Divine Might Quotes

“Perhaps it’s a little reminder that the word museum means ‘home of the Muses’.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“We like to be able to separate heroes, villains, and victims. It’s convenient for a simple narrative, but it isn’t always reflective of the truth.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“The more time you spend examining these stories of Hera’s bad behaviour, the more reasons you tend to be able to find for why she might be behaving unreasonably, or why someone else is the guilty party but blaming Hera is so convenient. It is a misogynist narrative as old as time itself, and never out of fashion:”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“So this is my answer to that question prompted by Xenophanes. When women make art like men do, their goddesses look divine.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“The distinction that only sciences are useful and only arts are spirit-enhancing is a nonsensical one. I couldn't write much without scientists designing my computer. And some of them must want to read about Greek myth after a long day at work. These Muses always remind me that scientists and artists should disregard the idiotic attempts to separate us. We are all nerds, in the end.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“As is always the way with Ovid, his capacity for irony is so subtle and comprehensive that it is difficult to know how sincere or cheeky he is being at any given moment.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“But I can’t help wondering if there is some sort of recognition for the idea that female gods–who held power and autonomy that female humans were not permitted to have–might well not want a male partner.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“When you're in love, you're at war.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“There really is nothing like Greek myth for reminding us that the countryside is rarely the blissful idyll for young women that it is for young men and gods. More frequently it is the source of sexual threat and constant anxiety.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“Not only did the ancient Greeks seem to have modelled gods in their mortal image, but they apparently chose their worst selves as the template.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“the trope of the jealous husband is less pervasive in Greek myth than that of the jealous wife.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“Actually, he says, the opposite is true. People will come to depend on writing, which is external, and stop using memory, which is internal. In fact, writing will make us forgetful. It is typical of Plato–using the character of his tricksy mentor, Socrates–to construct a written argument dismissing the value of writing.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“No life matters as much as her daughter's life. And if you rashly decide to go against her, she will crush you like a bug.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“There is no quicker way to be robbed of power than to lose your capacity to speak.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“Coming home is not just a geographical act; it's a question of being recognized for who you really are.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“We know that love and desire can play havoc with our lives, but we are human and complicated.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“No one can claim to have produced any work without [the Muses'] help: the very fact that it exists proves they smiled on us. If they don't accede to our request, there is nothing to bear witness to the refusal. Just a blank page, an empty stage, a silent lyre.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“We create gods that reflect us and the way we see ourselves.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“Heroes need villains, though Greek gods were often capable of being
both at once: supporter of one mortal and destroyer of another.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“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.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

“If we have learned nothing else from myths, folklore, and fairy tales, we should at least know this. If an old woman approaches you and asks for anything, or suggests anything, you always, always say yes, and thank you very much for asking. There is an almost zero chance that she is an actual old lady and not a goddess, a witch, or an enchantress in disguise. You either change your offending behaviour immediately or – and this is the best-case scenario – you find yourself stuck in a castle full of singing furniture, with one erratic houseplant your only hope of salvation.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“From Persephone’s perspective, these two deities are – as the Greek text makes plain – essentially the same. One god rapes her, the other agrees to it.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“The Latin here reads fuge coniugis usum – flee the use of a husband – which I may yet have as a tattoo.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“Perhaps this is key to all these deities: they are unchanging, after all, because they are immortal. But there is something about Aphrodite that reminds me of women applying their lipstick in a war zone – you can’t take away her game face. Or certainly not for long. Make her fall in love with a mortal man and she will disguise herself, seduce him, threaten him, and leave him. Make her your laughingstock and she will only make you want her more.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“This moment, I think, reveals the heart of Aphrodite’s power. No matter what the situation, no matter how humiliated or shamed she is supposed to feel according to the men around her, she is restored to her usual smiling serene beauty in the blink of an eye.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“You would want Hera to defend you, and you would want your enemies to be hers.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“The poem is probably Ovid’s smutty guide to urban adultery, the Ars Amatoria–Art of Love–in which he tells his readers how to flirt with smart young city women, and how to take things quite a bit further than that. This jokey guide was at odds with the ostensible morality reforms which Augustus had ushered in after becoming emperor.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“But even if his sympathies are not with Arachne in this moment, he can still imagine that from her perspective these gods are nothing but rapists. She has been described to us as excessively arrogant about her own skills, even if her confidence is well-founded. And she has been shown to be short-tempered with an interfering old woman. But these aren’t the characteristics of a fantasist or a fool. She isn’t out of her mind, like poor Ajax. We can’t simply dismiss her opinions as those coming from a disordered mind. Whether Ovid shares her views is unimportant. What matters is that he is perfectly aware of her feelings about the pain inflicted by these gods in their cruelty, and his version of Arachne is given the space to express it. Look at the great gifts the gods have given you, Athene’s tapestry proclaims. Arachne’s response is very detailed in its execution, but very simple in its message: the price is too high.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“It’s fascinating that fully half of these six major goddesses have sworn off sex and marriage, given that they were worshipped during times when ordinary women had little choice about marriage, and almost no opportunity to reject it as a way of life. Perhaps the only thing we can read into this mismatch is that gods occupy a different plane from mortals and so would live unimaginable lives, and that being unmarried is as natural for a goddess (and unnatural for a mortal)”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth

“The word lathrēi–secretly–is extremely important in this telling of the Persephone story. We tend to know this myth rather differently, thanks to the way children’s books often make Persephone responsible for her own imprisonment. She chooses to eat the pomegranate seeds, and often does so knowing that she must stay in Hades for a month for each seed consumed. This is a modern cleansing of the story. In most ancient versions of her myth, Hades force-feeds her the pomegranate seed. In this version, he does so in secret. The upshot is the same, either way: having robbed her of consent when he brought her to the Underworld, he continues to do so now. He will always do so.”
― Natalie Haynes, Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth