Hades, God King of the Underworld, God of the dead and of riches
Then I ascended my throne. At my feet, the newly dead stopped telling ghost stories. They were naked and frightened. They kissed the hem of my robe and prayed, but only those who said, “For Persephone’s sake, my lord” got even an ounce of mercy. (x)
for we shall meet again
“If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently.”
women in literature and folklore: queen titania
Out of this wood do not desire to go:
Thou shalt remain here, whether thou wilt or no.
I am a spirit of no common rate;
The summer still doth tend upon my state;
And I do love thee: therefore, go with me;
I’ll give thee fairies to attend on thee,
And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep,
And sing while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep;
And I will purge thy mortal grossness so
That thou shalt like an airy spirit go.
women in literature and folklore: elizabeth bennet
“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”
women in literature and folklore: morgan le fay
Morgan the goddess
Therefore is her name;
No one, however haughty
Or proud she cannot tame.
women in literature and folklore: athena
Grey-eyed one, I sing of you,
wisest and most beautiful, relentless Athena,
protector of cities, strong-armed and fair.
From his head the great god birthed you,
dressed in golden armor and bearing a sharp spear.
The holy mountains shook when you were born,
and the earth quaked, and the sea’s dark waves broke against the land.
Even the sun stopped in astonishment at this sight,this goddess, fresh-born and strong.
Hail to you, Athena, may I never live without the shield of your Protection.
women in literature and folklore: lilith
For centuries Lilith, the Queen of the Night, has been blamed when a child or man dies without certain cause or when a woman refuses to be submissive to her husband. According to Hebrew scriptures, Lilith was Eve’s predecessor and therefore, the first wife of Adam. The first states that God made man and woman out of the same material (earth or clay), at the same time, thus the two beings were equals in every way. The alternative version of this myth states that Adam was made of clay while Lilith was made of dirt and filth. However, regardless of her origin, the remainder of the myth proceeds much the same way. Legends states when it was time for the two to have sexual intercourse, Adam insisted that Lilith take the more submissive position. This angered her and in frustration she called out the sacred and secret name of Yahweh. She was then granted wings and flew away. At Adams request, God sent three angels, named Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof, in search of Lilith to return her to the Garden of Eden. They found her in the company of demons near the Red Sea, but she refused to return to Adam. She was punished by God to give birth to thousands of deformed offspring, called lilim, a hundred of which would die per day. Upset by her punishment, she throws herself into the Red Sea. The three angels take pity on her and give her power over all newborn children. She has power of life or death over male children for eight days after which they are circumcised and over female children for twenty days. She was also given power over children born out of wedlock for an undetermined about of time. However, Lilith promised to spare children who had an amulet with the likeness and/or names of the angels in their rooms.
