Ancient Myth Creation: Sexual Orientation
Dear Diary,
I have always been chastened for loving too much. My lovers, especially the human ones, always seemed to die gruesome deaths. So, I decided to give everyone some food for thought. You see, everyone always liked to talk about the latest person I was dating as if they had nothing else better to do. So, I figured if everyone had a bit more gossip to go around, they would forget about mine. So, I figured, who better to help me start the scandal of a millennia than the twins? You see, Artemis had just recently decided to pledge her virtue and remain a virgin forever. She had more ambition for her goals than sex. And since that was still a secret, I knew it would occupy the public’s attention for quite a while. Apollo on the other hand, well he had plenty of little affairs like me, so I figured why not introduce him to Cyparissus? Oh, you have no idea how perfect things were! People were so used to talking about how many men I was with but now they had new gossip!
In fact, soon I started seeing some women dating other women, men dating other men, some dating both genders (and sometime simultaneously I might add), and some simply followed little Moony’s suit and decided sex was not that worthwhile at all. That is not to mean that they thought love was no longer worthwhile, they just were not interested in intercourse I suppose. Frankly, I cannot agree with them because I enjoy it immensely. But love should not be judged, I should know.
I guess the one problematic thing was that they often argued with each other over whether one sexual orientation was better than the other. But love is blind! I’m fairly sure I taught that lesson when my son and my daughter-in-law fell in love.
Analysis:
For my myth creation project, I decided to focus on the subject: sexual orientation. I chose to write the myth in first person and in an inner monologue format because I thought it would be a great way to make the myth more personalized. Moreover, I felt that myths needed to withstand the test of of time and therefore I choose to present it in a way where the background of the myth would be blurred. I was also concerned with how serious and stern the subject could become and therefore this particular format also allowed for a lighter tone.
While I never mentioned who the speaker was by name, I incorporated specific elements that would act as a clue to the identity of the narrator. I chose Aphrodite as the speaker was because I felt that she was the representation of love as she is known according to Hesiod as the goddess of love itself: “Her gods and men call Aphrodite . . . and Philommeides (Genital-Loving) because sprang from the members [of Ouranos the Sky]. And with her went Eros (Love), and comely Himeros (Desire) followed her at her birth at the first and as she went into the assembly of the gods. This honour she has from the beginning, and this is the portion allotted to her amongst men and undying gods, --the whisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet delight and love and graciousness” (Hesiod, Theogony 176). By choosing Aphrodite as the narrator, I could choose to focus the aetiological myth of sexual orientation on love itself.
In my hints towards the identity of the speaker, there were aspects about how Aphrodite had many lovers. One of her most famous lover affairs was vividly describe through “Sol [Helios the Sun] (who was) thought to have been the first to see Venus' [Aphrodite's] adultery with Mars [Ares]: Sol is the first to see all things. Shocked at the sight he told the goddess' husband, Junonigena [Hephaistos], how he was cuckolded where” (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4. 170 ff). In which, Aphrodite has an affair with Ares while being married to Hephaistos. Additionally, I wanted to incorporate that her love affairs extend to humans. Adonis was one of Aphrodite’s mortal lovers who later died due to being attacked by a boar (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 183). Using these above elements, I created a myth to explain the origins of sexual orientation as being born from Aphrodite wanting everyone to focus their nosey attention elsewhere.
Since Apollo was known as for having love affairs with men as well as women, he could represent the sexual orientation of being a bisexual. Hence, I suggested that Aphrodite was the one who introduced him to Cyparissus. However, this was a creative liberation that I took because the union of Apollo and Cyparissus was depicted differently in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (10. 106 ff). Likewise, Artemis represented asexual as she had made a vow to become “a practised huntress and (remain) a virgin" (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 21). It was important to note that all sexual orientations represented different preferences of ways to love another. As such, the speaker highlighted that not wanting intercourse did not mean that love was not wanted. The inclusion of Aphrodite talking about enjoying intercourse was in accordance with how Zeus described Aphrodite’s character within the Iliad: “Concern yourself only with the lovely secrets of marriage [sex]” (Homer, Iliad 5. 429 ff). The reference to Artemis as “little moony” was also deliberately done to reference her status as a moon goddess as describe in Aeschylus’ Fragment 87 Xantriae.
As I wanted to not only incorporate the aetiological myth of sexual orientation but also highlight the important idea that love is love, I wanted to include the mentions of Eros and Psykhe without direct references of their names. I felt that by not mentioning their names, it would act as a literary easter egg for readers to end the myth with. Since Aphrodite was the “gentle mother of twin Cupides (Loves) [Erotes], favour me” (Ovid, Fasti 4. 1 ff), it was fitting to reference the cliché line of “love is blind” when referring to Eros and Psykhe as their love story started with Psykhe not being allowed to see Eros’ face (Apuleius, The Golden Ass 4. 28 - 6. 24).
My main goal of this origin myth was to highlight the idea of different sexual orientations while simultaneously ensuring that it was in a light tone. It was important for me to normalize the idea of having different sexual orientations and centering around the idea that love is love. While this sprang from Aphrodite’s petty way of avoiding gossip about herself, I wanted to end the myth in a warm tone. Afterall, there cannot be an argument about the ways to love if the goddess of love herself demands it.
Bibliography
Aeschylus, Fragment 87 Xantriae
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 4. 28 - 6. 24 (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) :
Homer, Iliad 5. 429 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.)
Ovid, Fasti 4. 1 ff (trans.Boyle) (Roman poetry C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.)
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10. 106 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.)
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 183 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.)