Article 5: Atalanta - greek myth, modern stories
The original battle of the sexes
Atalanta was a figure from classical greek mythology. She was a huntress, a good runner and all round athlete. Some stories feature her as the only female crew member of the Argo, others disagree. Either way, to be considered good enough to be an Argonaut puts you on the same level as heroes such as Heracles and Orpheus, which is some considerable feat. By any measure she was outstanding.
Legend runs that when she was born it was prophesied that if she married then all would be lost. As she had no wish to take second place to someone she resolved not to marry and thus any suitors for her hand would have to run a race with her and win, or be put to death. Despite the risk, there were a number of men that attempted this and paid the price.
Ultimately she found someone that she also wished to marry and love won out. He prayed to the gods for a way to beat her and win the race and was given 3 of the golden apples of the Hesperides. He was to throw one in front of her, knowing she would stop to pick up such a marvellous thing, which would give him an edge in the race.
In the end, he followed the advice, threw an apple in front of her 3 times and 3 times she stopped to pick up such a wonderful thing, thus losing time and ultimately losing the race.
How does this apply to us today? Because in the sixties women started to realise that they had power. We had the sexual revolution. Women could wear what they wanted, could wear short skirts to show off their figures or cover up with trousers if they wanted to. Barriers to achievement started to be knocked down. Germaine Greer wrote and inspired women to achieve more and expect more out of life. In short, women were starting to catch up and take their place along side men. What did the men do? They threw an apple in the path. What was this apple? It was skinny models like Twiggy. She was impossibly thin, so thin that nobody of normal proportions could be that thin. This was held up as an iconic image of beauty. Before her the image was Marilyn Monroe, the ultimate sex symbol. Marilyn was a size 16, which would be quite unheard of today as a sex symbol. Plus size models are generally size 14 or so and will not generally be seen as mainstream celebrities. Now the curves were gone and the skinny stick thin figure become the ultimate aspiration for women. It was, of course, impossible to achieve this goal.
The consequences? Women tried to achieve this new impossible objective. Instead of aiming for and achieving successes in the world and taking their rightful place as equals to men, women have spent the last 20+ years trying to lose weight and fit some impossible stereotype. Right now we have a generation of girls that risk anorexia and bulimia nervosa to try and look like their idols, people that are now selectively chosen for their looks on the basis that they are not strong feminine figures but are particularly short and petite, pretty but helpless. How can anybody be as skinny as an underweight 5'0" woman? It is not possible, given that the average height is 5'6".
In the myth Atalanta had led an interesting life. She served on the crew of the Argo, experienced a life of adventure and eventually perhaps allowed herself to lose the race, being ready to settle down. There is a hint that she was aware of the ploy and may have secretly wanted him to win.
The difference between the myth and our reality is that distractions (the apples) are being thrown at people before they have had a chance to do anything, to make a difference in their own lives and in other peoples lives. Atalanta had a choice, the current generation is being indoctrinated with constant media saturation of an extreme level. The term 'brainwashed' comes to mind.
Greek myths held multiple threads within them and many truths can be gleaned from them. In this case we could draw many conclusions from the story of Atalanta though the one I would wish you to take from it is to be aware of when people are trying to distract you, to throw you off track from what you wish to achieve. This will further their own goals, not yours. If, like Atalanta, you wish to go along with this path and need an excuse then all well and good. Just make sure it is your own path you will be following in the end.
Be true to your own self.
Sebastian