Water and Womanhood in Ancient Greece Essay -- Women in Marine Mytholo

In the times of ancient Greece, there were ample tales, myths, and legends surrounding the realm of the ocean many of which included dreadful beasts, epic struggles, and angered gods. There are tales of vengeance, spite, cruelty, and rage, but there are also those of understanding, compassion, helpfulness, and benevolence. When one subjects many of the more malevolent (and sometimes disturbing) tales to closer inspection, it becomes moderately evident that a great number of these stories use a feminine force in order to display the wraith of the sea and the sea gods or goddesses. In fact, many sea monsters are said to be female including Charybdis and Scylla (the horrors between which Odysseus and his crew must sail through the Strait of Messina), and the sea was oftentimes given a female personality and character traits. Ceto, particularly, was the feminine embodiment of the dangers which the sea held, and Amphitrite was one other powerful, feminine sea goddess. The connection be tween terrors of the sea and the female persona may not be presented with the utmost clarity right away however, it is possible to use symbolic history, cultural normalities of the time, and a plan glance at the ancient Greek view of sexuality to help discover these mysteries. Symbols for water and womanhood have been known to coincide greatly, essentially since the scratch of the history of recorded symbols. The inverted triangle was an especially prominent emblem when it comes to this matter, as it was used to represent both the flow of water (or sometimes a cup, or chalice), as well as the shape of the female reproductive organs and genitalia. These similarities were not contained only to written symbols, but to rather more vellicate symbolism as well. O... ...tainly made theirs far more interesting than many other cultures. Works CitedDisaster Archaeology - Women in the Marine Mythology of Ancient Mediterranean Their Roles & Symbolisms - ByDr. George Pararas-Carayannis and D r. Amanda Laoupi. Disaster Pages of Dr. George PC. Web. .Symbolism between women and waterGrimal, Pierre. The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Oxford, England Blackwell, 1985.Perseus Digital Library. Web. .Theoi Greek Mythology, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art. Web. .Used for solicitation of various primary factsWalcot, P. Greek Attitudes towards Women The Mythological Evidence. Greece and Rome XXXI.1 (1984). JSTOR. Web.Greek views of sexuality cultural effects