Symbolic Meanings of Gendered Beings, writing homework help

Assignment from nickkynickky

HUMN 351 Week Four: Myth and Gender

Symbolic Meanings of Gendered Beings

This week we explore symbolic meanings exhibited by mythic divine figures of various genders, such as female, male, transgender, bi-sexual, and asexual. The Week Four Learning Resources include articles and videos on the Female Divine and the Male Divine. Use also this additional resource, which provides important links to trans-gender mythic characters: LGBT Themes in World Myths. The following Learning Resource from Week One also has value as a summary: Introduction to Classical Mythology

Begin by watching the video lecture, “The World of the Goddess” by Marija Gimbutas [1:42:56] in which this brilliant archeologist discusses the holistic thinking of Neolithic Europeans who understood female divine (goddess) characters to be variously like humans, animals, natural objects, and inanimate objects. The insights of Gimbutas help us understand more broadly the symbolic nature of mythic characters, and their tendency to cross natural boundaries as well as to confound social categories.

In your key post, discuss THREE mythic characters–each of a different gender. Post an image of each of your three characters and identify each one by name, tradition (e.g. Norse, Chinese) and gender. Then, share something about the myths or rituals associated with each character with an emphasis on the symbolic meaning that the mythic characters convey.