Heroic Women
contemporary women
ancient • archetypal women
Judith
In The Book of Judith, a story from the apocrypha, a charming and beautiful Jewish widow, Judith, uses her beauty and charm to destroy an Assyrian general and save Israel from oppression. Judith and her maid go to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes. Gradually Judith gains his trust by promising him information on the Israelites. One night, allowed access to his tent, Judith decapitates him as he lies in a drunken stupor. She then takes his head back to her countrymen. The Assyrians, now leaderless, disperse; and Israel is saved. Judith remains unmarried for the rest of her life.
For a modern-day Judith who saved over 3000 Jews from persecution in their homeland, Syria, see Judy Feld-Carr, or click here
Queen Esther
In the Book of Esther (a story found in the Jewish Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and in the Christian Old Testament) the Persian king Ahasuerus (also identified as Xerxes I) seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, refuses to obey him. Esther is chosen for her beauty.
The king's chief advisor, Haman, is offended by Esther's cousin and guardian, Mordecai, and gets permission from the king to have all the Jews in the kingdom killed. Esther foils the plan, wins permission from the king for the Jews to kill their enemies, and they do so.
Her story is the traditional basis for Purim, which is celebrated on the date given in the story for when Haman's order was to go into effect, which is the same day that the Jews killed their enemies after the plan was reversed.
queen Boadicea
Queen Boudica was the warrior Queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 61.
For a modern-day Boudica, fighting against colonialism and systemic racism, see Muriel Stanley Venne or click here
the furies
Joan of arc
Artemis • Diana
Known to the Romans as Diana, and to the Greeks as Artemis, she was the Olympian Goddess of the Moon, Goddess of Wildlife, of the Hunt and Chastity. Diana/Artemis roamed the wilderness, forests, mountains, meadows and glades with a band of nymphs and hunting dogs. Diana/Artemis represents achievement and competence; independence from men and male opinions; and concern for victimized, powerless women and the young.
For a modern-day Artemis, see Unity Dow and Dame Jane Goodall and click here
As Goddess of Wildlife Artemis was associated with the attributes of many undomesticated animals, elusive and wary, regal and fierce. She acted swiftly and decisively to protect and rescue those who appealed to her for help and was merciless to those who offended her. An accomplished archer, she rescued many women who were at risk of being raped and was swift to slay the offenders with the deadly aim of her bow.
As Goddess of the Moon she is shown as a light bearer, carrying torches in her hands or with the moon and stars surrounding her head. She was at home in the night, roaming the wilderness by moonlight. In her Moon Goddess aspect, she was related to Selene and Hecate. She was the personification of the independent feminine spirit.
As the Virgin goddess, she represents the whole woman, complete in herself without the aid of a man. She was not raped and never married; mistakenly she killed the one man she loved, Orion, because of her competitive nature.
She is also known as the Goddess of Childbirth since she aided her mother, Leto in her own birth. Thereafter she was called upon to aid women in childbirth. She is also one of the few goddesses who repeatedly came to the aid of her mother.
A story often depicted in Art tells of a moment when the Goddess fell in love with the youth, Endymion. According to legend she would come and kiss him each night as he lay sleeping on top of the mountain. At one point her light touch briefly wakened him and he caught sight of her but he attributed this to a dream. Preferring the dream state to his dreary quotidian reality, he was never awake when she was present. Through her love Endymion was granted eternal youth and timeless beauty.
In one story, frequently depicted in Art, she caught the hunter Actaeon watching her and her nymphs bathing in a hidden pool. Furious at this intrusion, she splashed water into his face which turned him into a stag. Subsequently he became quarry for his own hunting dogs and was torn to bits.
