Since it is so likely that
children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights
and heroic courage.
C.S.
Lewis
As many of our traditions are born
from the old heroic stories, I thought it would be appropriate to look at one
of the biggest misconceptions there is with these stories, the idea of “saving
the princess.”
To understand this, we must first
consider why we even have these stories. Story telling traditions were a way to
both entertain and teach life lessons. This was an important part of the old
Roman society as stories were used to promote social responsibility, heroism,
discipline, and the idea that every man had the capacity to change the world
into something better, no matter his origin (as long as he was a roman
citizen). Think of it as an old version of TV if TV understood its social responsibility.
Why do I give emphasis on the Romans and not the Greeks? Because most of our
Greek legacy comes filtered by the Roman expansion and many of our military and
social traditions are in many ways remnants of the old Roman Empire.
But so often, part of the story
relies on the idea that the hero would go out to do something heroic and as a
prize, we would end up with the girl. That is, well, sexist as hell as it
reduces women to simply a prize to be won. But what if we are viewing the
stories wrong?
In many of the old stories, the hero
didn’t go off to save the queen for himself. He actually went on a mission for
the king who couldn’t abandon the throne; leaving behind his own loved one to
achieve a greater good for his country. We see this in stories like Saint George
and the Dragon. Even then, some of these stories warn of the danger of the Hero
getting any selfish ideas with the queen, as we see in Lancelot and Queen Guinevere.
Other stories are about contests for
the princess's hand in marriage, as virtue and courage will usually trump social
standing. We might assume that at this point, the princess was basically
raffled off as a trophy, but in reality the contests were to chose who would
be the king’s successor. Marring the princess was because royal lineage was
passed down by the Queen and not the King. The King might have been the king,
but it was the Queen’s children who inherited the thrown. Many Kings
would be quite liberal where they deposited their seed so following that road was hard to prove. But again, why so much emphasis
to proving yourself to the Queen or the Princess? The answer is as rather
interesting mix of religion, language, and real estate.
The land has always been viewed as
female. It’s the barer of fruits and caregiver of the people. This is why we
call it “Mother Earth.” That is why there is such an importance to female
spirituality within our old traditions. Whoever owned the most fertile lands
would usually have the most prosperous kingdom. Land was power.
And to reinforce the idea of femininity
within a land, the word used to define your motherland within Latin traditions
is the feminine word Patria
(Motherland). Although originating from the masculine Patrius-A-Um (relating to the Father or Forefathers), it took a
feminine connotation when it evolved into the Italian and Spanish Patria, the Portuguese Pátria, or the French Patrie. The tradition is simple. You
respect your Patria as you would your
mother. You would be loyal to your Patria
as you would your wife. And you would care for your Patria as you would your daughter.
You see, these stories were allegoric
and symbolic. Just as a dragon wasn’t really a dragon but rather a
representation of a threat, The Queen or the Princess would a physical manifestation
of the Patria. Heroes would set off
to save their Patria (Queen) without
getting any ideas of becoming kings themselves. Heroes would have to prove
their worth before their Patria
(Princess) would consider them worthy suitors and heirs to the throne. This is why
so many stories are about heroes fighting any threat that would harm their Patria. They weren’t fighting to save a Queen
or a Princess. They were fighting to save their country and their homes or to
prove their worth to the people as a future king.
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