The Archetype of the Whore
Queen Sheba journeyed to Judah bearing gifts and tribute to pay homage to King Solomon, and returned home bearing his child Menelek, who became the first king of the great Ethiopian dynasty.
Mary Magdalene carried Jesus’ child even as she watched her lover crucified for aspiring to the throne of David. Magdalene fled to Egypt with her daughter Sara disguised as a servant girl, but Peter shoved them off in a rudderless boat without oars, and they landed in the French Riviera where Sara’s descendants became the Merovingian line of kings.
Sarah could not give Abraham a child, so she gave to Abraham her slave, Hagar, who bore him Ishmael. Then God blessed Sarah, and to Abraham, Sarah bore Isaac.
It is a perilous thing being born to Abraham. Now Ishmael must not be allowed to inherit Abraham’s birthright, so Abraham banished Hagar and Ishmael to starve to death in the desert, Isaac being the one destined to be the ancestor of Jesus once he survives almost being sacrificed on his father’s altar.
But Ishmael did not die, and centuries later God blessed his descendent Mohammed and gave him the Qur’an.
Physiology is not destiny in our age, but woman has never forgotten fertility is power, and children seduced outside of wedlock have founded dynasties and great religions.
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In the beginning, God made Adam and Lilith from the dust of the earth. Lilith refused Adam’s demand to subjugate herself, pronounced the name of Yahweh and was carried into heaven.
The figure in the relief was sometimes identified with Lilith, based on a misreading of an outdated translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. –Wikipedia
God sent three angels to bring her back but she would not come. So God decreed one hundred of Lilith’s offspring a day must die, and God offered to Adam Eve, who was willing to lie with Adam in the missionary position—while Lilith the succubus seduced young men in their sleep, stole their essence to spawn her hundreds of children, and snuffed out the children of men in their cribs.
Minos aspired to the throne of Crete, made sacrifice to Poseidon, and Poseidon gave Minos a bull to sacrifice. But Minos sacrificed another bull instead, and Poseidon became so angry he caused Minos’ wife Pasiphae to lust after Poseidon’s bull. Pasiphae gave birth to the Minotaur, and Minos placed the Minotaur inside the labyrinth and sacrificed seven young boys and seven virgins to the Minotaur every day.
“For even in our time, women have given birth to far more extraordinary monsters than this.”*
*Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2nd cent. A.D.
All mythology pays homage to the power of the womb, even as the fear of this power compels ancient men to portray women as harlots.
***
Mary of Nazareth, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, became full with child though she did not know man. So after Gabriel appeared to him in a dream, Joseph married her to protect her reputation—an archetypal drama replayed throughout history. Mary gave birth to Jesus and remained a virgin, and Jesus became a king in the line of David through his father Joseph, even though the Church declares (unless I’m missing something) that Jesus cannot possibly carry Joseph’s DNA.
© 2014 Douglas J. Westberg. All Rights Reserved.
SunWinks! 
I remember Lilith. She was a smart lady.
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Quite the story here, Doug, and powerful writing. Thank you for your effort.
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I suspect that Lilith (and perhaps Sarah) had access to some discrete contraception. Great writing!
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Well, first, the use of the word “whore” stopped me. By definition, a whore is a prostitute, a working girl. I don’t believe any of the women here fit that description. The words harlot and slut are perhaps more apropos.
All of these women were, however, subject largely to the whims of the men in control. I’m with Lilith. It’s a horrible irony that throughout history men have both adored and abhorred women. In most of the world women remain second class citizens, in many places subject to long ingrained abuse sanctioned by the societies in which they live. Women have always used whatever talents, wiles and abilities we have to survive. Can’t really blame us. The fact that women bear the children is both a sentence and a safety net. The duality of the world never ceases to amaze me. It was ever so.
With regards to what we have come to see as a woman’s traditional place in society and religion, I have a very interesting read to suggest to you. It’s called The Chalice and the Blade” by Raine Eisler. It’s an oldie but a goody.
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I’m indebted to you. I think whore can be used more generally as “loose woman” but I’ll give it some more thought. I just heard last night–in a poem–how 32 million women in India live ostracized and dirt-poor because they’re widows. Like hundreds of other books in my library, I picked up Chalice and the Blade because I thought it important and interesting but haven’t gotten around to reading it.I’ll shortlist it. Thanks, Amanda!
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