atalanta: the queen of swords
the queen of swords portrays a cool, stern faced yet
beautiful woman, severely dressed in a simple blue
robe. she wears a golden crown, and is seated on a
silver throne. in one hand she holds a silver sword;
in the other a jug from which water spills onto the
ground. behind her a vista of snow-capped mountains
can be seen beneath a still, cool blue sky.
in mythology, in the queen of swords, we meet the
stable, reflective, contained dimension of the element
of air. this is embodied in the mythic figure of atalanta
the huntress, who was disappointed in love through
having too high ideals. atalanta, whose name means
unswaying , was the child of King iasus, who had
passionately wished for a male hier. Atlantas birth
disappointed him so cruelly that he exposed her on
a hillside near Calydon, but the child was rescued
and suckled by a bear which the moon-goddess
Artemis-HEcate send to her aid. Atalanta grew
into womanhood among a clan of hunters who found
and reared her. But she remained a virgin and always
carried arms, and she was not yet reconciled to her
father, who refused to acknowledge her.
Atalanta achived many famous deeds of arms,
including the famous Calydonian boar-hunt where
she fought alongside the men and achieved the first
strike at the boar. But although the young hero
meleager, son of the war-god Ares and the best
javelin thrower in greece, fell in love with her,
atalanta refused to succumb to an ordinary
womans fate. Eventually her father, proud of her
prowess, recognized her at last, and promised to
find her a noble husband. But she protested, saying:
father, i consent on one condition. any suitor for my hand
must either beat me ina foot race, or else let me kill
him. many unfortunate princes lost thier lives
in consequence, because she was the swiftest mortal
alive. but eventually a young man called melanion
invoked aphrodites assistance. the goddess gave
him three golden apples, telling him to delay
atalanta by letting them fall, one after another
in the course of the race. The strategem was successful,
and the marriage took place. But it was doomed
for melanion pursuaded atlalanta to lie with him in
a sacred precint of zeus, and the god, angry
at the sacriledge , turned them both into lions;
and the greeks believed, lions do not mate with lions,
but only with leopards, and they were thus
prevented from ever again enjoying each other.
Ataltana, the queen of swords, is an image of the
aloofness iand untouchability of the mind, which can hold
an ideal of perfection to the extent that all sensual concerns
are excluded or devalued. The figure of the queen of
swords is a cool one, because her perfectionism and her
identification with the masculine world of the mind and
spirit fit her for friendship but not for erotic love. thus
the queen of swords is a regal and dignified figure, but also
a lonelyu one, and this loneliness although often borne
with pride and integrity, springs less from circumstnace
than from a reluctance to allow anything too humnan
to mar the ideal of perfection. the idealism of the queen
of swords is lofty and noble, and there is a loyalty which
can withstand many of lifes most difficult tests.
but it is an idealism wich permits no human failing.
the myth of atalanta my be found in many of our
popular fairy tales, in the image of the cool princess
who demands her suitors attempt impossible tasks in
order to win her. this demand may be subtle and even
unconscius, and it may drive love out of ones life.
it can also be a creative demand, because it spurs both
the individual and others to become more than they are.
but it is a chill and lonely vision, for no suitoror oneself
can ultimately pass the impossible test except in
fairy tales, and those who identify with atalanta in
real life tend to wait forever while mortal life passes
by and the water of feeling spills from the jug, wasted,
on the ground. the queen of swords, who possesses the
priceless virtues of loyalty and integrity and the
capacity to bear sorrow without breaking, is ultimately
an image of emotional frustration and isolation, because
she is untouchable.
Just as the kind of cups is an ambivilant figure because the
masculine role of kingship sits uncomfortabley beside the
essentially feminine element of water, the queen of swords
is likewise ambivilant because the feminine role of queenship
sits uncomfortabley beside the essentially masculine element
of air. the myth of atalanta tells us something deep and subtle
about the psychology of the queen of swords, for her father
wished for a male child and refused to accept her value as
a woman; only qhen she had proven herself in a mans feat
of arms did he acknowledge her. the striving for percfection
wich is expressed in the image of the queen of swords is
in some way an effort to prove oneself to a father-god who is
ultimately beyond pnes reach, for one is never quite good enough
simply because one is made of flesh. the queen of swords will
accept nothing less than perfection because she herself has
been expected to be perfect and failed.
the queen of swords portrays a cool, stern faced yet
beautiful woman, severely dressed in a simple blue
robe. she wears a golden crown, and is seated on a
silver throne. in one hand she holds a silver sword;
in the other a jug from which water spills onto the
ground. behind her a vista of snow-capped mountains
can be seen beneath a still, cool blue sky.
in mythology, in the queen of swords, we meet the
stable, reflective, contained dimension of the element
of air. this is embodied in the mythic figure of atalanta
the huntress, who was disappointed in love through
having too high ideals. atalanta, whose name means
unswaying , was the child of King iasus, who had
passionately wished for a male hier. Atlantas birth
disappointed him so cruelly that he exposed her on
a hillside near Calydon, but the child was rescued
and suckled by a bear which the moon-goddess
Artemis-HEcate send to her aid. Atalanta grew
into womanhood among a clan of hunters who found
and reared her. But she remained a virgin and always
carried arms, and she was not yet reconciled to her
father, who refused to acknowledge her.
Atalanta achived many famous deeds of arms,
including the famous Calydonian boar-hunt where
she fought alongside the men and achieved the first
strike at the boar. But although the young hero
meleager, son of the war-god Ares and the best
javelin thrower in greece, fell in love with her,
atalanta refused to succumb to an ordinary
womans fate. Eventually her father, proud of her
prowess, recognized her at last, and promised to
find her a noble husband. But she protested, saying:
father, i consent on one condition. any suitor for my hand
must either beat me ina foot race, or else let me kill
him. many unfortunate princes lost thier lives
in consequence, because she was the swiftest mortal
alive. but eventually a young man called melanion
invoked aphrodites assistance. the goddess gave
him three golden apples, telling him to delay
atalanta by letting them fall, one after another
in the course of the race. The strategem was successful,
and the marriage took place. But it was doomed
for melanion pursuaded atlalanta to lie with him in
a sacred precint of zeus, and the god, angry
at the sacriledge , turned them both into lions;
and the greeks believed, lions do not mate with lions,
but only with leopards, and they were thus
prevented from ever again enjoying each other.
Ataltana, the queen of swords, is an image of the
aloofness iand untouchability of the mind, which can hold
an ideal of perfection to the extent that all sensual concerns
are excluded or devalued. The figure of the queen of
swords is a cool one, because her perfectionism and her
identification with the masculine world of the mind and
spirit fit her for friendship but not for erotic love. thus
the queen of swords is a regal and dignified figure, but also
a lonelyu one, and this loneliness although often borne
with pride and integrity, springs less from circumstnace
than from a reluctance to allow anything too humnan
to mar the ideal of perfection. the idealism of the queen
of swords is lofty and noble, and there is a loyalty which
can withstand many of lifes most difficult tests.
but it is an idealism wich permits no human failing.
the myth of atalanta my be found in many of our
popular fairy tales, in the image of the cool princess
who demands her suitors attempt impossible tasks in
order to win her. this demand may be subtle and even
unconscius, and it may drive love out of ones life.
it can also be a creative demand, because it spurs both
the individual and others to become more than they are.
but it is a chill and lonely vision, for no suitoror oneself
can ultimately pass the impossible test except in
fairy tales, and those who identify with atalanta in
real life tend to wait forever while mortal life passes
by and the water of feeling spills from the jug, wasted,
on the ground. the queen of swords, who possesses the
priceless virtues of loyalty and integrity and the
capacity to bear sorrow without breaking, is ultimately
an image of emotional frustration and isolation, because
she is untouchable.
Just as the kind of cups is an ambivilant figure because the
masculine role of kingship sits uncomfortabley beside the
essentially feminine element of water, the queen of swords
is likewise ambivilant because the feminine role of queenship
sits uncomfortabley beside the essentially masculine element
of air. the myth of atalanta tells us something deep and subtle
about the psychology of the queen of swords, for her father
wished for a male child and refused to accept her value as
a woman; only qhen she had proven herself in a mans feat
of arms did he acknowledge her. the striving for percfection
wich is expressed in the image of the queen of swords is
in some way an effort to prove oneself to a father-god who is
ultimately beyond pnes reach, for one is never quite good enough
simply because one is made of flesh. the queen of swords will
accept nothing less than perfection because she herself has
been expected to be perfect and failed.
What happened to myths about hot, strong, powerful queens who got the approval they wanted, and had all they desired? And for fuck's sakes, if anyone's going to get turned into any kind of animal, let's not leave out tigers.... damn the greeks!
~Trilo~