Adult Film Review: 'Satyr' Starring Jenna Jameson and Asia Carrera

Author's Note: I wrote this movie review in 2008. It originally appeared in the online magazine Lucrezia, which is now defunct. - Erin O'Riordan 

Satyr, directed by Michael Zen in 1997, opens with the following definitions:

     “sa-tyr, n. 1. in Mythology, a woodland deity represented as a man with goat’s legs, ears, and horns.

     2. the very essence of raw sexual desire.”

     Read these two definitions carefully, and it will appear that a word has been left out of the second one.  If a satyr is a man, then shouldn’t he embody the very essence of raw male sexual desire?  The female equivalent of satyr, we are told by Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, is the nymph, a creature that is as beautiful as the satyr is ugly.  In modern English, nymph connotes a young, innocent woman who may be sexually alluring, but isn’t consciously aware of it.  It is a passive kind of sexuality (in contrast to its use in the word nymphomania, a Victorian word for scarily aggressive female sexuality).  This is the paradox of Satyr, a provocative and troubling film: is it reinforcing traditional sex role stereotypes, or subverting them?

     Pablo Picasso understood the particular essence of the satyr myth.  “The Satyr or Faun – half man, half goat, and with a goatish disposition, lustful whenever opportunity presents itself – figures in many of Picasso’s works, often as a substitute for the artist himself,” writes the author of the Spaightwood Galleries catalog of Picasso prints.  Look at many of Picasso’s paintings or ceramic works depicting satyrs, and you will notice the aroused man-beast chasing after a nymph or a mortal woman, who flees in terror.  Indeed, among the Classical satyrs is the god Pan, from whose name derives the word “panic.”  Of course these women panicked at being pursued by satyrs; they were the unwilling victims of unbridled male sexual aggression.  In other words, they were threatened with rape.

Fangspiel (Faun and Nymph) by Franz von Stuck. Public domain image. 

  For this reason, the concept of “satyr” will be problematic for some women (and men) who watch this film.  For some, it may represent a justification or glorification of sexual assault. 

     Director Michael Zen and screenwriter Ravin Touchstone have tried to subvert the satyr myth by opening it to include women as well as men.  Dr. Isabelle Jade, played by Asia Carrera, is herself a satyr, and certainly not a helpless, passive nymph.  Dr. Jade has discovered a way to turn human beings into half-human, half-animals (sort of a porn equivalent of the “mad scientist”  in H. G. Wells’ classic novel The Island of Dr. Moreau).  She sees herself as an amoral superwoman.  In the character’s own words, “We’re more than human, less than gods.  We rut like animals.  No feelings, no emotions.”

     But even as this film gives one woman the ultimate power and control, other women play more traditionally feminine roles.  This is true of Dr. Jade’s servant Sophie (played by Missy), a satyr who acts like a nymph.  She is constantly being “put in her place,” denying her instincts and suppressing her knowledge to serve others.  In one scene, Dr. Jade carries out a sadistic sexual punishment for Sophie after Sophie has spoken up out of turn.  Sophie must wear an anal plug which sprouts hair resembling the mane of a horse.  Thus, she calls to mind both the half-horse centaurs of Classical mythology, and “pony play” erotica (familiar to readers of A. N. Roquelaure; you can also find an extensive list of related websites at http://www.ponyplaylinks.com/). 

     Sophie’s response to this “punishment” is one of pleasure rather than pain, however.  She seems to enjoy playing the bottom in her BDSM relationship with Dr. Jade.  The question of whether Sophie is the victim of an assault or a willing participant in a controlled, pleasurable activity is left to the viewer.

Asia Carrera. Creative Commons image by Tabercil. Cropped. 

     Sophie is not the only female character to experience sexual domination, however.  The film’s heroine is Fawn Deering, played by Jenna Jameson.  Fawn is a naive college student who seeks out Dr. Jade while researching a paper on “animal mythology and human sexuality.”  One of Dr. Jade’s two male companions, Adam (Brad Armstrong), is attracted to Fawn.  He invites her to a party, a bacchanal.  (“Bacchanal” has come to mean a drunken party, but it originally referred to the worship of Bacchus, or Dionysus, the Roman/Greek god of wine and king of all satyrs.)  Reluctantly, Fawn agrees to come.  She almost seems to be drawn there, irresistibly, against her will.

Jenna Jameson. Public domain image by PETA.

      At the bacchanal, Adam offers Fawn a drink which, he assures her, is not alcohol.  She drinks it and loses her memory and her inhibitions.  Within moments, she is agreeing to a threesome with Adam and with Dr. Jade’s other man, Daniel (Mickey G.).  In the morning, Fawn feels ill, thinks she has gotten drunk the night before, and vaguely remembers having sex with Adam, but not Daniel.  This scene reads just like an account of a woman who was given a drug such as Rohypnol or GHB and raped.  Although she seemed to enjoy the experience at the time, Fawn is unhappy with the after-effects the next morning.  Adam encourages her to think of the after-effects as “what happens to everyone when they fall in love.”

     Thus far, the depiction of emotionless, animal-like sexuality that Satyr presents is not an encouraging one.  It suggests that unless you are the alpha female, your sexuality will be used and possibly abused.  Males, meanwhile, seem to be immune from any punishments or consequences.  There is, however, room in this film for genuine caring and honesty to triumph over Dr. Jade’s dark vision of the sexual landscape.  In the end, Satyr redeems itself. 

     The ending, however, may not be enough for some viewers to overcome the negatives it implies.  Some may also be troubled by the ethnic stereotyping – Asia Carrera is costumed to resemble the “Dragon Ladies” played by Anna May Wong in the films of the 1930s, to go along with her ruthless personality.

Anna May Wong, photographed by Carl Van Vechten. Public domain image. 

     Other viewers, however, may find that Satyr simply allows its male and female characters to express a full range of sexual choices, including dominance and submission.  Its characters’ openness to the animal nature of human sexuality could be seen as liberating.  The characters are so close to the animal world, in fact, that they refuse to eat meat.  When Fawn asks for bacon and eggs at breakfast, she is instead served a fig.  Figs are a recurring motif in Satyr.  When we are introduced to Sophie, for example, she is pulling open and sucking at the pulp of a fresh fig while masturbating.  The fig’s insides bear a resemblance to the vagina; thus it has a long association as a symbol for womanhood.  The fig tree as nourisher and sustainer has long been a symbol for the mother-goddess as well.

     Disturbing on some levels, enlightening on others, Satyr is a complex and intriguing work of adult sexual entertainment.  DVD Avenue subscribers can find it under the Straight adult film category and judge for themselves.

(Note: the DVD Avenue website for renting DVDs is no longer in business.) 

Sources

Berkinow, Louise.  “Women, Race and Movies.”  The American Women’s Almanac: An Inspiring and Irreverent Women’s History.  NewYork: Berkeley Books, 1997. 

“Dragon Lady (Stereotype).”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Lady_%28stereotype%29.  Accessed July 22, 2008. 

Hamilton, Edith.  Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes.  NewYork: The New American Library (Mentor Books). 

“Pablo Picasso: Satyrs and Fauns.”  http://spaightwoodgalleries.com/Pages/Picasso_Satyrs.html.  Accessed July 22, 2008. 

Walker, Barbara G.  “Fig.”  The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets.  San Francisco: Harper + Row, 1983.

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David Ewald's Clever Take on "Historical" Fiction, 'He Who Shall Remain Shameless'

How could this tale fail to fascinate? The protagonist is David Ewald - not the author, but a fictional character with the same name as the author - and he's on a mission to protect some of history's noteworthy, yet relatively obscure, from being erased from memory forever. Ewald is, in a very literal sense, accompanied by the Internet as a companion. This is fresh, unexpected writing, with a little bit of everything: an action-adventure tale, a paranormal mystery, occasional flashes of romance, and ultimately a message that makes the reader question the very meaning of existence. It's a dark, heavy novel that never feels too heavy. Lovers of cerebral metafiction will delight in it.

I purchased this as a Nook e-book from Barnes and Noble. I was not asked to write this review, nor was I compensated for it in any way. 

I first learned of this book in 2011, and I believe it was through the Coffin Hop. It's been on my to-read list for years. (Lots of things are. If you're expecting a review from me, you'll have to be very patient.) I couldn't get it completely out of my mind because the cast of characters includes many based on real people, now deceased, who were famous or infamous in their time, had a brush with history, or should be more well-known. What most of these real-life stories have in common is that it's hard to find information about them, even in the Internet age. Part of the fun of this novel is that it encourages the reader to interact, to look these people up and test how famous or obscure they really are. 

Congressman Leo J. Ryan, 1973 - official Congressional photo. Public domain image

Probably the most famous of these characters is Leo Ryan, the U.S. Representative who was murdered by followers of Jim Jones at Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. Ryan is actually quite an interesting person, because he liked to experience things firsthand. When he was a California assemblyman, he once booked himself into Folsom Prison for ten days so he could experience prison conditions while he was working on prison reform. He went to Newfoundland to investigate inhumane seal hunting. When concerned relatives of Jonestown cult members came to Ryan, he went to Jonestown to investigate. He became the only member of the U.S. legislature ever to be killed in the line of duty. Ryan isn't obscure; you can find out lots of things about him on the Internet. It's just that his story is rather overshadowed by that of Jim Jones, the cult leader. 

The northern Aegean Sea, in an image by Andrew Dalby. Creative Commons image. 

Another figure who doesn't quite count as "obscure" is Aegeus, the figure from Greek mythology for whom the Aegean Sea is named. The legendary Athenian king was the father of Theseus, who slew the Minotaur. Mistakenly believing Theseus had been killed by the monster, Aegeus killed himself. In He Who Shall Remain Shameless, the narrator David manages to communicate to the ancient warrior-king that Theseus was still alive. 

One of the more interesting characters is Christine Chubbuck, a woman much more famous for her death than for her life. She was a news reporter, first in Cleveland and then in St. Petersburg, Florida. She struggled with depression through most of her life. Supposedly, she got into an argument with the news director because he cut one of her reports to cover a shooting, complying with directions from the station manager to concentrate on "blood and guts." Three days later, during a live broadcast of the digest news program on which she appeared, Chubbuck pulled a loaded handgun from her purse, placed it behind her left ear, and shot herself in the head. She died in the hospital fourteen hours later. Her family got a court order to keep the tape of the broadcast from ever being aired again. 

Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Christine Chubbuck from ten100 on Vimeo.

Chubbuck's dramatic on-air suicide and the cynical decision that escalated it were, according to pop cultural legend, some of the inspiration for Paddy Chayefsky when he wrote the screenplay for Network. If you're interested in the weird world of Chayefsky, Network, and his other film Altered States, you may read "Paddy Chayefsky and the Wonders of the Invisible World" by VISUP. It's a fascinating article, the first in a series, with references to Baal, Hecate, Kali, and Robin Goodfellow/Puck/A Midsummer Night's Dream. But I digress. 

That the fictional Chubbuck appears to the fictional Ewald in a post-suicide, ghostly state is one of the reasons this book fits into the paranormal/borderline horror - but clearly speculative - genre. Another character who fascinates because of the horror of his real-life story is Andrew Kehoe. 

Andrew Kehoe circa 1920. Public domain image.

Kehoe was the perpetrator of the worst act of school violence in U.S. history on May 18, 1927. He killed 38 schoolchildren using explosives. He also murdered his wife, killed five other adults, and committed suicide. An additional 58 people were wounded. Kehoe detonated a bomb at the Bath Consolidated School in Bath, Michigan. When rescue trucks arrived on the scene, Kehoe drove up in a vehicle rigged with explosives, killing himself and bystanders. Apparently he became upset with the town of Bath after he wasn't re-elected as the township clerk, and his farm was in the process of being foreclosed on. 

The fictional Kehoe in Ewald's novel is described as being remorseful for his actions. 

Almost all the characters based on real-life people died in some violent or tragic way, some of them from illnesses. Linda Gary, a cartoon voice-over artist, died from a brain tumor. Her voice would have been well-known to '80s kids like me because her credits included the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra cartoons - special favorites of my brother and me. She has an IMDB page and, of course, a Wikipedia page, but it's hard to find much more about her. 

But she, like all of the characters in the novel, gets a little extension on her fame when you read the book. You'll have to decide for yourself whether or not these people deserve to be included in the story. One might argue that some people, like Kehoe, deserve to stay buried in the past, because evil actions don't deserve any extra notoriety. Others would say that if we don't remember the past, we'll only be doomed to repeat it. Maybe there's something about mass violence that Kehoe's example can teach us even today. This book will make you think about things like that. It's dark, but very interesting. 

A Very Vintage Halloween

Happy Halloween Eve! Please enjoy some vintage Halloween pins.



"A full moon on Halloween night ensures that the powers of all forms of magick and divination practiced on this night will be at their greatest. A secret wish made at midnight will be realized within the coming year, and do not be surprised in an experience of a psychic nature awaits you in the very near future."



"In ancient Egypt, the goddess Bastet (also known as Bast or Pasht) was worshiped in the form of a lean, short-haired black cat, and sometimes as a female human having the head of a cat...She was a benevolent goddess, and the domestic cat was the animal most sacred to her. So sacred, in fact, that at one time, the very harming of a cat in Egypt carried the price of execution."

"The black cat is also associated with the Greek goddess Hecate (a deity with a strong connection to the practice of Witchcraft) and the Norse goddess Freya (who rode on a chariot drawn by cats...)."



"The ancient Greeks considered the owl to be a sacred bird, for it was the constant companion of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the patron deity of the city of Athens. It was through this association that the owl came to be known as a 'wise old bird.'"



"Many Native American medicine men still consider the owl to be a messenger from the dead, while practitioners of Peruvian folk magick continue to utilize this bird in spells and rituals to combat black magick and to cure various ailments."







"The besom, another name for the broomstick, has long been associated with Witches--not so much because Witches were, at one time, believed to fly on enchanted broomsticks to from their Sabbats, but rather because the broomstick has played an important role in the handfasting and birth ceremonies of Witches and other Pagan folk since ancient times.

"In Greek mythology, Hecate, the goddess of the moon, queen of the underworld, and protectress of all Witches, possessed a broomstick that signified sexual union. If a woman desiring children jumped over three times, she would instantly become impregnated. It is believed that from this myth the Pagan custom of the bride and groom jumping over a broomstick evolved."



Many of these pins are from MyVintageVogue.Tumblr.com, from Halloween 2012. The text is quotes from The Pagan Book of Halloween by Gerina Dunwich.

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Book Review (Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Fiction): Hotter Than Hell by Jackie Kessler

Hotter Than Hell by Jackie Kessler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a very good story, well told. The first book in the series, Hell's Belles, is still my favorite, and honestly, I wouldn't be too sad if it had been a stand-alone, because it ends so perfectly. But the story keeps going, and there's still one more part, Hell To Pay. I'm scared of what's going to happen in that one.

I liked Virginia as a character, and I liked the slow build of Daun's transition from purely emotionless demon to a truly empathetic being - even if his empathy is limited to one mortal woman. I think my favorite part, though, was the flashback to the relationship between Daunuan (Don Juan) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - damned through no fault of his own, but through his father's infernal machinations - who would go on to write 'Don Giovanni' in Daun's honor. I really like how Kessler plays with history here.

The witch in me is less crazy about the characterization of Pan, who in this is just an evil, evil thing that gets his proper reward for being the scumbag that he is. Authors have the right to do whatever they want with their characters, but to witches, Pan is often used as the name of the good god, the consort of the Goddess, the divine masculine. We don't equate him in any way with evil or with the Christian devil, but this book certainly paints him in a horrifying light. Overall, I think it's fine, because the book needs a villain, and Kessler's Pan is a good literary villain, but Pan shouldn't always be judged so harshly.

You can read my further thoughts on Pan here.

Of course, the book has another villain - Eris, the ancient Greek goddess of strife and discord. I liked Eris as a literary villain because she's so seductive, she's almost a likable character, but she's also a little bit frightening. Okay, she's a LOT frightening. Daun figures out a way to get the better of her, and also of Pan. The happy ending isn't quite the one you'd expect in a paranormal romance - Kessler admits in the afterward it's less of a PNR and more of a dark urban fantasy. I didn't know if I was going to like the ending, but I thought it was appropriate for this novel.

I don't know yet whether or not I'll read the fourth book in the series. I may pretend this is a trilogy, since there are only three paperbacks. I'm scared that Jessie and Paul will get broken up in the next book. That would be a tragedy.

Should you decide to complete the Hell on Earth series and read Hell to Pay, you can get it for only $.99 on Amazon.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Disclosure: I paid for this book with my own money. This review represents my own opinion; I was not compensated for this review in any way, nor was I asked by anyone to write this review. I am an Amazon.com affiliate, and if you make a purchase after clicking through the Amazon links on my blog, I will receive a small commission of a few cents.

Of Men, Nymphs, Satyrs, Incubi, and the God of Shepherds

First, an excerpt from Beltane by Erin O'Riordan:

"Orlando dreamed of the shaded wood, of a forest so lush and thick with springtime foliage, the sunlight came in indistinct and hazy. In this dream, he closed his eyes, his feet firmly planted on a grassy hillock strewn with wildflowers. He breathed in their scent, breathing in too the scent of the still, green lake that lapped at the foot of the hillock. A memory of Slovenia, perhaps. Then, strangely, he heard laughter. Little giggles from the shrubs. Women. He opened his eyes, in this dream, and saw them all around him, surrounding him. They wore gauzy gowns that covered little. Zen was there. Zen, the beautiful stranger, with her pale-blonde hair loose and falling down her back, her bright blue eyes full of mischief. She beckoned him down the hillock, toward the water.

"Orlando shook his head. He looked around at all the faces of the women. They were beautiful, all of them, the blondes and the redheads and the bronze-skinned women with the curling black hair. But something about them saddened him. There was something about them not quite natural, not quite real. Something about them was not to be trusted. They circled around him, dancing, their voices rising to the forest canopy with high, ringing laughter.

"At last he found Catherine’s face among them. Catherine, the most beautiful woman of them all. She wasn’t laughing, only smiling the reassuring smile that told him she loved him and everything was going to be all right. At the lake’s edge, Zen splashed in frustration. Zen stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. Orlando ignored her, holding out his arms toward Catherine. If he could only reach her, he thought, everything would be all right. If he could only reach her—but she seemed to slip further and further from his grasp, until he lost sight of her among the women. He thought he faintly glimpsed her blonde hair disappearing into the darkness of the woods.

"He felt the water lap over his foot, and thought Zen had splashed him. Instead, he looked down and saw his foot—no longer his foot, but a goat’s hoof where his funky red-and-brown suede shoe had been before—was sinking into the lake. Zen had a hold of his arm now. She was dragging him down the hillock and into the lake. He tried to steady himself, tried to grasp at the grasses and flowers as if they would hold him. But Zen’s strength was much greater than he’d ever imagined. He was in the lake up to the waist now, and she was still pulling. A strange song rang through the woods."

The inspiration for Orlando's dream comes from this painting, Nymphs and a Satyr by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. (The image is in the public domain.)

The nymphs in this painting appear to be attacking the satyr rather violently. They seem intent upon dragging him into the water, even though satyrs can't breathe underwater. It's kinda like the W.B. Yeats poem "The Mermaid."

Bouguereau may have had some issues with paranormal women.

Jackie Kessler may have some issues with paranormal men.

You may recall from my review of DemonFire that the paranormal romance I'm currently reading is Hotter Than Hell by Jackie Kessler. It's an appropriate title for a week with temperatures in the mid-90s Fahrenheit.

I've now read Part I, which takes me to approximately the middle of the book. (I haven't read much this week.) When I bring up Kessler's "issues" (and I'm being facetious here), I'm referring to the character Pan.

The hero of the novel is a supporting character from the previous two books, Daun. Daun is short for Daunuan, pronounced "Don Juan." Yep, he's that Don Juan, the one who inspired Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. Daun is an incubus. He seduces evil mortal women, killing them in the process and taking their souls to hell. In this book, he's up for an infernal promotion if he can seduce a woman who isn't evil - usually she'd be completely off-limits to his kind. Her name is Virginia, and as of Part 1, her only direct interaction with Daun has been throwing a drink in his ridiculously handsome false mortal face.

I took this picture of the Don Juan monument in Sevilla, Spain

In Kessler's telling, the demons in hell are grouped by the sins they embody. Incubi and succubi, naturally, belong to the kingdom of Lust, and their king is Pan. Daun's natural form is a satyr, like Pan, although Pan is more goatish, with the characteristic pupils of goat eyes.

Daun is arrogant, smarmy, completely sex-obsessed and crude, but Kessler still portrays him in this series as sympathetic to a certain extent. Pan is the antagonist in that he forces Daun into the "seduce Virginia" challenge, which is the protagonist's obstacle or struggle in this plotline. It's not necessary as a literary device to make the antagonist utterly unsympathetic, but in this case, Pan is utterly unsympathetic. Pan is nothing more than a goat-legged rapist. Thus far, his victims have included a flock of female cherubim and an ancient Greek siren.

To be clear, Daun is a seducer, but he always obtains consent before sex. That the women die is simply the result of their being evil and bound for hell anyway. They're doomed before Daun gets there, although he is the vessel of their destruction.

Paranormal authors are free to use mythological figures however they choose, shaping them into their own distinct characters. I don't have a problem with that. In Cara Lockwood's Can't Teach an Old Demon New Tricks, Pan was a low-level demon of sloth, almost too lazy to even be evil.

If you look in Edith Hamilton's Mythology or Bulfinch's Mythology, you won't learn very much about the classical Pan. These sources - standard 20th-century reference materials on the Greco-Roman myths - agree Pan was a fairly minor agricultural god, worshiped by shepherds and the rural people, whose homes were near his sacred outdoor places. The Lupercalia may have been dedicated to Pan.

The most detailed myth about him involves a musical competition between Pan and Apollo, judged by King Midas. Midas declared Pan the winner, and an indignant Apollo cursed Midas with donkey ears. Pan was considered a son of Hermes.

However, Pan has taken on a whole new role in modern NeoPagan and Wiccan practice. To many witches, Wiccans and NeoPagans, Pan is The Horned God, the representation of the Divine Masculine. He's not the only possible representation of the Horned One or the Wild God of the Wood. The Green Man is one of his manifestations, as is Cernunnos, as is Shiva, as is Lugh, and many more.

What is offensive to some practitioners of the Craft is superimposing ideas of the Christian devil onto the non-evil NeoPagan/Wiccan Pan. As we discussed in the review of The Devil on Lammas Night, not all witches, Wiccans, and NeoPagans believe in and/or worship a devil in the Christian sense.

Caroline Tully, in a blog post titled "Calling the Great God Pan: The Horned God in Witchcraft Today," describes the Horned God as "strong but not violent, playful but deep, sexual but not sleazy, loving without being possessive, and emotional without fearing disintegration." The Horned God offers an image of divine masculinity that opposes the masculinity of Western patriarchy, which can be attractive and healing for male and female Craft practitioners alike.

You can read a very detailed paper about Pan, his ancient Egyptian counterpart Min, and the confusion between Pan and the devil at White Dragon.

I'm offering this not as a criticism of Jackie Kessler's writing, but simply as a complementary perspective. I'm just saying this: Pan isn't always the bad guy.

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#Fantasy #BookReview : 'Miss Underworld' by Racquel Kechagias

Miss Underworld is a modern adaptation of an ancient Greek myth, written and published by Australian author Racquel Kechagias. I met Racquel on Goodreads when we both commented on a posting about authors exchanging book reviews. She agreed to read Eminent Domain, and I agreed to read Miss Underworld. 

The main character in this short novel is Melinoe. Although she appears to be a normal young woman living in Sydney in modern times, we know from the prologue that her origin is far from ordinary. She is, in fact, the daughter of Zeus and Persephone.

If you're not a Greek mythology buff, you can skip the next section.

The Greek Mythology Stuff:

The ancient myth of Melinoe comes from an Orphic hymn. The Orphic hymns are a collection of 87 poems attributed to the mythic figure Orpheus, who was said to have journeyed to the underworld to collect his beloved Eurydice and returned still alive. Orpheus was renowned as a poet and a singer, and a religious cult developed around teaching attributed to him in ancient times. The Hymns are thought to have been written between approximately 200 BCE and 100 CE. The were translated in English by Thomas Taylor in 1792 and re-translated, supposedly with much more accuracy, by Apostolos Athanassakis.

The hymn to Melinoe is #70 in Taylor's translation and #71 in Athanassakis' translation (Taylor started his numbering at zero). The brief poem tells a story in which Zeus, pretending to be Hades, tricks Persephone into having sex with him (in other words, he rapes her) and Persephone subsequently gives birth to Melinoe. Melinoe "drives mortals to madness with her airy phantoms,/as she appears in weird shapes and forms" when she appears to mortals at night. She may be a personification of nightmares.

In an 1805 annotated version of Thomas's Orphic hymns by Gottfried Hermann, Wikipedia says, Melinoe is described as being half black and half white - literally, not in the usual mulitracial sense that human beings may be. In this way, she resembles the Norse mythological figure Hela, one of the children of Loki. Her two contrasting aspects represent her "two fathers," light for Zeus and dark for Hades (called Plouton in the Hymn).

The Wikipedia entry also mentions Melinoe as a character in the Percy Jackson series, where she is described as the "goddess of ghosts." In the Hymns, it's unclear that Melinoe is considered a goddess. She's sometimes considered a nymph, and sometimes considered an aspect of the underworld goddess Hecate, herself sometimes called an aspect of Persephone.

Back To Our Story:

In Racquel's telling, Melinoe looks like an average mortal human woman, except that her eyes are both stark black, and one has an eerie white film over it. She knows nothing about her unusual birth, and is raised in an orphanage. She's never been adopted, but aged out of the South Australian orphanage and moved to Sydney when she was sixteen. She lives with a very unusual roommate, a surfer-dude vampire named Bernard. Melinoe, called Meli for short, is appalled by Bernard's need to glamour women to drink their blood, but she has some very strange qualities of her own. Meli is sought out by ghosts, who need her help to cross over to the other side. Those who aren't able to cross over become vampires.

Suddenly, Meli finds herself being stalked by Death. She appeals to an older, stronger vampire - the turquoise-eyed Ivan - to protect her from Death, but even he is unable.

If I May Return to Mythology For Just A Moment: In our modern way of thinking, it's easy to equate the ancient Greek concept of the underworld with hell and Hades with the devil. However, in the Greek conception, the souls of the dead were not punished in the afterlife, although the very virtuous dead may have been rewarded. Hades and Persephone were the master and mistress of all human beings after their deaths, good and bad alike, and they were not thought of as evil. They were worshiped with the same awe and reverence as the Olympian gods. Similarly, it would be a cultural mistake to equate Hades with the modern personification of "Death" or the "Grim Reaper." To the Greeks, the god who collected souls and escorted them into the underworld was Hermes - Mercury to the Romans. Hermes wasn't particularly grim or scary.

Back To Our Story:

Meli senses Death - actually her stepfather Hades - is not the real threat. She has recurring dreams, perhaps based on a traumatic childhood memory, of a man associated with a terrible storm, and she sees this figure as the real threat. She's right - Hades and Persephone only want to let her know about her true parentage. Eventually, Meli is found and confronted by her biological father, Zeus. I won't spoil what happens when they meet, but it is not a sweet family reunion. Zeus is quite villainous in this.

Hades is not. Although he seeks revenge against his brother for Zeus's attack on Persephone, he loves Meli and accepts her as his own. He and Persephone are a good, strong match with genuine love and affection for one another.

Melinoe As Heroine: The plot of this novel, unfortunately, doesn't give Meli much chance to show off any special skills or powers she might have as the daughter of the King of the Gods and the Queen of the Underworld. (She's also Zeus's granddaughter, since Zeus is Persephone's father - a myth the book never mentions.) Her ability to aid ghosts is explained, but never really shown. She does come to the rescue of a new friend, a demigod figure named Morpheus who turns out to be the son of Poseidon. (In classical mythology, Morpheus is often considered the son of Hypnos, the god of sleep, and of the goddess Nyx.) However, she is powerless against Zeus and has to be saved by the intervention of Hades and Bernard. She has fascinating attributes, and she's quite brave, but the plot has more to do with her discovery of her true parents and her developing relationship with Bernard than a typical hero's epic journey.

Who Will Enjoy This Book? You might like this short novel if you enjoy young adult and new adult paranormal romances, since Melinoe and Bernard enjoy a slowly-developing friendship-to-love story that's sensual, but not explicit. There's a little bit of a love triangle involving Ivan as well. You might also like this book if you enjoy Greek mythology retellings for older YA readers, such as Aimee Carter's Goddess Test series or Lauren Hammond's Underworld Trilogy. If you like dark, brooding fantasy with an almost horror novel-like atmosphere of impending danger and mystery, this may be the book for you.

YA Book Review: Cora:The Unwilling Queen by Amy Hutchinson

Dropping by from Evernight's Valentine Snippets Blog Hop? Please see this post and leave a comment for a chance to win your choice of book from Evernight Publishing. 

Cora: The Unwilling Queen by Amy Hutchinson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Cora Dell is a 17-year-old high school junior who lives with her parents in San Francisco, California. She has the usual compliment of teenage concerns, including whether or not she'll have enough time to finish reading Brave New World and stylistic conflicts with her best friends Joanna and Roxy. (If the trio were the Powerpuff Girls, Cora would be the Blossom, Joanna would be the Bubbles and Roxy would be the Buttercup.) Oh yeah, and she also has super-realistic dreams in which she visits the Underworld and is courted by its unnamed ruler, who wants her to be his wife. In some ways, Cora resembles the mythological Persephone, who was also called Kore in her maiden aspect. Her mother, Deidre, works in a plant conservatory and is a vegan, reminding readers of the plant-loving earth goddess Demeter of classical Greek mythology. Like Persephone, Cora is promised to the Underworld ruler by her father without her mother's knowledge or permission.

The Underworld ruler is never called Hades (or Aidon), and he already has a wife/queen who, when Cora meets her, states that she's not Persephone but started out as a mortal woman just like Cora. The Underworld itself seems to resemble the classical Greek version thereof, a bleak sunless landscape in which the souls of the dead slowly lose their individual identities, although some are better off than others. There seems to be the possibility of moving to a more heaven-like afterlife (perhaps similar to the Elysian Fields), and those in the Underworld seem to be able to die a second death, after which they are completely annihilated. This is the very fate that Cora wishes to avoid for Søren, an Underworld resident whom she comes to care about. In fact, Cora is willing to make an enormous sacrifice for Søren's life; she agrees to marry the Underworld ruler and stay with him for half of the year (the Persephone deal, although in some versions of the myth, Persephone spends only the winter in the Underworld).

I really enjoyed this book, and particularly the way it combines Cora's normal teenage life with her nocturnal (and ultimately more long-term) visits to the Underworld. It's obvious that Cora isn't merely dreaming the Underworld or making it up inside her mind, but it's also not entirely clear what it is that makes her different from other teenage girls, other than the fact that her biological father's an enormous jerk. The novel ends with quite a cliffhanger, with Søren's fate hanging in the balance and Cora not knowing what's going to happen once she becomes queen. (The last page says the conclusion is to come in Summer 2013.) I'd recommend this book for anyone who enjoys mythologically-inspired books like The Lightning Thief (which I haven't read, but which my niece adores - Cora will be passed to her next), The Goddess Test and The Shadow Thieves. I'll be excited to read the conclusion and, perhaps, have some of my questions answered.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Discloser: I won this book in a contest on Goodreads. I received no other compensation for this review, which represents my own honest opinion.

Twilight of the Goddesses

(I recently discovered that, although it was originally published as a guest post on another blog, this post can no longer be found elsewhere on the Internet.)

Inside every woman there is a goddess archetype, according to the feminist classic Goddesses in Everywoman. Jean Shinoda Bolen’s 1984 book combined the psychology of women with classical Greek mythology to describe seven personality types. These goddess archetypes reoccur in women’s lives and in literature.

The women of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series are deeply in touch with their inner goddesses. Bella Swan, the human (at least until the fourth book) heroine of the series, has been criticized for her passivity, submissiveness and resemblance to a stereotypical damsel in distress. Yet the storybook cliché of the woman in need of rescue has a deeper meaning, a resonance with one of the classical goddesses of Greek mythology. From motherly Esme to the half-breed infant Nessie, the women of Twilight resemble five of Shinoda Bolen’s seven goddesses.

Alice ~ Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena was the warrior-goddess of wisdom. She was the patroness of great heroes including Achilles, Perseus and Jason. Alice Cullen has her own hero: Jasper Cullen, formerly a general in an ambitious vampire’s territory wars. Athena entered the pantheon of Greek deities as a full-grown adult; Alice joined the Cullen vampire coven not as a human but as a fully-formed vampire. Athena’s was also goddess of crafts; Alice has a talent for planning over-the-top, sophisticated parties.

Women who follow the Athena archetype always know what to wear. Alice has a distinctive sense of fashion and helps Bella choose outfits for special occasions. Athena women want to marry powerful, successful men; Alice is inseparable from Jasper. Wise Athena women go through life seeing clearly, but Alice does them one better: she has visions, literally seeing the future clearly.

Rosalie ~ Hera

Hera was the beautiful, regal Greek goddess of marriage. She had large, beautiful eyes and was represented by the peacock. Although widely revered in ancient times, she could be jealous and vindictive. When Zeus first tried to woo her, he appeared to her as a shivering, wounded bird, and she took pity on him. His first attempts to seduce her were unsuccessful; he had to marry her first. As an adolescent, a Hera woman is already planning her wedding. A Hera woman feels incomplete without a partner. She wants to get married more than anything else.

Alice’s adopted sister Rosalie Hale is also regal and beautiful. In the first novel, Bella describes Rosalie as “statuesque,” with a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model’s figure. She’s the most beautiful girl at Forks High School.

Like Hera, Rosalie took pity on a wounded creature¾the human Emmett¾when she found him mauled by a bear. Rosalie brought him to Carlisle, her adoptive father, who saved Emmett by turning him into a vampire. Incomplete without a partner, Rosalie fell in love with Emmett. They married, and as Edward reveals to Bella in Breaking Dawn, went through a wildly enthusiastic honeymoon period in which they accidentally damaged several homes with their lovemaking.

Before Rosalie was a vampire, she was a beautiful 18-year-old in 1933. Her beauty was her most important asset, and she enjoyed the attention it got her everywhere she went. Before she even had a beau she was planning the “huge, flowery” wedding of her dreams. Her social climbing parents pushed her into a relationship with Royce King, the son of her town’s wealthiest merchant. Rosalie felt like a princess, until a drunken Royce and his friends attacked Rosalie and left her for dead. After Carlisle turned her into a vampire, a vengeful Rosalie hunted and killed each of them…dressed in her wedding gown.

A Hera woman tends to displaces her anger at her spouse onto others. She devalues her friendships with other women. Rosalie’s treatment of Bella reflects this, as in New Moon when she allows Edward to think Bella is dead. Edward also reveals to Bella that Rosalie is jealous of her because Rosalie wishes she were still human.

Renesmee ~ Artemis

At first glance, the remote and beautiful huntress Rosalie may seem like an Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting and the moon. An even better Artemis, though, is Renesmee (Nessie for short), the half-vampire daughter of Edward and Bella. In mythology Artemis travels with a pack of hounds…appropriate for Nessie, the destined mate of wolf shapeshifter Jacob Black.

Artemis was one of a pair of twins born to the nymph Leto. Her twin brother was Apollo. Though the Artemis of Greek mythology never married, she was so close with Apollo that he became jealous of men who attempted to woo her. When an Artemis woman has a husband, she treats him like a brother. They often share an interest in the outdoors. As Nessie grows up, her relationship with Jacob is like sister and brother, and he loves the outdoors.

The Artemis archetype is independent, a trait Nessie shows from a shockingly early age. Artemis babies are interested in the world from the start. Artemis women have a loving, supportive set of parents, like Bella and Edward.  An Artemis woman’s father gives her a set of gifts that enable her to do as she wants, the way Edward passed some of his vampire traits to Nessie.

Esme ~ Demeter

Demeter, the goddess of grain, was ancient Greece’s nurturer/mother goddess. Demeter was driven to extremes when she lost her only child Persephone, who was abducted and taken to the Underworld by the god of the dead. A Demeter woman’s maternal instincts are not restricted to her own biological children; she is maternal toward everyone. She becomes depressed when she loses her literal or metaphorical children. She is the chosen rather than the chooser in romantic relationships. Her ideal partner is a mature, responsible family man.

Esme Cullen, the matriarch of the coven, is a perfect Demeter. She thrives on being the adoptive mother of Edward, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. Carlisle turned Esme into a vampire only after Esme attempted suicide by jumping off a cliff¾an extreme she was driven to when her baby died shortly after birth. She was fortunate to have been chosen by Carlisle. Though he appears to be only 23, Carlisle was born in the mid-seventeenth century. He’s the ultimate mature family man.

Bella ~ Persephone

Demeter’s only child, the goddess Persephone was the young maiden abducted by Hades, the god of the Underworld. By eating the pomegranate seeds (which resemble blood drops) Hades offered her, Persephone became part of the world of the dead and reigned as their queen throughout each winter. Bella Swan, when she fell in love with Edward, was transported from her everyday human life to a secret world of cold, unearthly beings, the walking dead. Through ingesting Edward’s vampire venom, she became one of them.

The Persephone woman may go through bouts of depression where she seems to disappear from the world. Disappearing from the world is how Bella’s father, Charlie describes Bella after Edward leaves in New Moon: “But she was…empty. Her eyes were blank.” Stephenie Meyer symbolizes Bella’s depression with blank pages.

As a young woman, a Persephone archetype doesn’t know who she is. She has a passive, compliant personality and few interests of her own. She adapts herself to please a man. Persephone archetypes rarely have close relationships with their fathers. They don’t choose marriage, but agree to get married to please their partners. Although initially unaware of their own sexuality, Persephone women mature into sensual women. All of these characteristics describe Bella, who only agreed to marry Edward after realizing it was the only way to fulfill her awakening sexual desire for him.

Many readers love the Twilight series precisely because of Bella and Edward’s abstinence before their marriage. In her essay “Bite Me (Or Don’t),” Christine Siefert refers to this as “abstinence porn.” It’s interesting that one of the goddesses not represented in Stephenie Meyer’s pantheon is Aphrodite. According to Goddesses in Everywoman, the Greek goddess of love was the one resident of Mount Olympus who was neither virginal nor vulnerable to the designs of the male gods. Nevertheless, whether consciously or not, Meyer gave each of her vampire women a divine counterpart and a unique set of powers.

Author Biography: Erin O’Riordan is a novelist, avid reader and book reviewer. She adores vampires and never tires of reading about them in all their forms. Visit her at the book blog Pagan Spirits: http://www.erinoriordan.blogspot.com

References:

Angela. (n.d.) “Beauty and the Bear: Rosalie and Emmett.” Retrieved January 1, 2011.  http://rosalieandemmett.net/beauty-the-bear/beauty-bear-rosalie-emmett/

Chung, Daniel. (n.d.) “Twilight Character Guide - Alice Cullen.” Retrieved January 1, 2011. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/twilight_character_guide/alice_cullen/

Chung, Daniel. (n.d.) “Twilight Character Guide - Emmett Cullen.” Retrieved January 1, 2011. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/twilight_character_guide/emmett_cullen/

Chung, Daniel. (n.d.) “Twilight Character Guide - Esme Cullen.” Retrieved January 2, 2011. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/twilight_character_guide/esme_cullen/

Chung, Daniel. (n.d.) “Twilight Character Guide - Rosalie Hale.” Retrieved January 2, 2011. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/twilight_character_guide/rosalie_hale/

Czech, Jan. July 20, 2009. “Bella Swan - A Feminist’s Nightmare.” Retrieved January 2, 2010. http://www.suite101.com/content/bella-swan-a-feminists-nightmare-a133393

Kramer Bussel, Rachel (editor). Best Sex Writing 2010. Cleis Press, 2010.

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little, Brown and Co., 2005.

Meyer, Stephenie. New Moon. Little, Brown and Co., 2006.

Meyer, Stephenie. Eclipse. Little, Brown and Co., 2007.

Shinoda Bolen, Jean. Goddesses in Everywoman. Harper and Rowe, 1984. 

More Bad Lit Puns Via Pinterest, and also, The Tumblie Thing I Wish I'd Written

The Bad Lit Puns

So there's this North Carolina girl named Jane Garrity on Pinterest, and she has this board called Nerdy Things. I had to follow it 'cause, you know, I'm a nerdy thing. There, I found these terribly nerdy pins.

When the pigs try to get at you...

(But remember, if you party with Jay Gatsby and you see George Wilson coming, duck.)

He's beautiful in his way, 'cause fin de siecle poet-playwrights make no mistakes. You're on the right track, Oscar - you were born this way.

This one isn't from Jane, but it's a multilingual pun, and that's even better than a single-language pun.

See, 'cause "leer" means "to read" in Spanish.

This Brilliant Tumblie Thing

You know what I wish I'd written? "POI Characters Compared to Greek Gods and Goddesses" by Liz, of the Tumblr blog [more adventurous]. You may notice that, in addition to being Irrelevant, Liz is also kinda obsessed with Jeremy Renner.

(You might also notice that I still haven't learned to stop stalking the shizz outta Tumblr, and especially The Dork Mistress. Seriously, I may have to break down and join just so I can tell the Tumblies how much I appreciate their stuff.)

I could have thought of this; I compared Twilight characters to classical Greek mythological archetypes. (I couldn't find the full article online anymore - it appears to have been published at a website that was subsequently deleted.) But I didn't think of this. Liz did. And it's awesome.

I don't want to steal Liz's thunder, so I'll just share this: Joss Carter is Athena, John Reese is Ares, and the machine is Zeus.

Roman statue of Ares, circa 320 BCE. Public domain image

Percy Jackson: The Thief of Female Power

Just saw Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. I'm a little surprised there was no representation of any of the major Greek goddesses - Hera, Hestia and Demeter. I'm a little surprised that Persephone had the lightning bolt - she could have ruled the gods!- and was satisfied just to give it away and settle for her lot in (after)life.





I didn't read the book, so I don't know whether this inability to imagine female power/divinity comes from Rick Riordan or from the filmmakers. Annoying, though. Persephone was a key figure in Greek mythology, worshiped in the Elysian Mysteries for the possibility that she could bring about the reincarnation of dead souls. This film reduces her to a desperate housewife.

I can imagine Persephone, the virgin goddess of spring/Queen of the Underworld as the ruler of the gods, and thus the divinity with the most influence on the earth, as a powerful goddess. She would rule the world with mercy and kindness, the qualities for which the ancient Greeks prayed to her and the ancient Romans prayed to Proserpina, her equivalent. We wouldn't fear death, because merciful Persephone would allow us to come back in new bodies.

I feel very protective of Persephone because I identify with her as "my" goddess. I want her to be empowered. I want her pairing with Hades to be an equal and happy match. I don't believe she's a helpless being trapped in Hell. For one thing, it's a cultural mistake to equate the Greek concept of the Underworld with the Zoroastrian/Christian vision of Hell.

I did like the casting of Rosario Dawson. Even though I remember her from silly projects like Josie and the Pussycats and Men in Black II, she projects strength, even when playing a slighted damsel in distress. Dawson is beautiful enough to pass as the Goddess of Spring.

Rosario Dawson by Dysepsion, Creative Commons license

Dawson is also a Tank Top Tuesday favorite at Dorothy Surrenders.

Uma Thurman is rather over-the-top in this as Medusa. Read my updated version of the Medusa myth, minus beheading, in Like A God's Kiss: Erotic Mythological Tales.

The other goddess-figure who appears in this film is Athena. In mythology, she's a virgin goddess, so I'm somewhat perplexed that Percy befriends Annabeth, a daughter of Athena. Annabeth's a great character - she's a warrior. She's also well-versed in Greek mythology, sort of a Hermione Granger without the middle-school awkwardness. I have a hard time picturing Athena with a mortal lover - but I'll gladly permit authors and filmmakers their creative license to rewrite the classical myths. 

I just wish there wasn't such a creative blind spot when it comes to envisioning the divine feminine.

WIP Wednesday: "Twilight of the Goddesses"

Are you an author? Would you like to tease future readers with a blurb about your current work in progress on a WIP Wednesday? If so, e-mail me at erinoriordan (at) sbcglobal (dot) net. For the month of December, I'll be supplementing WIP Wednesdays with Winter Solstice posts - it'll officially be known as Winter Solstice Wednesday - but I'd still love to hear about what you're currently reading and share it with my readers.

Erin O'Riordan: I'm offering the full (1,400-word) version of this post as a guest post in today's BloggerLinkUp newsletter. This is just a little taste.

"Twilight of the Goddesses" by Erin O'Riordan

Inside every woman there is a goddess archetype, according to the feminist classic Goddesses in Everywoman. Jean Shinoda Bolen’s 1984 book combined the psychology of women with classical Greek mythology to describe seven personality types. These goddess archetypes reoccur in women’s lives and in literature.

The women of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series are deeply in touch with their inner goddesses. Bella Swan, the human (at least until the fourth book) heroine of the series, has been criticized for her passivity, submissiveness and resemblance to a stereotypical damsel in distress. Yet the storybook cliché of the woman in need of rescue has a deeper meaning, a resonance with one of the classical goddesses of Greek mythology. From motherly Esme to the half-breed infant Nessie, the women of Twilight resemble five of Shinoda Bolen’s seven goddesses.

Alice ~ Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena was the warrior-goddess of wisdom. She was the patroness of great heroes including Achilles, Perseus and Jason. Alice Cullen has her own hero: Jasper Cullen, formerly a general in an ambitious vampire’s territory wars. Athena entered the pantheon of Greek deities as a full-grown adult; Alice joined the Cullen vampire coven not as a human but as a fully-formed vampire. Athena’s was also goddess of crafts; Alice has a talent for planning over-the-top, sophisticated parties.

Women who follow the Athena archetype always know what to wear. Alice has a distinctive sense of fashion and helps Bella choose outfits for special occasions. Athena women want to marry powerful, successful men; Alice is inseparable from Jasper. Wise Athena women go through life seeing clearly, but Alice does them one better: she has visions, literally seeing the future clearly.

Both images are in the public domain.

Who is Joseph Campbell? (And Why Writers Should Care) - Guest Post by Karma Bennett

Joseph Campbell: The Greatest Mythologist of All time?

If you look at the history of psychoanalysis, most people think of Freud, followed by Jung, and then a bunch of less important scholars wrote stuff that barely honored a paragraph in their college textbooks. Joseph Campbell is the big name that followed in the footsteps of Jung, but his work is glossed over in those hefty 101 courses because he didn't study psychology, but mythology.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Jung's idea of the collective unconscious, but just to bring everyone up to speed, it's the idea that there are certain common ideas that mankind returns to over and over again. This can be as common as a fear of snakes or as complex as water as a symbol for sexual desires. What Campbell did was look at the stories that mankind has shared throughout the ages and search for common themes. What he discovered has shocked and offended many theologists and proven fruitful for many writers.

The Same Old Song and Dance

You've heard the idea that writers tell the same stories over and over. Campbell takes this a step further and shows that when it comes to the great epics, there is only one story, the monomyth, that is repeated endlessly throughout the course of human struggle. Campbell's many exhaustive books explain how the story of Christ is the same story as the story of Dionysus is the same story as some African tribal creation myth is the same story as Star Wars, etc. In typical Campbell fashion, he describes his own work by a reference to the Vedas: "Truth is one, the sages speak of it by many names."

The monomyth is also known as "the hero's journey." In all epic tales, and in every religion, the same thematic ideas are explored. For any writer who wants to write The Great American Novel (or French or Indian, natch) having such a blueprint is obviously of interest.

The Hero's Journey: An Example

An example of an element of the monomyth is "Refusal of the Call." At the beginning of any great epic, the hero will at first refuse to go on the journey in the first place. You'll see this in romantic comedies when the lead hunk determines he's not going to phone the girl. You see it in the cop flicks when the detective crosses his arms and claims he's not going to go after that big dangerous case. As readers, we know the protagonist will change her mind because if she doesn't, there is no story.

So why bother with the "refusal of the call"? Because deep down we know that many people never do great things because they never bother to try. They are stuck in an infantile state. Campbell says, "one is bound in by the walls of childhood; the father and mother stand as threshold guardians, and the timorous soul, fearful of some punishment, fails to make the passage through the door and come to birth in the world without." In this ten-page section, Campbell gives examples of The Refusal of the Call from: Proverbs, King Minos, The Hound of Heaven, the story of Apollo and Daphne, The Frog Prince, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Brynhild, Little Briar-rose (Sleeping Beauty), The Thousand Nights and One Night, Lot's salty wife, the tale of the Wandering Jew, yoga, Otta Rank's Art and Artist,The adventure of the Prince Kamar in Arabian Nights, The Koran, and examples of dreams from those undergoing psychoanalysis. Phew!

What Joseph Campbell is Not

There are many who misunderstand Campbell's work as a shortcut for writers who want to "cheat" their way to the best sellers list. For example, I recently read this in dismissive response to a Reddit post asking why JK Rowling is so popular:

she imitated Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and both of those were based on Joseph Campbell's mythological research which basically says most successful myths follow the same structure:

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

So basically it is all applied mythology research.

This understanding of Campbell is entirely backwards. The idea is that great writers will come back to the same themes over and over because all humans are driven by the same basic instincts: the search for meaning, fear of death, coming of age, and motherhood/fatherhood to name a few. Thus when someone writes a story that involves a rebirth, it is possible they were copying the ideas of Joseph Campbell or that they "stole" it from The Bible. But it is just as likely that they were driven to that theme by the secret desire that all people have to taste immortality.

There is really no way to write a modern story and "copy" Joseph Campbell without creating something uniquely your own. His research often describes things like the storyline in ancient Babylonian ceremonial dinnerware. Not exactly a cut-and-paste template for writing success. It's more of a foundation for understanding why some stories are so meaningful to humans that they become part of the cultural narrative.

Now you could read a book like Save the Cat to find out the formula that has been behind great stories for the last thirty years. Or you could read Joseph Campbell to understand the formula that has created legendary stories that have been retold for thousands of years.

Where to Begin?

The most commonly recommended Campbell tome is The Hero with a Thousand Faces (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell), though any of his books will introduce you to the theme of the monomyth. If you are particularly interested in Eastern religions, you may prefer to start with Eastern Mythology. If you're Pagan, you may be more interested in Occidental Mythology. If, horror of horrors, you hate to read, he also created a popular PBS series with XXXXX. There is a book that goes with this, The Power of Myth, for those who want a quick read with full-color photos. Another interesting work is Creative Mythology. This tome deals describes what makes artists and what makes their audiences respond. There is also a book for writers that describes Campbell's work, but I say why go derivative when you can read the original?

As scholarly works go, it can be tiresome at times. But at other times, Campbell's writing can provide powerful insights into stories you thought you knew. For example, recall the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. When this story was taught in seventh grade, the premise mentioned was that the Labyrinthe was built to hide the Minotaur--a bastard monster born out of the shame that King Mino's wife got busy with a bull. The plot of such a story struck me at the time as absurd and meaningless. But in The Hero With A Thousand Faces Campbell explains that the queen's lust was inspired by Poseidon. He'd granted the bull to King Minos as proof that he was worthy of the throne. The king was supposed to sacrifice the bull, but seeing how fine it was; he kept it. Thus the wife's lust was a punishment for King Mino's greed. Today many believe that politicians serve a higher calling (if not God than Nation) and that they should set aside their selfish desires and do what's best for their constituency. The story of King Minos and the creation of the Labyrinth is is neither absurd nor meaningless. It is a familiar theme: the consequences of political corruption.

If you have ever wondered why we return to over and over to narratives of journeys or initiation or redemption, Joseph Campbell will be your answer. If you're interested in gaining a fundamental understanding of the great myths of the English language, reading a thousand pages of Joseph Campbell is still faster than reading every classic in the public domain. If you struggle to write meaningful plots, reading Campbell may show you more than what to write. It can show you why the plot you have written has failed to capture the reader at the most basic instinctual level. Instead of teaching you to craft narratives based on recent box office trends, Campbell's work will teach you to understand the seeds of our most secret wishes, returning nightmares and haunting dreams. That's the stuff of great fiction. ~

Author bio: Karma is a freelance writer and publicist in Oakland, CA. She writes about politics, publishing, and music at http://futureisfiction.com. You may find her photographing graffiti, eating Mexican food, or singing and dancing along with the Muzac at the grocery store.

Photo credits:
Snake -Furryscaly
Dionysus - public domain
Sleeping Beauty - public domain
Harry Potter Patronus - Frostnova
Minotaur - public domain