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Wikipedia tidbits.
Jan. 25th, 2006 01:42 pmFrom their entry for Dido (a.k.a. Elissa), Queen of Carthage.
"In Italy, during the Fascist Regime, her figure was demonized, perhaps not only as an anti-Roman figure but because she represented together at least three other unpleasant qualities: feminine virtue, Semitic ethnic origin, and African civilization. Her name and her memory were very feared. [....] After her death, she was deified by her people with the name of Tanit and assimilated to the Great Goddess Astarte. [...] The cult of Tanit survived Carthage's destruction by the Romans; it was introduced to Rome itself by Emperor Septimius Severus, himself born in North Africa. It was extinguished completely with the Theodosian decrees of the late 4th century."
(The middle sentence is from a recent historiographically-disputed account. The more succinct phrase "revisionist history" seems to've been pretty darn tainted by the image of Nazi apologist scum at this point. Pity; it's a useful shorthand for rethinking the old traditional biases of dead white males, which is probably why it was rendered useless by people who remain in that camp.)
Rambling quasi-thinkitude-- Tanit was the consort of Ba'al (= "Lord") Hammon, who was apparently not the same as Ba'al Melqart of Tyre after all despite the (evidently outdated) material I remember from my mythovorous stage of childhood. (I suppose there could also be some stuff about Ba'al(s) in Graves. If so, he probably got it wrong out of sheer Gravesian Gravesiness.) I'm not actually sure whether Melqart had a consort, but I'm suddenly reminded of the strong not-quite-consorty parallel bonds between Melkor and Ungoliant and Sauron and Shelob. (And Ted and Alice, of course. "If you can't say anything nice, sit down next to me?")
Tolkien's most significant female antagonists are monstrous devouring beasts, treacherous and inhuman with no pretense at anything except appetite. (Queen Miriel of Numenor might've developed a great deal of ambiguous complexity, if those drafts had been followed up in which she willingly accepted her cousin's courtship. I can't remember enough about Erendis and Ancalime at the moment to say much about them) Compare to Jadis and the Lady of the Green Kirtle in Narnia, whose seductive subterfuge is a key part of their evil. Cite key examples to support your argument, and use clear, bold handwriting in sea-blue or slate-grey ink. All serifs should be clearly marked with flowing elegance. Start now.
"In Italy, during the Fascist Regime, her figure was demonized, perhaps not only as an anti-Roman figure but because she represented together at least three other unpleasant qualities: feminine virtue, Semitic ethnic origin, and African civilization. Her name and her memory were very feared. [....] After her death, she was deified by her people with the name of Tanit and assimilated to the Great Goddess Astarte. [...] The cult of Tanit survived Carthage's destruction by the Romans; it was introduced to Rome itself by Emperor Septimius Severus, himself born in North Africa. It was extinguished completely with the Theodosian decrees of the late 4th century."
(The middle sentence is from a recent historiographically-disputed account. The more succinct phrase "revisionist history" seems to've been pretty darn tainted by the image of Nazi apologist scum at this point. Pity; it's a useful shorthand for rethinking the old traditional biases of dead white males, which is probably why it was rendered useless by people who remain in that camp.)
Rambling quasi-thinkitude-- Tanit was the consort of Ba'al (= "Lord") Hammon, who was apparently not the same as Ba'al Melqart of Tyre after all despite the (evidently outdated) material I remember from my mythovorous stage of childhood. (I suppose there could also be some stuff about Ba'al(s) in Graves. If so, he probably got it wrong out of sheer Gravesian Gravesiness.) I'm not actually sure whether Melqart had a consort, but I'm suddenly reminded of the strong not-quite-consorty parallel bonds between Melkor and Ungoliant and Sauron and Shelob. (And Ted and Alice, of course. "If you can't say anything nice, sit down next to me?")
Tolkien's most significant female antagonists are monstrous devouring beasts, treacherous and inhuman with no pretense at anything except appetite. (Queen Miriel of Numenor might've developed a great deal of ambiguous complexity, if those drafts had been followed up in which she willingly accepted her cousin's courtship. I can't remember enough about Erendis and Ancalime at the moment to say much about them) Compare to Jadis and the Lady of the Green Kirtle in Narnia, whose seductive subterfuge is a key part of their evil. Cite key examples to support your argument, and use clear, bold handwriting in sea-blue or slate-grey ink. All serifs should be clearly marked with flowing elegance. Start now.