Table of Content
How
can human language describe the gods and goddesses and their potent infliction
of disabilities on other gods or goddesses? This writing will focus more on the
‘other-inflicted’ disabilities by the gods and goddesses with a few examples
from ancient Greek or Roman mythologies. The gods and goddesses seem to punish
other gods or goddesses with disabilities for either speaking out or saying
their minds or even being cast out for having a disability. Here, we see the
confrontation between the powerful and the protected, between the superior and
inferior gods and goddesses, between what is normal and what is different, between
ability and disability. A god or goddess that is inflicted with disability
seems to lose the capacity to revert to ability again.
Can
there be anything like a god or goddess with a disability? To start with, a god
is a supernatural being who is viewed as divine or sacred. The word ‘divine’
means a being like a God or god. Something beautiful, lovely, pleasing, or
delightful. Something powerful or all-powerful. If we understand disability as
someone who has a physical or mental impairment that greatly reduces or limits their
functionality, then a god or goddess with disability is one with limitations.
In formal reasoning, a god or goddess with a disability is neither powerful nor
all-powerful.
Having
said that, below are different gods and goddesses with disabilities who have
excelled in their roles, their disabilities notwithstanding. The following gods
and goddesses will be examined to bring to the fore the awkwardness of the gods
and goddesses and their vengeful waves of anger.
· Hephaestus
· Tiresias
· Larunda
Hephaestus
Hephaestus
is popularly known as the god of technology, sculpture, fire, and metalwork. According
to legend, he was delivered by Hera (wife of Zeus) of which Zeus was not the
responsible father. It was said that Hera conceived of him in revenge to spite
Zeus for having Athena without her.
According
to Homer, Hephaestus was cast out from Olympus by Hera, his mother because he
was lame. Another account by Homer described Hephaestus as thrown away from
Olympus by Zeus while defending himself from Hera. These accounts pose one
question: was Hephaestus born with disability or was his disability caused by
Zeus? His disability could have been from birth, hence Hera, his mother
rejected him due to shame that she had a child with a clubfoot. Casting him out
is evidence of removing an unwanted child with a disability from what is viewed
as a normal environment. Nevertheless, for the shame of being removed from
Olympus because of his disability, he avoided both mortals and gods for nine
years in the company of Thetis and Eurydome and was later brought back to that
normal environment.
The above is an example of an ‘other-inflicted’
disability. The awkwardness of this incident is that it was a case of mother
against son or if you like, a goddess against a god. Hephaestus was ‘cast out’,
but he refused to be a ‘castaway’. He was removed from Olympus, but he refused
to be without friends or companions.
Tiresias
Another
mythological figure is Tiresias, a wise person, and a blind prophet of Apollo. He
was a god doomed with misfortunes. Before his blindness, he was cursed to
live as a woman for seven years. Then, there was a bet between Zeus and Hera.
It goes this way: Who enjoys sex the most, men or women? Zeus bet on women.
Hera betted on men. Tiresias said that women enjoy sex the most. He declared
Zeus the winner. But that did not go down well with Hera. In anger, Hera made
Tiresias blind. In compensation, perhaps for declaring him a winner, Zeus gave
Tiresias the power to see the future.
It
appears that the gods and goddesses do not sanction ‘freedom of speech.’ Tiresias' punishment for speaking out was blindness. The punishment came from Hera, a
goddess, and the victim was a man. His blindness became his daily experience
outside the normal environment of Zeus and Hera. However, his blindness, though retribution for doing nothing but speaking out, did not incapacitate him. He
was compensated by Zeus. Tiresias is known as the blind prophet of Apollo.
Larunda
She
was a character to reckon with. As narrated in one Roman mythology, OVID’s Fasti,
Larunda was the famous daughter of Almo, the river god. She was often told to
keep her mouth shut by her father. She never listened or obeyed her father’s
commands. You can call her a whisperer or a backbiter, she was incredibly outstanding
in her campaign for the womenfolk.
With
her power of speech, she warned her sister, Juturna about Zeus’ plan to force
her into a marriage. She urged her to run away. Then, she exposed Zeus’
infidelity by telling Hera that her husband, Zeus was unfaithful. She was
fearless and ready to tell it as it was without fear or favor. But that angered
Zeus. As punishment, he cut off her tongue and condemned her to the Underworld
as a Nymph of the rivers of hell.
As
if her disability was not enough, while on the way to the Underworld, she was
raped by Hermes, son of Zeus, and the Pleiad Maia, who was her escort. She
protested and struggled but no rescue came. She was not heard because her
tongue was cut off. This is another example of ‘other-inflicted’ disability.
Her
father, Almo wanted to silence her voice. Her tongue was brutally severed by
Zeus. Her virginity was violently violated by Hermes. But she refused to be muzzled
not by her father, Zeus, or Hermes. Even when she was raped by Hermes, she screamed,
and screamed; no god or goddesses heard her. She fought off Hermes, though no
god or goddess came to her rescue.
Here again is the awkwardness of the gods. Here, it was the power and strength of a god against a goddess. In the case of Larunda, we see sexism or prejudice against women. Larunda was first rebuked by her father for speaking her mind, despised by Zeus for alerting Hera about his infidelity, and violated by Hermes for being a woman. Their malevolence turned her ability into a disability. But one thing is true: Juturna and Hera heard her and acted.
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