exchange for the chance to make love to the party god. Above: Felice Giani, The Marriage of Poseidon and Amphitrite (1802-1805), OrpheusThe legendary poet and musician may be best known for the story of his journey to the underworld to retrieve his wife, Eurydice; he failed to do so when he succumbed to temptation and looked at her before both had returned to the world of the living. While Artemis, for example, could have sexual desires without contradicting her status as the goddess of the hunt (or even the goddess of virginity - she was abstinent, not necessarily asexual), the whole concept seems to go against Athena's essential nature. Above: Pentheus Scorns The Prophecies of Tiresias, AthenaThe goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens was a virgin by nearly every mythological account but did express a romantic attraction to the Attic maiden Myrmex. Size queen. As far as she was concerned, love didn't equal sex. Niamh of the Golden Hair, who is in the legend of Oisn and Tir na ng is thought to be Manannans daughter. Athena is the child of the god Zeus and the titan Metis, she never met her mother. This is a series I started about asexual greek gods. She too, like the Morrigan is thought to have the ability to shapeshift and is represented by a red mare, known for its speed. Hestia Facts and Information on Greek Goddess Hestia With her, he is the father of two children: the god of war and the god of fishing. Above: Isis (seated right) welcoming the Greek heroine Io as she is borne into Egypt on the shoulders of the personified Nile, as depicted in a Roman wall painting from Pompeii. At times, these names could be used interchangeably. Danu is occasionally referred to as Anu, although some sources may indicate that Anu was another goddess completely. Read our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy to get more information and learn how to set up your preferences. Eight gods (Apollo, Areas, Dionysus, Hades, Hephaestus, Hermes, Poseidon, Zeus) are arguably the most important of the Greek gods. The frenzy of battle is connected with the aspect of Nemian. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/deities-of-mexica-mythology-170042. Alastor God of family feuds and avenger of evil deeds. What is Artemis? Bisexual. The "lesser status" applied to men past adolescence who continued to be on the receiving end of things. ArtemisTwin sister to Apollo, the goddess was by differing accounts a nearly asexual virgin or a lesbian with many nymph lovers, including Cyrene, Atalanta, and Anticleia as well as moon goddess Dictynna. Based on that version of Orion's story (like pretty much every other myth, there are lots of different versions, and Artemis doesn't fall in love with Orion in all of them), demiromantic asexual makes a lot of sense. The Goddess Athena - Asexuality and the Gods, AVEN Unofficial discord and other resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, July/August/September 2022 - Asexual Dating. The Dagda, god of agriculture, weather, the seasons and time is one such example. Why is it so hard for so many people now to do the same? Pandora's arrival and the subsequent disasters mark the end of the Golden Age of Man. Gods and Goddesses from the AI's eyes #shorts #short #aiart #midjourney Gods and Goddesses from the AI's eyes #shorts #short #aiart #midjourney #god #goddess #ai #aigenerated #shortvideo Hod is the blind god of winter who kills his brother Balder and is in turn killed by his brother Vali. It is possible that some might have been asexual. A gay cupbearer on Mount Olympus? Good, fruitful harvests were required to provide for the people and animals, therefore much emphasis was placed on gods and goddesses that represent fertility, such as ine. She is always an advocate of rationality, and neither love nor sexuality are entirely rational impulses. Friday is named for her. According to Ovid, he never took another female lover after that -- but did love other young men in Thrace. I find it interesting that such a sexual society had three virgin goddesses. Tema principal: Ancient History. He was king of the glorified race of the Tuatha d Danann, who were known for their superior skills and knowledge, particularly on the battlefield. He was also connected with rightfulness, especially in terms of kingship. You Might Like Asexual Goddesses Published: Jun 19, 2020. Ultimately, Iphis fell in love with Ianthe, a woman, and was betrothed to her. A study of Athena by Karl Kerenyi links her virginal nature to her relationship with her father. Aphrodite was, in fact, widely worshipped as a goddess of the sea and of . I think Athena definatlly screams Asexual, when you just look at her character and the way she acts and does things, and what she stands for. Besides dalliances with numerous nymphs, Apollo was also lover to Macedonian Prince Hyakinthos, who died catching a thrown discus, then turned by the god into the hyacinth flower. I'm going to assume "Artemis" isn't a sufficient answer, so you might want to dedicate a little space to why it's not; that'll help folks get pointed in the right direction with an example of what you've tried but hasn't helped. By. What exactly were all those men doing before she came? Artemis, Goddess of the hunt, the moon, and the protector of girls and animals. Native American Gods and Goddesses: Deities from Different Cultures Some of these gods and goddesses of Celtic mythology were revered across the Celtic world, whereas others seemed to have been less well known and worshiped only in certain regions or specific locations. Ares God of war. The Morrigan goddess is usually thought of as the Celtic goddess of war and sometimes the Celtic goddess of death, but she has strong association with fertility and sovereignty as well. He represented the positive counterpart of Tezcatlipoca. She is most often illustrated wearing a green/blue skirt from which flows a stream of water. Above: Rossi Domenico, Pan and Apollo (circa 1704), engraving, DionysusBest known as the Greek god of wine, Dionysus was also the god of intersex and transgender people. There doesn't seem to be anything to suggest that Dionysius doesn't experience sexual attraction, irrespective of whether he partakes in it. While tolerance is often presented as a sign of civilization's advancement, a reading of Greek mythology reveals greater acceptance of homosexuality in ancient Athens than can be boasted within today's world religions. I don't know exactly why I am writing this post, and I know that nobody else cares, I just think that it's interesting, especially in our society where sex is so valued above almost everything else, that a completely asexual woman could be viewed as one of the most powerful and respected dieties to ancient greek society. Both the gods of Lugh and the Dagda are supposedly buried in the sacred center of the island of Ireland, As a god he had immense power and influence. Above: Hans Sebald Beham, Heracles and Iolaus dispatching the hydra with club and fire, PoseidonAccording to Pindar's First Olympian Ode, Pelops, the king of Pisa, once shared "Aphrodite's sweet gifts" with the ocean god himself. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. 52 Queer Gods Who Ruled Ancient History - pride.com Tlaloc's main shrine was the second shrine after Huitzilopochtli's, located on top of the Templo Mayor, the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. and also known as the Ossianic Cycle. Above: Francois Joseph Navez, The Nymph Salmacis and Hermaphroditus. (From Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. Artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt, wilderness, moon and archery. So this is more an avenue for research than a definitive answer. Some myths suggest a romantic relationship between Hermes and the hero Perseus.