My friend Maya asked about the lameness of Hephaestus. I am going to ramble a bit answering. The myths of Hephaestus lameness are over the
place.
- · He was lame at birth due to his parthenogenesis. (Homer, Odyssey 8.267)
- · His was lame because he was lame at birth and his mom threw him off Olympus. (Homer, Iliad 18.140)
- · He was lame because he got between his bickering parents and got tossed. (Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.19)
All this is sort of beside the point; Hephaestus was
the prototype for Typhon. There are several accounts of Typhon’s
conception, but the one including Hera involves a male deity this time
Hephaestus was not as scary as his brother, but there was a tale of his menis;
Hephaestus was not as scary as his brother, but there was a tale of his menis;
"[In the temple of Dionysus at Athens :] There are paintings here--Dionysus
bringing Hephaistos up to heaven. One of the Greek legends is that Hephaistos,
when he was born, was thrown down by Hera. In revenge he sent as a gift a
golden chair with invisible fetters. When Hera sat down she was held fast, and
Hephaistos refused to listen to any other of the gods save Dionysus--in him he
reposed the fullest trust--and after making him drunk Dionysus brought him to
heaven."
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.
20. 3
Maya, I tried to address your question about Hephaestus’ fall from grace and consequently triumphant return. Now for another question that came up during the book club the other day. Who is the goddess of Menis?
In the 18 Book of the Iliad Hephaistos tells his wife, that Thetis saved him when his “brazen-faced mother” tossed him from Olympus for him being lame. He says his soul would have known great sorrow had not Thetis and another nymph “caught me and held me”. He lived there nine years before returning to Olympus No other among the gods or among mortal men knew about him except Thetis and the other nymph. They know of course since, “they saved me." Nine years is a long time for one’s menis to fester and rage. But rather than spending that time forging “a weapon in his hand more powerful than the thunderbolt or the irresistible trident,” (Isthmian 8) under Thetis’ guidance he turned his skills (and menis) to delicate jewelry and fine furniture.
Towards the beginning of
the Iliad (Book 1) we hear of a time when the gods revolted against Zeus and
bound him in his throne. There had to be some menis there! Would
the perfectly balanced and ordered universe topple into the abyss? No, Thetis
freed Zeus with opposition from none and restored the Olympic order.
In the last book of the
Iliad the gods stand around Olympus wringing their hands and lamenting that
they are helpless in the face of Achilles menis. His wrath won’t abate until Hector’s body is
returned to Priam. So they invite Thetis
to Olympus, give her the best seat in the house (Athena’s at Zeus’ right hand)
a fancy goblet full of nectar and beg her to convince Achilles to give up the
body (and consequently his menis).
So we have seen several
time in the Iliad where when there was menis, there was Thetis. So I would propose that in some positive
sense that Thetis is the goddess of Menis
Dear Maya, if you have
followed my argument back and forth through the Iliad and find some hint of
truth in it, please follow me back to the opening lines;
μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκεν·
Sing, O goddess, the anger [mênis] of Achilles son
of Peleus,
that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. (Iliad
1.1-2)
If we think that Thetis
might be the goddess of Menis. We need
to revisit Emily Schurr’s theory that the “goddess” addressed in the opening of
the Iliad is not the unnamed Muse we presume.[i] She suggests, “a previously undiscovered, and
highly meaningful, subtext.” Namely that the Muse of the Iliad is indeed
Thetis.
“(A) hint is made even more
resonant by the fact that Achilles' mother was, indeed, a goddess (Thetis) -
and that the reluctance to name the singing goddess explicitly allows for this alternative
interpretation to rise up in the audience's consciousness.”
The subtext and alternative
interpretation in the audience's consciousness, strengthens if we accept Menis
as an alternative name for Thetis, then sub-consciously we hear;
“Sing, O Goddess Menis of Achilles son of Peleus,
who brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.”
[i] Emily
Schurr, "Recreating
the Creation: Reading between the Lines in the Proem of the Iliad,"
July 25, 2011.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteSo by marrying Thetis off to Peleus, Zeus conveniently sent menis to the mortal realm.
Maya,
ReplyDeleteI like that idea, so maybe the apple actually contained the "menis". Hmm. But this gives me more insight.
The whole problem with my cute little theory about Thetis being the goddess of Menis is that it does work outside the Iliad. The other big example of menis in action is the Homeric Hymn to Demether. No Thetis there, but a goddess who plays a similar role in mediating for the menis; Hecate. She is the one that leads Demeter to Helios who explains it all and agrees at the end to be Persephone's bodyguard and chaperone in Hades.
As you mentioned; the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. It was attended by all the gods and sort makes Thetis an adopted member of the Olympian family, free to come and go as she pleases (and does)
In the Theogony, Hesiod creates at one point the Hesiodic Hymn to Hecate. He makes such a big thing out of her because she was Zeus first ally (outside of Styx) Again, sort of getting adopted into the family.
Maybe rather than goddesses of Menis they are mediators of it, like Athena in the Eumenides.
Bill