Abstract
The paper deals with significantly different sources and historical periods: the parts dedicated to breastfeeding are based on votive statuettes of adults with infant/s from ancient Latium and Southern Etruria; the ones on pregnancy and childbirth are based on two archeological sources – one from Southern Etruria and one from Imperial Rome – which show the male (divine) appropriation of exclusively female biological functions; The parts on mothering are based on the concept of “mothering figures” (male mothering, animal mothering…) through mythological examples from Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art and narratives. Despite the heterogeneous documentation, we may conclude that the mother was not the only active character in the process of conceiving, giving birth, breastfeeding, and raising an infant in the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman societies. Many other figures close to the mother – male and female – were engaged in obtaining divine protection for her and her child; in helping, supporting, and even substituting her when necessary (and, of course, when possible). The research has been conducted mainly by using the concept of kourotrophia and mothering figures as analytical tools.
1 Introduction
This paper aims to explore themes such as gender fluidity and alternative mothering in the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman worlds from a religious point of view. [1] It deals with significantly different sources and historical periods: the first one on breastfeeding is based on votive statuettes of adults with infant/s from ancient Latium and Southern Etruria; the second one on pregnancy and childbirth is based on two archaeological sources – one from Southern Etruria and one from Imperial Rome – which shows the male (divine) appropriation of exclusively female biological functions; the third one on mothering is based on the concept of “mothering figures” (male mothering, animal mothering…) through mythological examples from Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art and narratives. Despite the heterogeneous documentation, the fil rouge is: the mother was not the only active character in the process of conceiving, giving birth, breastfeeding, and raising an infant in the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman societies. Many other figures close to the mother – male and female – were engaged in obtaining divine protection for her and her child; in helping, supporting, and even substituting her when necessary (and, of course, when possible). The research has been conducted mainly by using the concept of kourotrophia and mothering figures as analytical tools. I must warn that there isn’t a proper balance between the three sections, since the first one required an introduction to breastfeeding in Antiquity and a detailed description of the archaeological material (which is significantly more copious that the material used in the other case studies). [2]
1.1 Kourotrophia
Kourotrophia is made up of the verb trepho, whose first meaning is “to cause to grow”, and subsequently “increase, bring up, rear”; and kouros, young boy. Therefore, kourotrophia means “making a child grow”. [3] It represents the main way for “major” goddesses to express their mothering towards someone else’s offspring – whether divine, not fully divine, or human – in helping and protecting them from the womb to adulthood. [4] All female deities – and also some male deities – engage in some form of kourotrophia. Interestingly, among goddesses who are more significantly involved in “making a child grow” into physical well-being and social acceptability, we find the two female virgin goddesses par excellence: Artemis and Athena. Kourotrophia is the main way for female goddesses to express their mothering, and it has nothing to do with biology.
Kourotrophia is also a human action. All the members of the household take part in this process with different roles (possibly also some neighbors). [5] In doing so, they are flanked by a variety of deities, as I have already pointed out. Evidently, religious practices play a crucial role in the process, from rites of passage to apotropaic rituals. It is obviously a Greek word, but the same idea also exists in the Roman and Etruscan cultures as well. Indeed, aspects concerning fertility and the preservation of children are at the core of numerous cults in ancient Greece, Etruria, and Rome. [6]
1.2 “Mothering” figures
First of all, it is necessary to define the word “mother” itself. The definition I will use is based on Sara Ruddick’s articulation of the three demands of maternal thinking — preservation, growth, and social acceptance — that are met by the three practices of preservative love, nurturance, and training. [7] Preservation has to be understood as the most compelling demand. As Ruddick suggests, “mother” is better understood as a verb (to mother) rather than as a feminine substantive. A “mother” is anyone who engages in maternal practice and makes this a central part of their life. Mother can, thus, be gender-inclusive. [8]
Inspired by Ruddick’s words, the epistemological framework and definition of “mother” reads as follows: any child can have in their life one or more figures who collaborate (simultaneously or not) in pursuing preservation, growth, and social acceptance, but usually every child has in their life a figure – a “mother” – who takes care of them on a daily – or almost daily – basis in order to pursue their preservation, growth, and social acceptance. Significant others can help this figure, but she/ he performs this task in a preponderant way in comparison to others. This figure is often, but not always and not necessarily, the biological mother. [9]
Therefore, kourotrophia – which encompasses Ruddick’s three demands: preservation, growth, and social acceptance – implies one main figure, which is the mother – often but not always the biological mother – and other figures who engage in maternal practice, who play a mothering role in the raising of children without “technically” being the mother (e.g., aunts, elder sisters, grandmothers, step-mothers, as well as other relatives and people close to the household) in order to help, support, if necessary and feasible, substitute the mother – on a regular basis or in exceptional situations with variable duration. I have called them “mothering figures”. [10]
I will offer two concrete renowned examples from Greek and Roman lore to clarify these concepts.
Dionysus, as we will see in greater details below, has a biological mother, a “mother” in the sense mentioned above, and many mothering figures (including a man).
Dionysus has a biological mother, Semele, who died before giving birth. Such a thing cannot happen to human infants; [11] but many grew up without their biological mother, who died in childbirth. In these cases, the “mother” was, out of necessity, not the biological mothers. Like in the case of Dionysus, one of the most suitable candidates for this role was the maternal aunt: Ino, in his case. During his infancy, many other figures – mothering figures –, especially nymphs, played a role in “making him grow”. One of them is Silenus, a male deity.
Romulus and Remus have a biological mother, the vestal Rhea Silvia. They were exposed; therefore, they were not raised by their biological mother. The circumstances of their exposure were obviously out of ordinary, but the abandonment of infants in antiquity was not rare. Subsequently, the twins had a temporary animal mother, and, then, a human mother, Acca Larentia, who will “make them grow”.
2 The Protection of Breastmilk as a “Couple Issue” in Ancient Latium and Southern Etruria
Breastfeeding is an exclusively female function, like pregnancy and childbirth. However, differently from pregnancy and childbirth, it can be performed also by non-biological mothers (of the infant in need of breastmilk. In mythological narratives and, maybe, also in real lives, even by “animal mothers”). [12] Mercenary breastfeeding is well attested until the invention of milk formula; in some cases, even beyond. I do not want to discuss whether or not Greek, Etruscan, and Roman mothers used to breastfeed their own children or preferred to hire a wet-nurse for this purpose. Undoubtedly, the mother/ family choice depended on social norms and personal beliefs: both significantly change over time and space and from one individual to another. What I suggest is that co-breastfeeding (between mother, wet-nurse, and, potentially, other women, like neighbours or maybe also grandmothers, considering the typically early age of bearing a first child) [13] was commonly practiced in all circumstances in which milk formula was not available. Why do I believe so? The answer is perhaps even too obvious: because children’s lives in antiquity depended on the availability of human milk for quite an extensive period. On the one hand, premature weaning and the usage of animal milk were considered very dangerous for the infant; [14] on the other, many accidents could happen to the mother (or to the wet-nurse/s) to prevent or reduce lactation: illnesses, hypogalactia or agalactia, exhaustion, new pregnancy, or temporary (or, not so rarely, definitive) absence. [15]
The importance of breastmilk for the infant’s survival explains the abundance of votive terracotta of breastfeeding women in ancient Italy. [16] Usually, these ex-voto represent one woman with one infant – of variable ages, some of them look significantly big – at her breast. Based on my previous reflections, these votive objects could represent not only and not necessarily the mother and the baby and could be offered to ask and to thank for divine help not only and not necessarily by the mother of the baby. The wet-nurse, above all, as mothering figure may need divine assistance for breastfeeding issues (it is worth noticing: not only out of altruism or affection, but also for personal interest).
Among this votive assemblage, there are two typologies which are only present in ancient Latium and Etruria: the couple of a man and a breastfeeding woman (kourotrophoi with a male figure) and the couple of two breastfeeding women (double kourotrophoi). These typologies show that breastfeeding could be a “sharable” and not so hidden action, even in front of the gods. [17]
2.1 Presentation of the Archaeological Material
The archeological site with the largest number of kourotrophoi with a male figure is Satricum. They come from the votive deposit III of the Sanctuary of Mater Matuta, held today at Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome. They date from the end of the 4th–3rd century BCE. [18] According to Alessandro Della Seta, [19] they all represent the same subject: enthroned male, female and child, all beneath the same mantle; the female offering her left breast to the baby. [20]
Another kourotrophos with a male figure comes from Gabii, from the sanctuary of Juno, votive deposit 1 (Fig. 1). It generically dates – like all the votive assemblage – from the beginning of the 2nd century BCE. The statuette represents an enthroned male, female and child beneath the same mantle. The head of the naked baby is missing, but its position, lying down on the left arm of the woman and reaching for the female breast with its right hand, is typical of kourotrophos’ images. The man has his left arm on the woman’s shoulders whilst he holds a patera in the other hand. [21]
Gabii. From Almagro-Gorbea, “El santuario”, 271, n. 10, Tav. LI 1.
Another votive from Gabii (Fig. 2), in which the baby is held reclined in the woman’s left arm with its face very close to the breast, might be considered as a kourotrophos with a male figure due to the particular position of the child, since usually in statuettes of a male, female and child, the latter is represented frontally, on the female’s knees. In this case, the male and female figures are extremely close to each other; in fact, she is almost in three quarter profile. The man has his left arm on the woman’s shoulders. They are beneath the same mantle and – most likely – they both hold a patera. [22]
Gabii. From Almagro-Gorbea, “El santuario”, 273, n. 19, Tab. LIII 2.
Following the same reasoning, at least three more statuettes from Gabii of couples with a child who is not seated frontally on the female’s knees, but reclined in her arms, might be understood as kourotrophoi with a male figure. [23]
One of them (Fig. 3), [24] in particular, is very similar to a statuette from Veii Portonaccio, which represents an enthroned male, female and child beneath the same mantle. The baby is very young, plump and completely naked. It is lying in the woman’s arms in a quite unusual, but somehow realistic position: it is in three-quarter profile, kicking and grabbing the right breast of the woman. The man has his left arm on the woman’s shoulders whilst he holds a patera in the other hand (Fig. 4). [25]
Gabii. From Almagro-Gorbea, “El santuario”, 271, n. 11, Tab. LI 2.
Veii Portonaccio. From Fridh-Haneson, “Le manteau”, 43, Pl. XII, Fig. 46.
From Veii Campetti we have two further, unpublished, kourotrophoi with a male figure. They are both at the Villa Giulia Museum and likely date 4th century BCE. In the first one (Fig. 5, inv. n. 2498), the baby is similar to the one in Fig. 4. It is lying in the woman’s arms; its face is very close to her left breast and it reaches the woman’s right breast with its right arm. The man puts his left arm on the woman’s shoulders and holds a patera in the other hand. They likely wear a diadem; she wears a necklace. The other one (Fig. 6, inv. n. inv. 2458, previously VTP 607) shows a baby lying in the woman’s left arm; its face is very close to her left breast and it is covered by her mantle. She wears a necklace; he holds a patera in the right hand. They both wear a mantle, even though the two mantles seem to be unified.
Veii Campetti. © MiBAC. Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia. Foto Mauro Benedetti. From Pedrucci, “Maternità e allattamento”.
Veii Campetti. © MiBAC. Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia. Foto Mauro Benedetti. From Pedrucci, “Maternità e allattamento”.
One more statuette (possibly two) from Rome (from the so-called votive deposit of Minerva Medica) [26] is very interesting (Fig. 7). It represents an enthroned male, female and child likely beneath the same mantle (heads are missing). Likely, the man has his left arm on the woman’s shoulders and he holds a patera in the other hand. Feet are on a footrest. The position of the baby is quite unusual: it is seated in the woman’s lap in three quarter profile. Even if it is almost frontal, it lifts its right hand to grab the breast and indeed seems to squeeze the nipple. [27]
Rome (?) From Fridh-Haneson, “Le manteau”, 47, Fig. 54.
One extremely interesting votive statuette comes from the Sanctuary of La Vignaccia (Caere, today Cerveteri) in Northern Latium (Fig. 8). [28] It is a unicum: it represents two women, each suckling a baby, with an older child respectively on the left and right sides. Both women wear the chiton and the himation, which cover their heads. They have necklaces with pendants and a diadem. Each woman’s right hand rests on her right leg, while the babies are held in the left arm, likely being suckled with the left breast. The babies are partially covered by the himation. On the left and right side of the throne respectively, there is a standing, frontal, dressed child. One has a round object in the right hand, the other an indeterminate object in the left hand. [29] Like in many votives representing kourotrophoi, the babies touch the right breast of the women. It dates from the end of the 4th–3rd century BCE.
Caere. From Nagy, “Votive”, 234f., Fig. 240.
The two female figures are similar but not perfectly identical. Considering the hieratic position and the rich parure, they could be the doubling of a goddess; acolytes on the side are quite common in near Eastern representations. Nevertheless, the idea of showing two women breastfeeding together with older children around them is extremely interesting; as is the fact that someone (man or woman) used the votive to ask something from a deity, to thank a deity, to communicate with a deity and with other human beings and/ or convey a message to some extent connected with breastfeeding. One might expect to see such a scene (two breastfeeding women and older children around them) – which was likely very frequent and ordinary in antiquity – relatively often in artefacts, but, on the contrary, I cannot mention a single parallel.
The last set of evidences that might suggest breastfeeding “in couple” is represented by some statuettes of a woman with a man who grabs her breasts with one hand, while embracing her with the other arm. We have fifteen exemplars: ten from Satricum, one from Caere, two from Caere La Vignaccia, one from Veii Portonaccio, two of unknown origin (one possibly from Civita Castellana). I will not analyse them in detail here, [30] since the allusion to breastfeeding in this kind of ex-voto is clearly not unquestionable. It might refer to breastfeeding, for an already born child or for a child who will hopefully be born soon, but also to sexual desire and (implicitly?) procreation in a more general way. Nevertheless, three statuettes from Satricum might confirm our assumption that they represent a couple with one or two infants, in which he grabs her breast (Figs. 9, 10). [31] She holds a patera and wears a necklace. It is worth noting that the common mantle covers the children, too. The children, moreover, hold something in their arms, which could be a doll.
Satricum. © MiBAC. Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia. Foto Mauro Benedetti. From Pedrucci, “Maternità e allattamento”.
Satricum. From Gnade, “Satricum”, 158f., n. 386.
2.2 Possible Interpretations of the Data
The function I want to investigate is the performing of religious practices which involved the offering of votives representing adults with infants. Thus, the main variable – concerning the agents – is mothering; other variables are biological link, social status and cultural traditions; then, place of provenance (urban and non-urban spaces); public or private spheres; kind of deities and, if applicable, rituals performed to honour them; and other kinds of votives. I will briefly summarise the information we can gain from the available data. [32]
Biological link: a biological link among the adults and between the adults and the infant/s is highly likely. In the case of single kourotrophoi, the female figure could potentially be any of the female figures, to some extent related to the baby, who can breastfeed: care-givers inside the household, a relative or even a particularly close neighbour. Certainly, the wet-nurse in primis, but technically also a grand-mother, an aunt, an elder sister. But in the case of the couple of a breastfeeding female and a male, the focus is on the nuclear family. The case of two breastfeeding women is a special one, and it will be discussed separately.
Social status and cultural aspects: among the votives of women and couples with infants, the exemplars taken under consideration are all of fine quality. The double kourotrophoi is a luxury product. The moulds are generally consumed, but not so consumed as many other votives of similar kinds. Therefore, I would assume that they were likely made to satisfy an élite clientele and their usage was frequent. [33]
Within the Roman household, moreover, the evidence seems to suggest that the mother and the father were both engaged in the childhood of the offspring, and that the mother was helped in taking care of the offspring by female relatives and other figures inside the household. [34] M. Cornelius Statius’s sarcophagus – just to mention the most striking and renowned example – shows the father’s caring interest and control in breastfeeding activities (2nd century CE). [35] The situation was likely more or less the same in Etruria, with the difference that in Etruria the woman had more freedom and independence: for instance, she took part alongside her husband in different aspects of public life, such as banquets, shows and ceremonies and she could decide on her property. The maternal lineage was very important, too: in fact, we can find a quite frequent use of the matronymic. [36]
Nevertheless, this does not mean that women in the historical context where are taking onto consideration enjoyed a high degree of freedom in everyday life or that they were considered at the same level of men. During the 1st century CE, Gaius Musonius Rufus, a Stoic philosopher who was born in Volsinii, depicted the model of the wise woman, wife, and mother in the following way: “So it is that such a woman is likely to be energetic, strong to endure pain, prepared to nourish her children at her own breast, and to serve her husband with her own hands, and willing to do things which some would consider no better than slaves’ work. Would not such a woman be a great help to the man who married her, an ornament to her relatives, and a good example for all who know her?” (Dial., 3.11-12). [37] At least at the beginning of the Roman Empire, this was the ideal woman for a citizen who was born in Etruria.
Place of provenance (urban and non-urban spaces): [38] an ex-voto, which shows or might allude to breastfeeding within a couple context (male and female or two females) is typical of ancient Latium and Southern Etruria. In general, votives depicting a couple (in some cases, even more so than two adults) with child are typical of this area.
As far as the ancient Latium is concerned, the votives come from sanctuaries inside the urban space. The sanctuary of Mater Matuta is located on the top of the acropolis. [39]
Concerning Gabii, the urban cult place, the so-called Temple of Juno, stood in the middle of a large, artificially levelled platform, between the forum and the Lago di Castiglione, facing toward the forum, along the via Praenestina. [40]
The case of Rome is unique. The material comes from the so-called deposit of Minerva Medica. [41] When ashlar masonry walls and a Republican votive deposit (datable between the 4th and 2nd century BCE, comprising dedications to Minerva) were found in 1887 south of the former Via Curva/ C. Botta, they were immediately attributed to the temple of Minerva Medica, but the deposit has been recently attributed to Fortuna Virgo”. [42]
One further detail could be of interest: the other archaeological spots from which votives representing adult/ s with infants were found in the Roman urban territory are the deposits along the Tiber. It is impossible to establish where these votives were used before having been deposited in pits dug along the banks of the Tiber, but they might be related to the Forum Boarium. [43] I will return to this shortly.
As far as Etruria is concerned, the sanctuary of Caere La Vignaccia was quite isolated, south-west of the city. The votive deposit was found in a vineyard right outside the city walls. The primary goddesses seem to have been Artemis and Minerva. [44]
The sanctuary of Portonaccio in Veii is located in the western part of the city, just inside the city wall, near to the stream Fosso Piordo. The primary goddess was Menerva, associated with Turan and Artimis (Artemis). [45]
The other sanctuary of Veii, Campetti, is extremely relevant. It is located north-west of the city, 200 meters from the Formello gate. The only inscription from the sanctuary mentions Ceres in Latin, likely Vei for the Etruscans (3rd century BCE). [46] Here a mass production is attested (up to 310 exemplars from the same mould), [47] which likely proves the existence of workshops close to the sanctuary and of a religious business. By contrast, votives from other sites, as I said, seem to prove a relatively large, even though not massive, production of them.
The above-reconstructed framework suggests the performance of rituals which were common and had a relatively open and public dimension. Or, to say it with different words, rituals which are not restricted inside house walls just because they concern private issues, such as breastfeeding.
The last observation leads us to the more strictly religious variables (what kind of deities and, if applicable, the rituals performed to honour them; other kinds of votives), which require a wider discussion.
Concerning the deities, in ancient Latium these types of votives are mostly related to Mater Matuta, Fortuna, and Juno. Mater Matuta is one of the Roman goddesses mainly engaged with kourotrophia. At the Forum Boarium, for instance, kourotrophia as a whole - from birth to the care of infants, through rites of passage, until the threshold of adulthood - seems to be shared by three deities, one of them being male: namely Mater Matuta, Fortuna, and Mars (therefore, a male figure is actively involved). Mater Matuta’s task would be that of preserving mothers and their children through the earliest days of childhood until they come under the protection of Fortuna as political beings. Fortuna as Fortuna Virgo, [48] instead watched over new brides and brought them luck in their marriages. Thus, both deities would protect the future of the city in different ways. [49] The association between Matuta and Mars also makes sense as a pair of rites of passage – the baby across the dangerous first days of life; the boy across the difficult and testing transition into adulthood – with the military aspect enhanced by the nearby Porta Carmentalis. [50] Fortuna’s festival date was June 11th, the same day as the Matralia, the holiday to Mater Matuta. The Matralia was celebrated by mothers and maternal aunts and had rites to do with childbirth and bringing up children; Fortuna Virgo’s festival on this day was a way to connect new brides to their perceived duties of becoming good mothers. Both temples at the Forum Boarium are said to have been built by Servius Tullius, and both dedicated on June 11th (Ov., Fasti 6.479f., 569). [51]
Mater Matuta [52] and Fortuna – especially as Virgo – therefore were both related to the rituals of kourotrophia during which not only the mother or the mother-to-be, but the couple as a whole played a crucial role (as agents, as beneficiaries).
The other goddess is Juno who, especially as Juno Lucina, notoriously played an important role in protecting offspring during childbirth, as an outcome of a legal marriage. [53] The couple, here again, seems to be crucial.
On the Etruscan side, the two primary goddesses seem to be Artemis and Minerva. They are deities deeply involved in kourotrophia: [54] the latter, in particular, as protectress of the community. According to Cassius Dio (59.28.7), Caligula puts the daughter Drusilla in charge of Minerva to be suckled. [55] However, the association between Etruscan and Greek/ Roman deities can be extremely tricky. The association is usually made on an iconographical basis, but the Etruscan deities maintain their original features, about which we know almost nothing. Fortunately, we have the mention of two Etruscan theonyms: Turan (Portonaccio) and Vei (Campetti, eponymous deity of Veii.) They are both related to rites of passage, especially for girls. Vei, in particular, in association with Apollo and Minerva, likely protected nuptial fertility. [56] I will not go further into the interpretation of these deities, but rather limit the analysis to the archaeological evidence, which suggests the worship of one or more deities, likely female, related to the protection of offspring, from their generation to their coming of age (and secondly, more generally, to some extent with the wellness of the human being as a whole). Breastmilk in this process plays obviously a crucial role.
The case of Portonaccio might be of particular interest. The presence of the architectural statue of a goddess (Leto, Niobe?) [57] with a child on her shoulder in such a prominent position might have captured the imagination of visitors, beyond the nature of the “official” worship performed there. It is worth noting that the gesture of the deity suggests protection.
Based on the analysis of the aforementioned archaeological material, it seems that in ancient Latium and Southern Etruria breastfeeding a baby was a gesture that was shared (literally and/or emotionally) within the household (among women and among women and men, at least the father). The fact that ex-votos that represent couples (mainly a man with a breastfeeding woman) were found within votive deposits suggests that breastfeeding was a primary concern for both the mother and the father, since the survival and good health of offspring relied on the availability of human milk. Religious means were used to request and protect lactation: not only by the mother, and not only in a private dimension, as scholars usually think. The father, as well as other family members, seem to have been involved in a practice that is usually perceived as exclusively maternal in a strictly biological sense. The involvement of the father and the place in which a significant number of votives were found, moreover, seem to confirm that the offspring was likely at the core of family life, community expectations and religious concerns. [58]
3 The (Divine) Male Appropriation of Pregnancy and Childbirth: Two Case Studies from Southern Etruria and Imperial Rome
As I have already stated, pregnancy and childbirth are the only exclusively female and non-transferable functions related to motherhood. Nevertheless, we face negation, negotiation, and appropriation of pregnancy and childbirth in religious narratives and sacred images, mainly through male pregnancies and parthenogenesis, in different traditions. [59]
I will offer here two examples of visual representations of two well-known narratives concerning Zeus’ deliveries. I picked up these two cases, since they show unusual, somehow grotesque, male appropriations of the very moment of labour in a very “female” way. Since artists and customers were usually men, the two images suggest that, at least in a few cases, men had some kind of familiarity with birth delivery and were not ashamed in commissioning it (even for a public funerary object like a sarcophagus). It is noteworthy these two cases do not concern any minor or local male deity, but Zeus himself, otherwise known as the Father of the gods and presented in some Greek myths as the founder of a new, fair cosmic order.
Zeus personally gives birth to two of his children: Athena and Dionysus. It is worth mentioning that both do have a mother in the womb of whom they are conceived and partially gestated. Thus, these are not cases of “parthenogenesis” or the generation of a new being by a single and often virgin entity. Zeus is more a sort of “incubator”.
Athena’s parents are Zeus and Metis, a nymph. Briefly summarized, the myth is that Zeus has heard a prophecy that the child Metis would give birth to after giving birth to Athena would have dethroned him. So, in order to prevent this from happening, he swallowed Metis while she was still pregnant with Athena. When the time came for Athena to be born, the smith god, Hephaistos, had to use an axe to crack Zeus’ head open. [60] Then, Athena stepped out, already grown up and in full armor. Athena, thus, is not born of a woman. Furthermore, since she was born not as a baby, but as a grown up, she did not need any protection, feeding, caring or nurturing. Therefore, it is logical that we find no othermother or substitutes in Athena’s case. This contrasts strongly with the case of Dionysus.
Dionysus’s parents are Zeus and Semele, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Zeus’ relationship with Semele enraged Hera, his legitimate wife. In disguise, Hera persuaded the young lady to ask Zeus to visit her in the same splendour in which he would appear before his wife. Zeus had already promised to grant Semele her every wish and, thus, he had to do so and the splendour of his firebolts killed her. [61] However, Zeus saved their unborn child, Dionysus (born twice), from the womb of the dead Semele. He then kept the gestating Dionysus in his thigh, until he was ready to be born. Let’s remember here that Dionysus, in contrast to Athena, is not fully divine at birth: his father is a god, but his mother is not a goddess. Then, right after birth, someone was needed to actually take care of the baby and raise him: first, the mother’s sister, Ino, [62] is summoned, then the nymphs who also are feminine figures, and then Silenus, a minor male deity.
The birth of Athena was a favorite topic of Greek vase painters, and we also find quite many depictions of the birth of Dionysus. For the purpose of this paper, we selected two representations of each one of these births in which the male appropriation of childbirth is particularly evident.
The first one is a sarcophagus of the Imperial period (190 CE ca., place of discovery: Via Salaria) showing the triumphal march of Dionysus through the lands of India (Fig. 11). [63] On the lid is the birth of Dionysus and the nymphs receiving him. A midwife is prepared to deliver Dionysus from the thigh of Zeus, but the position of the midwife and of the god is typically that of women in labour. [64]
Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysus, 190 CE ca. From wikicommons.
Even more interesting is an Etruscan mirror depicting the birth of Athena (Arezzo, middle of the 4th century BCE. Fig. 12). The influence of Greek models is evident. Again, the position is that of women in labour. Intrestingly, there is a midwife who bears him behind his back, pushing on his belly… which, of course, is completely useless, since he is delivering from his head! [65]
Etruscan mirror depicting the birth of Athena (Arezzo, middle of the 4th century BCE). From Pedrucci, “Maternità e allattamento”, 32, fig. 23.
There are mostly well-known narratives, but they have never been interpreted through the lens of maternal theory and the epistemological framework of “mothering figures”.
The Roman sarcophagus and the Etruscan mirror, in particular, depict two of these renowned myths in a very intriguing way. These Etruscan and Roman elaborations on the basis of earlier Greek narratives push “alternative mothering” up to a male appropriation of exclusively female gestures within a strictly female domain. Indeed, scenes of childbirth were likely quite unfamiliar for Greek and Roman men, who generally did not attend birth. Finding this type of images in the Greek and early Roman art is very unlikely. Nevertheless, on the one hand, Etruscans used to interpret Greek mythology in a more “private” and “female” way, [66] and, on the other hand, at the end of the 2nd century CE Roman sensitivity had evolved through contact with different peoples and changes in customs. The result is a quite unusual, somehow ridiculous, depiction of the most important god of the Olympus, father (and mother!) of all the gods. [67]
Pliny the Elder (NH 35.140), to be more precise, describes Zeus in a similar way, but speaking of a Greek artist. According to him, “Ctesilochus a pupil of Apelles became famous for a saucy burlesque painting which showed Zeus in labour with Dionysus, wearing a woman’s nightcap and crying like a woman, while goddesses, who act as midwives”. [68] His witness is very relevant since we are informed that at least one Greek artist at the end of the 4th century BCE represented Zeus in labour in an irreverent and “feminine” way.
4 Some Examples of Animal and Male “Mothering” Figures in the Greek and Roman Narratives and Art
This section is about what Florence Pasche Guignard and I have previously labelled as “alternative mothering”, [69] but, as I have explained, I would rather speak of “mothering figures”. [70] I will focus here on mythological narratives concerning animal and male mothers and mothering figures.
Not only goddesses or feminine figures are involved as active agents in it. Indeed, there also are a few male deities actively engaged in kourotrophia, both in myths and in rituals.
Just to list a few examples, Pan is raised by his proud father Hermes, [71] who also prompts Hera to breastfeed Dionysus (Eratosth., Cat. 44), and Chiron raises Achilles, who is not his biological son. [72] Furthermore, anatomical female votives were found in some temples dedicated to Zeus. For instance, in Zeus hypsistos’s sanctuary, several ex-votos in the shape of female breasts were found. [73] And, according to Pausanias (8.26.6), in the city of Aliphera there was an altar of Zeus Lecheates (in child-bed) because it is said that he gave birth to Athena in this place. In Crete, in the cave of Amnisos, Zeus is associated with Hera-Eileithyia and he was worshipped in the place where his umbilical cord was deposited. [74] The corresponding ritual was for women to bring the umbilical cord of their baby to thank the god after a safe childbirth. Moreover, we know about one epithet for the god Apollo: Apollo kalliteknos (with beautiful children) who had a temple in Pergamon, [75] though very little is known about this Apollo, its myth and its ritual, in contrast with the Apollo Kourotrophos, for whom there is more evidence and scholarship. [76]
Concerning Rome, we have already seen that at the Forum Boarium, Athena / Fortuna paired with Heracles and Leukothea / Mater Matuta paired with Dionysus were worshipped. Here, another male god seemed to have played an important role: Mars. Mater Matuta along with Dionysus was also worshipped in Satricum, where the goddess had a renowned sanctuary. As I have argued above, at the Forum Boarium, both female and male deities, each with a different role [77] participate in kourotrophia as a whole - from birth to the care of infants, through rites of passage, until the threshold of adulthood.
I chose to focus on this Roman cameo because it features an interesting example of how divine kourotrophia can also involve male figures (Fig. 13). The image shows Silenus, who for sure is not the mother of the infant and not even a female figure. This cameo thus brings some insight into another aspect of divine ma le mothering figures: resting on a tree-trunk, the fat, bearded Silenus pours water over the little Bacchus, who is held in the arms of a seated nymph, while another nymph brushes the infant’s hair. Notoriously, Dionysus was one of Zeus’ children whom he birthed himself. Indeed, as we saw, Dionysus’s mother Selene died while he was in her womb. In this image, there is a masculine figure who is taking care of the baby god by performing one of the most “maternal” tasks, according to ancient sources: bathing. [78] Furthermore, bathing the child is depicted here as a collective practice: several figures are taking active roles, and the baby is not depicted as left alone with one caregiver only.
Roman Cameo, 3rd century CE, childhood of Bacchus. From https://hermitagemuseum.org/
Animals rescuing, breastfeeding, or rearing babies or children is another form of “alternative motherhood” in Greek and Roman myths and legends. Among many examples of divine, semi-divine, or legendary characters, the most notorious cases include Romulus, Telephus, and Zeus. A few of these rescued babies are female as, for instance, Cybele and Camilla. [79] One author, Servius (Aen. 2.141), suggests that the fig tree itself could have fed milk to the twins. This unusual lore seems to have a precedent in Egyptian art. [80] In the case of breastfeeding, we face a remarkable negation of a typical female biological function: an animal, or even a plant, replaces a lactating woman. According to Lucian of Samosata (13.22), men could appropriate this function. However, this was not possible here on earth, but only on the moon. On the moon, men give birth from their calf (lower leg). Though Lucian’s text does not directly suggest this, we may also wonder if, since women are supposed to be absent on the moon, men possibly also breastfeed their offspring.
5 Conclusions
This special issue clearly shows how religion and mothering issues are strictly intertwined, also in ancient societies, such as the Greek, Etruscan, [81] and Roman ones, which are usually considered as dominated by men, especially when it comes to religion. Whether we look at votive religion, other kinds of artefacts, or at mythological and legendary narratives, we can find the presence of men within typically “women’s business”. In some extreme cases, we face the male appropriation of exclusively female functions such as pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.
The aforementioned – heterogeneous – documentation can be, at least partially, read as male expression of control on and/ or envy of female capacities and roles. I am not denying this, but I would suggest a further reading, which does not necessarily negate the other ones: men – at least some of them [82] – were physically present in infants’ existences from womb to adulthood and were aware of difficulties and risks for the mother and the baby. They were active parts in kourotrophia.
The collected documentation, moreover, suggests that the mother was not the unique – or not the main – child caretaker within the ancient family and that “the maternal” as a component of identity should not be reduced to “natural” or “biological” elements, but, instead, is culturally constructed, including in mythological narratives and in ritual practices. Not only do we have images in which women (besides the mother, wet-nurses, nurses, grand-mothers, elder sisters) share space and time in taking care of the infants, but also men (fathers, pedagogues, grand-fathers) and women share space and time. Especially through a closer look at mythological narratives, we see that these also hold the potential to shatter our own culturally constructed norms around gender and parenting roles. It is well known that the father was an active figure in the rearing of the offspring, but what might be surprising is that he can engage in this side by side with female members of the oikos/familia. This is particularly true within the Roman culture. Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticae 12, 1-23), for instance, reports of a heated debate between the father and the mother-in-law concerning who was the right person to breastfeed the newborn. Boundaries between genders seem to have been much more flexible than we usually think.
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© 2019 Giulia Pedrucci, published by De Gruyter
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