Women, Serpent and Devil: Female Devilry in Hindu and Biblical Myth and its Cultural Representation: A Comparative Study
2017; Bridgewater State University; Volume: 18; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1539-8706
Autores Tópico(s)Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
ResumoRepresentation of women as evil, or association of women with Devil, in literature has its root in Genesis of Bible. Though pagan mythologies of ancient religions are replete with numerous examples of dangerous and seductive women like Roman goddess Diana, Cybele, Ashtoreth, Inanna, Asherah, Ishtar, and Hathor, Fauna, Medusa, Pandora, Harpies, Sirens and Furies and like, they are hardly demonized and denigrated in way transgressive women are portrayed in Christian and Biblical mythologies and their interpretations, as well as in literature, after Christianization. Often, these fatal women were celebrated and worshipped as a symbol of power, creativity, fertility and sexual pleasure, as well as death and destruction. Carnality and eroticism associated with some of these pagan idols were simply celebrated, instead of being abhorred in pre-Christian pagan mythology. Another significant aspect of these women is that most of them are associated with a figure. Moon goddess and serpents have a long association. Nel Nodding in Women and Evil says, moon through its cycles and snakes through its shedding become periodically new and whole (Nodding 54). In many cultures, a is a symbol of sexuality and fertility. Sometimes it is also associated with knowledge and wisdom. Barbara G. Walker in her Woman's Dictionary of Symbolism comments, serpent was one of oldest symbols of female power. Woman and together were considered holy in preclassic Aegean civilization, since both seemed to embody power of life (Walker 387). She continues, Of course, in Bible, both Eve and her were much diabolized; but Gnostic sects of early Christian era retained some of older ideas about their collaboration concerning fruit of knowledge. Some sects worshiped snake as a benevolent Female Spiritual Principle, who taught Adam and Eve what they needed to know about God's duplicity (388). James H. Charlesworth, in his extensive study of symbol, in his book Good and Evil Serpent: How a Universal Symbol Became Christianized, shows that was associated with positive and good traits in pre-Christian ancient religions. But, he concluded, The ceased to be a dominantly positive symbol in our culture about fourth century CE. According to him, ...the became a predominantly negative symbol in Western culture (despite serpents on medical notes and prescriptions) because of leading minds in triumphant Church, on one hand, they were over-influenced by negative symbolism of 'the final book of Bible,' Revelation 12. On other hand, they sought to establish Christianity against some powerful and well-established religions; that is, they developed Christological symbols that would replace Hermes' caduceus and especially Asclepius' and Hygieia's Thus with advent of Christianity, both woman and were demonized, and, body and sexual pleasure became an object of abhorrence. Women became the devil's gateway. Biblical myth of Great Fall is very important to figure out changes in tradition of representation of transgressive women in literature. Nell Nodding writes, We have at least two good reasons for studying and analyzing myth of Eve and Fall: its continuing effects on present patterns of thought and social structure and its influence on traditional conceptions of evil (Nodding 52). myth of Great Fall is taken as starting point of Christian misogyny. Though it tells story of first transgression by women, it does not explicitly propagate any misogynistic conception regarding Eve. But its cultural receptions and interpretations by later Biblical scholars and church authorities, down through ages, strengthen cultural construction of Eve as temptress, destroyer of man and ally of Satan, serpent. …
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