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| Mask of Agamemnon Wikipedia |
Part 3 of this first chapter of videos, Gaia's Secret, discusses how obedience became the most important value of a woman and that she was dehumanized to no longer be a human, but the symbol of a man's (whomever she belonged to) honor. I think the best example the video gives is of the story of Agamemnon, his wife, and their son. The wife kills Agamemnon and his mistress when she finds them together. In revenge, the son kills the mother. Athena, goddess of wisdom, saves him from the furies and says what he did was right. Matricide is ok in this patriarchal society because the mother belongs to the man of the house (her son) who must keep his women obedient before the ties of family or justice.
In the fourth video, the author describes how mythologies and religions around the world lack strong, important feminine characters. Often, if women are at all included, they are delicate or a punishment. The author talked about how Buddha refused to allow women into the monastic orders. he only began to consider it when he saw his mother cry at the death of his father. It took him watching his mother crying to realize that women have emotions too... some wise man he was. I don't want to offend anyone, and every religion has problematic views of women, but this story of how Buddha didn't not see women as people with feelings for too long was very striking to me.
Gaia's Secrets: Pattanaik, Seven Secrets of the Goddesses 2016
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