Can anyone help me and Clemsy with this one? Thanks.
Cindy
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Carmela wrote:The very word "Hero" was flipped from the original name of a female god to the generic version of the self-sacrificially altruistic male saviour. Once it became completely masculine, another word had to be devised for the lesser (female) hero. The other hero was called the "heroine".
Cindy wrote:Indeed, Hera. General knowledge, huh.
Clemsy wrote:Carmela, can we get a reference for that? This seems something that would have come my way and the only ref I could find quickly tells me what I'd already thought:
hero
late 14c., "man of superhuman strength or courage," from L. heros "hero," from Gk. heros "demi-god" (a variant singular of which was heroe), originally "defender, protector," from PIE base *ser- "to watch over, protect" (cf. L. servare "to save, deliver, preserve, protect"). Sense of "chief male character
Cindy wrote:Clemsy,
Hera, as mother goddess, was the original protector and defender (archetypal great mother here), and as well as of the greatest Greek hero, Heracles (Hercules) from whom his name is derived. Heracles means "Glory of Hera."
Not sure where I learned this about Hera/hero, most likely something Jungian, but I can research later if you'd like.
Clemsy wrote:Oh I'm aware of the Hera/Herakles connection. Etymology seems to be thus:
So I'll give that there's a relationship between the two but the one doesn't evolve from the other that I can see. I'm picky like that. lol!Hera
from Gk. Hera, lit. "protectress," related to heros "hero," originally "defender, protector."
Cindy wrote:I understand why it seems so, of course. When time allows, I'll do some digging.
Clemsy wrote:Most I can find has 'hero' from 'heros', meaning demi-god. Any similarity with Hera may be parallel rather than sequential. I can see where the use could have come down from a previous matriarchal culture, of which Hera is an expression, absorbed by later patriarchal intrusion.
Don't know if such a deep etymology is possible, but would be curious as to what you find.
Cindy wrote:Merely to muddy these feminine/masculine etymological waters more, Clemsy, I just thought of this Greek tale: Hero (female) and Leander (male). Just saying. I still haven't looked into the Hera/hero etymology issue yet.
Cindy
P.S. And on a related note: Zeus Heraios, "Zeus, consort of Hera." Ya' gotta' love it, ladies. Also, the worship of Hera predated that of Zeus, and the oldest Greek temples were dedicated to her. Zeus wasn't always and necessarily perceived as top dog god in the pantheon.
Clemsy wrote:Indeed. Zeus may be just as old (who knows how old any of these deities actually are!), but he wasn't native to the Greek peninsula. He, and the other boys, came down with the Aryan migrations, and absorbed the existing goddess based cultures... if memory serves.
Cindy wrote:And somewhere Plato wrote that Hera was derived from the Babylonian goddess Aruru.
Cindy wrote:Clemsy,
Maybe bodhibliss would know about the Hera/hero etymology issue. You think? Sure would save me busy work , and I'm not even sure that whatever the resource is in my own library. A casual look on the web while I watch the news has turned up nothing so far along this line.
I certainly hope after all this that I'm not mistaken. I'm starting to doubt myself since I've not yet hit on something on the web. Usually I'm quite good at internet research as far as one can go with that, and my bookmarked articles produced nothing.
Clemsy wrote:Bodhi probably does, but I'll wait to ask him when I see him next week at the symposium. He's a busy beaver right now!
But I'd be surprised if there was anything certain. These words are old.
...Although one must take into account that the word in its current usage didn't appear until the 14th century.
Cindy wrote:That would be great, Clemsy, and have a wonderful time, too.
In the meantime, soon I'll take a look here at home.
Cindy
P.S. There is a link, though, as I discovered on the web between the Greek words (but ancient Greek?) between heros (m.) meaning "master" and the correlative heras (f.) meaning "mistress." This is not what I had in mind, though.
τέλος (The End)