1500 word | 5.5 minute read
CW: sexual violence
Photo by Etienne Girardet
There has been an outpouring of rage from women and other people of marginalised genders this week. In case you missed it, CNN published a report that shows a website featuring ‘porn’1 of drugged women which receives over 62 million hits per month, alongside the existence of a Telegram chat group where men from across the globe trade tips on how to drug and rape their female partners. Naturally, this has resulted in a collective feeling of anger and despair, with many sharing personal stories about the abuse and sexual violence they have experienced.
I have written previously about how the gods stand with us against fascism. I have also posted on Instagram a collective prayer to Ares (the canonical, in myth, killer of his daughter’s rapist) to smite these misogynistic oppressors. So, for this week, I thought I would continue with this theme and share about the Hellenic goddesses who stand with us against widespread sexual violence and abuse. Many people call on goddesses like these in justice and baneful workings: Hekate is a popular Hellenic goddess for this reason, as a Reddit about her shows with many posts about invoking her form hexes, including this one about ICE.
However, I feel there are many goddesses who get overlooked in favour of others for these sorts of relationships and magical workings. To that end, I have selected five (of many) from the Hellenic pantheon who may be less obvious to work with, typically because there’s just less information about them out there both contemporarily and historically. I hope this list inspires those who are angry about the state of the world and the treatment of those of marginalised genders to strike up more relationships with our divine allies. May your workings for justice—whatever that looks like to you—be successful.
The Erinyes
More known under their Latin name, the Furies, the Erinyes in Greek myth are a group of three goddesses of vengeance who punished men for crimes against the god-given, natural order. Their individual names are Tisiphone, Megaira, and Alekto. They were historically depicted as a group of conventionally unattractive, winged women whose arms, hair, and waists are entwined with serpents, and they wield whips.
Sprung from the blood caused when Kronos castrated his father, Ouranos, the goddesses can be called on by victims of crime to punish the perpetrators. The consequences that the Erinyes deliver upon those who committed such wrongs varied, such as illnesses and disease or a descent into madness—which could serve as inspiration for many baneful workings. They also serve Hades and Persephone in the Underworld, torturing souls who were deemed deserving of such.
They are most known in the myths of Oedipus and Orestes. In the former myth, Oedipus calls the Erinyes down upon his sons after they seized the throne from him following on from his self-inflicted blinding after marrying his mother and killing his own father. In the latter myth, Orestes was the last to suffer the curse of the Erinyes that had plagued his family for three generations for the sin of his forebear. This also has implications within the story of Agamemnon’s murder.
The Erinyes also work at the behest of the Moirai (the Fates), as murder is an intervention into their field that deserved punishment. As such, it would make sense that these goddesses (named Klotho, Lakhesis, Atropos) cane be called on alongside the Erinyes they employed.
Themis
The Titan goddess of divine law and order, Themis is also a prophetic goddess. Less of a goddess of more violent retribution like the Erinyes (above) and Nemesis (below), Themis was one of Zeus’ first brides and serves as his counsel. It was Themis who instructed humans on the divine precepts laid out by the gods, including good governance and hospitality. She was worshipped across Greece, including in Athens and Dodona (where Zeus famously had a temple and oracle). One of her epithets, Soteira (one she shares with other goddesses like Hekate), means ‘saviour’, showing how she can be called upon in prayers and spells of justice, albeit probably most approrpriately those that take the ‘proper’ channels through institutions (think the courts and potentially other avenues such as HR complaints).
Nemesis
The goddess of retribution against evil deeds and undeserved good fortune, Nemesis is also the personification of the indignationone gets when seeing someone act with impunity or receiving good things that they do not deserve. Given everything also happening with the Epstein files, this is a feeling many of us are experiencing at the moment. Her name means ‘dispenser of dues’, and it is said that both happiness and unhappiness is measured out by her to ensure fairness, and that if one received too much happiness (according to what they deserve), she will inflict suffering or losses to ‘make up for it’.
Like the Erinyes, she too was often depicted with wings. She was often seen carrying a sword, a lash, an apple branch, or a rein. Her sacred animal is, perhaps surprisingly, the goose (although they do have a lot of sass so I can see it!). As the theoi.com page linked above says:
“In myth Nemesis was particularly concerned with matters of love. She appears as an avenging agent in the stories of Narkissos and Nikaia, whose callous actions brought about the death of their wooers. In some versions of the Trojan War, she was the mother of Helene, and is shown in scenes of her seduction by Paris pointing an accusing finger at the girl.”
One of her epithets, Adrasteia, means ‘inescapable’, showing that once her eye is turned to exact justice against someone, she cannot be evaded.
Nyx
Called by Homer “the subduer of gods and men”, Nyx is the primordial goddess of the night who spawned from Khaos herself. Depicted as a winged goddess (again, as this seems to be a theme) or as a charioteer, these depictions are a personification as she is actually the of the inky depths of night itself. On her own, she spawned a number of the other personification deities, including Eris (Strife), Hypnos (Sleep), and Thanatos (Death), and is also the mother of the aforementioned Erinyes and Moirai. Myths written by Ovid show her connection to witchcraft, and she had an oracle in Megara. There is little information on her in comparison to other deities, but the ‘subduer’ turn of phrase as well as being the mother of other gods that could relate to retributive violence leads me to infer that she could be called on for this, as well.
Dike
Goddess of justice, fair judgements and law-given rites, Dike is similar to her mother Themis in that she can be called on for justice through more institutional channels. She is one of the three Horai, goddesses of the seasons, along with her sisters Eunomia (Good Order) and Eirene (Peace). She also likely represents an aspect of the growth of flora in the spring. As well as being a goddess in her own right, she is often associated and syncretised with the personfication of Righteousness, Dikaiosyne.
In Hesiod’s Work and Days (quoted in the above link), Dike is figured to report injustice to her father, Zeus, who himself was seen as the chief deity of justice. As it says:
“There is Virgin Dike (Justice), the daughter of Zeus, who is honoured and reverenced among the gods who dwell on Olympos, and whenever anyone hurts her with lying slander, she sits beside her father, Zeus the son of Kronos (Cronus), and tells him of men’s wicked heart, until the people pay for the mad folly of their princes who, evilly minded, pervert judgement and give sentence crookedly.”
However, as is written on theoi.com, Dike was in the Greek tragedies a goddess of violent justice meted out by herself as well:
“In the tragedians, Dice [sic] appears as a divinity who severely punishes all wrong, watches over the maintenance of justice, and pierces the hearts of the unjust with the sword made for her by Aesa… In this capacity she is closely connected with the Erinnyes [sic]…, though her business is not only to punish injustice, but also to reward virtue.”
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I hope this brief introduction spurs some to consider researching these goddesses more and building relationships with them, in order to help power justice spells and baneful workings against abusers of all ilk. The world is a dark place, both historically and contemporarily, and as the internet continues to exist as a repository of information, these sorts of stories will continue to pour through.
Our rage is justified. Never forget that. These goddesses surely don’t.
Footnotes
- I put ‘porn’ in inverted commas because perhaps the better term would be ‘abuse material’, considering there is absolutely nothing consensual about the videos, compared to media created with full consent by paid actors.
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