{ she came over the hills from the East. }

[delga]

So apparently Supernatural decided to endorse the age-old misogynist myth that Lilith (aka, the first wife of Adam, aka, she who would not submit) is the mother of all evil [although, it's a child in SPN? I don't know. I'm pretty irritated, and I'm not even watching the show]. To me the idea of Lilith is the first woman for equality, but whatever. (You know the earliest form of god was the Triple Goddess? Because: yes.) ANYWAY. SOMEONE WROTE FIC. And it's the kind of story that the Canongate Myth series is doing. It's the kind of mythical re-write that Margaret Atwood tosses about in Orpheus and The Penelopiad. But it's compelling. AND YOU SHOULD ALL READ IT AND SEE ITS INNATE GENIUS.

And Find for Herself a Place of Rest by meyerlemon

“Your life is easy,” Lilith said. Adam had never known a woman and did not hear her condescension. In Lilith’s homeland, the earth shook and moved when the moon was full. Lilith caught silvery fingerlong fish in the mountain brooks with her bare hands. She ran with the wolves, squatting on her heels to howl with them before a hunt.

And it's not just feminist crankiness, as labelled by the author. Firstly, it's just wonderful writing, not as didactic as you might think. There's a sense of Lilith's being a part of the cosmos in its entirety, for her own sake, not Adam's. Secondly, it's about understanding stories, and about the voice of the other. I love this a lot, and I think anyone annoyed by this story - this touching story - who thinks that people take ideas of equality too seriously, or that feminism is claptrap, needs to de-friend me, because you're more than missing the point, I think.

Related: Sue Hubbard's Eurydice, and Atwood's Orpheus, both of which I still love.

Orpheus.
by Margaret Atwood

You walked in front of me,
pulling me back out
to the green light that had once
grown fangs and killed me.
I was obedient, but
numb, like an arm
gone to sleep; the return
to time was not my choice.
By then I was used to silence.
Though something stretched between us
like a whisper, like a rope:
my former name,
drawn tight.
You had your old leash
with you, love you might call it,
and your flesh voice.
Before your eyes you held steady
the image of what you wanted
me to become: living again.
It was this hope of yours that kept me following.
I was your hallucination, listening
and floral, and you were singing me:
already new skin was forming on me
within the luminous misty shroud
of my other body; already
there was dirt on my hands and I was thirsty.
I could see only the outline
of your head and shoulders,
black against the cave mouth,
and so could not see your face
at all, when you turned
and called to me because you had
already lost me. The last
I saw of you was a dark oval.
Though I knew how this failure
would hurt you, I had to
fold like a gray moth and let go.
You could not believe I was more than your echo.

Also, Ursula LeGuin's She Unnames Them, in which Eve takes back the power of nomenclature.

Comments

[twincy.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, that particular episode hasn't even aired yet? People seem to be jumping to a LOT of conclusions there.

I don't know enough of the mythical background to fully appreciate the fic you linked, but it's a good read, in any case, and yes, very reminiscent of She Unnames Them (which I still love so much). I just don't see the sense in the use of "G-d", but, whatever: not the point.

Ugh. Excuse my crabbiness. Here, have some chocolate.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

Most of the talk right now seems to be about the last episode. But I wouldn't be surprised; it's a heavily misogynistic series. I'm not saying there's nothing to be taken from it in terms of entertainment, but the producer is more than a bit shit with his female characters.

It's a Jewish myth: Lilith was the first wife of Adam who refused to submit to him, so God casts her out of Eden (and opts for Eve - who then eats the apple which. Ugh, never mind) and she's this demonic figure who is supposed to be the mother of all evil.

I just don't see the sense in the use of "G-d", but, whatever: not the point.
You do see the sense, you just don't think it's that important. I say this because I was going to explain it, and then I figured, no, you do know, it's just your atheism coming into play (Also, I suspect you just found it irritating). I think it works, stylistically, especially with the use of the names - Elohim, Yahweh. You're talking about a character who believes in the power of the name of God, and at the end, renounces that belief. (“Handmaiden to the King,” she laughs. “I will be God.” It's the only time where the dash is absent.)

Merci. Did you get the coffee/eggs? By the way, your answers were right; I just didn't want to have to reply, re-screen comments. I'm lazy, obvs.

[twincy.livejournal.com]

A spoiler-free f'lister just posted this, which leads me to believe it hasn't aired yet.

Ah, well, that would explain why I know next to nothing of it. (On a related note: I am constantly baffled by the fact that my tutors assume we have a working knowledge of Christian mythology/the contents of the bible. Case in point: being asked to link the developments in Frankenstein to a Biblical story.)

Okay, yes, THAT makes sense to me. That's a text-based argument. I hadn't considered it from that angle. I thought the author was censoring so as not to offend her readers, which made next to no sense to me considering the content of the fic. Lols. I did find it irritating, but I can deal with irritating when it's paired with logic.

No, I can do without. I have instant coffee, which is what I normally drink, anyway. Re: being right: \o/

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

re: Lilith-unaired, haha, yeah; what I meant was that most of the gender(&race)wank going on right now is about the last episode.

Yeah, I think it was tigertrapped who introduced me to the myth back when she was writing Constantine fic. (Heh, yeah. I guess because in terms of lit, the Bible is a pretty big literary source in the West? I don't know; I find that sort of assumption frustrating, and I have a fairly average-to-broad knowledge of Biblical canon. re: Frankenstein...but! That's Prometheus! What on earth would that link to in the Bible?)

Yeah, the author doesn't censor the word generally. (Um. From what I can tell when I stumble onto her entries.) I know plenty of authors who would do the same just out of reverence, though.

Lols. I should probably get back to work? (Pfffffft.)

[twincy.livejournal.com]

(True, but yes, frustrating. re:re: Frankenstein: Adam/Eve/forbidden fruit shenans, and also: fallen angels, i.e. Lucifer, which the monster refers to himself several times. Makes a fair bit of sense.)

Yes, but then, those people probably wouldn't write fic like this.

Probably, yes.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

(Ah, okay. Yeah, I guess so. Which is ironic, considering M. Shelley's abstract religious position.)

Sigh. Am reading Auster's Moon Palace. Is oddly good. In an odd... way. Hmm.

[noorie.livejournal.com]

not sure about the triple goddess being the earliest form of god, but what a gorgeous poem. btw, have you read 'the golden fleece' and 'homer's daughter' by robert graves?

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

Ironically I'm knee-deep in Graves right now - though this is for my dissertation. I haven't read any of his poetry or fiction, but I'll look those up :)

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I was SO WORRIED that this comment was going to be a bitchslap, lols. *hugs*