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Melusine The Serpent Goddess in A. S. Byatt's Possession and in Mythology

Gillian Alban

Gillian Alban meticulously pursues the Fairy Melusine snake-woman image through the plot and the poetry of A. S. Byatt's novel Possession, into medieval legend, and beyond into her antecedents in ancient myth. The book describes the erotically inspiring force of Melusine's love story and draws parallels with goddesses such as Lamia, Ishtar or Inanna, Isis, and Asherah. Mother, creator, and leader, the figure of Melusine was ultimately vilified and tellingly converted into the demon of patriarchal accounts, as seen in the examples of Lilith, Medusa, Scylla, and the serpent in the Garden. Alban deconstructs part of Genesis, including the roles of Adam and Eve and Cain's crime, and illuminates the Old Testament worship of the goddess Asherah alongside the male Yahweh. A forceful exploration of literature, history, and myth, this study sweeps away limiting assumptions about the female sex. Melusine the Serpent Goddess restores the dignity acknowledged to women of old, making a forceful statement about the power and creativity of women.
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Lexington Books
Pages: 307 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½
978-0-7391-0471-2 • Hardback • April 2003 • $129.00 • (£99.00)
Subjects: History / Middle East / Israel & Palestine, History / Middle East / General, History / World, History / Civilization, Literary Criticism / General, Literary Criticism / Feminist, Philosophy / General, Philosophy / Eastern, Philosophy / Religious
Gillian M. E. Alban teaches Literature and English at Dogus University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Part 1 Melusine the Snake Goddess
Chapter 2 Into the Garden, Melusine! The Tale in Byatt's Possession
Chapter 3 The Aquatic Great Goddess
Chapter 4 The Ophidian Goddess in Gylanic Times
Part 5 Love and the Holy Marriage
Chapter 6 The Meeting and Marriage of Melusine and Raimondin
Chapter 7 Keats' Lamia in the CÈvennes
Chapter 8 Sexual Love in the Ancient Holy Marriage
Chapter 9 The Goddess as Wife or Mother of God
Part 10 Mother and Creation
Chapter 11 The Creative Snake Goddess
Chapter 12 From Creatrix to Monster
Chapter 13 Mère Lucine, Echidna: Mother of Monsters
Chapter 14 Serpent Goddess Atargatis and Queen Semiramis
Part 15 The Curse and Death
Chapter 16 The Prohibition of Melusine Resulting from Her Curse
Chapter 17 Lilith, Medusa, and Scylla: Rapacious Females
Chapter 18 Snake Under the Tree in Paradise: Asherah Suppressed

Melusine The Serpent Goddess in A. S. Byatt's Possession and in Mythology

Cover Image
Hardback
Summary
Summary
  • Gillian Alban meticulously pursues the Fairy Melusine snake-woman image through the plot and the poetry of A. S. Byatt's novel Possession, into medieval legend, and beyond into her antecedents in ancient myth. The book describes the erotically inspiring force of Melusine's love story and draws parallels with goddesses such as Lamia, Ishtar or Inanna, Isis, and Asherah. Mother, creator, and leader, the figure of Melusine was ultimately vilified and tellingly converted into the demon of patriarchal accounts, as seen in the examples of Lilith, Medusa, Scylla, and the serpent in the Garden. Alban deconstructs part of Genesis, including the roles of Adam and Eve and Cain's crime, and illuminates the Old Testament worship of the goddess Asherah alongside the male Yahweh. A forceful exploration of literature, history, and myth, this study sweeps away limiting assumptions about the female sex. Melusine the Serpent Goddess restores the dignity acknowledged to women of old, making a forceful statement about the power and creativity of women.
Details
Details
  • Lexington Books
    Pages: 307 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½
    978-0-7391-0471-2 • Hardback • April 2003 • $129.00 • (£99.00)
    Subjects: History / Middle East / Israel & Palestine, History / Middle East / General, History / World, History / Civilization, Literary Criticism / General, Literary Criticism / Feminist, Philosophy / General, Philosophy / Eastern, Philosophy / Religious
Author
Author
  • Gillian M. E. Alban teaches Literature and English at Dogus University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Part 1 Melusine the Snake Goddess
    Chapter 2 Into the Garden, Melusine! The Tale in Byatt's Possession
    Chapter 3 The Aquatic Great Goddess
    Chapter 4 The Ophidian Goddess in Gylanic Times
    Part 5 Love and the Holy Marriage
    Chapter 6 The Meeting and Marriage of Melusine and Raimondin
    Chapter 7 Keats' Lamia in the CÈvennes
    Chapter 8 Sexual Love in the Ancient Holy Marriage
    Chapter 9 The Goddess as Wife or Mother of God
    Part 10 Mother and Creation
    Chapter 11 The Creative Snake Goddess
    Chapter 12 From Creatrix to Monster
    Chapter 13 Mère Lucine, Echidna: Mother of Monsters
    Chapter 14 Serpent Goddess Atargatis and Queen Semiramis
    Part 15 The Curse and Death
    Chapter 16 The Prohibition of Melusine Resulting from Her Curse
    Chapter 17 Lilith, Medusa, and Scylla: Rapacious Females
    Chapter 18 Snake Under the Tree in Paradise: Asherah Suppressed

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