This week we look at the Greek daimon Atë, the personification of deception and ruin. Atë is a prominent figure in Homer’s Iliad, and often appears in Greek tragedy as a figure associated with justice, along with Nemesis and the Erinyes. We look at Atë as an irrational force, and how the understanding of her as a daughter of Zeus in the Iliad tells us something about the pitfalls of the rational mind.
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47:13
Pandora: the Proto-Anima
This week's podcast looks at Pandora, the first woman described by Hesiod, though her story likely predates his writings. Pandora is a gift to Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus, as an act of revenge after Prometheus steals fire from Heaven and gives it to mortals. She carries a pithos (jar) that she is told to never open, but when curiosity strikes, she releases all sorts of ills into the world of humans. We examine the different aspects of this story, including the idea that the coming of woman is an evil, the question of what was actually in Pandora's jar (changed to a box in later translations), her connection to the Earth Mother, and her connection to Psyche, the personified soul.
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1:00:49
Eris: Goddess of Discord
Website: https://chthonia.netPatreon: https://patreon/com/chthoniaThis week we look at Eris, goddess of strife and discord. Hesiod declares that there are 2 Erises, one that is beneficial to humans and one that isn't. There is also the 3rd Eris of the modern "religion" of Discordianism, which highlights to problem of excluding discord from our lives.
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50:57
Frau Perchta and Gryla (Chthonia Classic Remastered 8)
Here is the re-released Frau Perchta and Gryla episode from December 2019. Both figures are part of the folklore of winter hags or "Christmas witches", who often represent the dangers of being unprepared for the winter season.
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38:04
Enodia: the Hecate of the City
Website: https://chthonia.netPatreon: https://patreon.com/c/chthoniaMerch: https://chthoniapodcast.creator-spring.com/School: https://instituteforfemininemyth.org This week's podcast looks at Enodia, a Thessalian goddess who has attributes of Hecate, Persephone, and Artemis, whose name means "of the street" or "in the road". Part of the dodekatheon (Cult of the 12 Olympians) local to Thessaly, she seems to clearly have a function related to protecting the household, and her own epithets suggest that she is a deity connected to cities rather than rural dwellings. We look at her relationship to the other goddesses she is connected with and visit the question of why protective deities like Enodia seemed to suddenly gain popularity in the late 6th to 5th century BCE.
Portugal