Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

by Natalie Haynes

Just because there is no paperwork to prove it doesn’t mean that we can – or should – all just forget what was said in the past. We live in a time when it is commonplace to see a politician reverse their position and then simply deny they ever said anything that contradicts their current position. It is a particularly egregious form of lying because it leaves the listener not only uncertain of the truth now, but unsure of whether they had ever grasped it. It’s bad enough to be a liar; it is worse to try to persuade people that their memories or understanding are at fault. And although we do now have recorded evidence of their former assertions and their sudden switches in stance, it doesn’t always have the effect it once did. Primarily, I think, because too many people have been emboldened to simply lie and keep lying, to deny the truth, to deny the past, to deny the collective memory of those they are supposed to serve. And so I find myself thinking that of all the goddesses in this book, the Furies – not in their role of vengeance goddesses but in the sense of collective, societal shame that they also personify, shame at breaking your word or behaving cruelly and dishonestly – might be the ones I would most like to see restored to a modern pantheon.