Written by Sinjini Bhattacharya
Imagine being on your period, with unbelievably painful cramps and constant discomfort. You’ve already had three bars of chocolate, and your monthly supply of Nutella is long gone as well. Sexist, entitled men have dumped their incompetence on your period countless times in just two days and to add to that, the moment you step in front of your mirror, it turns red!
Wait, something didn’t quite add up there, did it? Well, say that to Aristotle! If you think pineapple on pizza is strange, wait till you hear what Classical Greek Mythology has to say about menstruation.
One of the most prominent Greek philosophers, Aristotle, in his text, ‘On Dreams’, talks about how if a menstruating woman stands in front of a mirror, the mirror’s surface will accumulate a reddish, cloud-like stain. He also wrote that the time it would take to remove the stain from the mirror’s reflecting surface is directly affected by the age of the mirror and the day of the woman’s cycle. The newer the mirror, the longer it would take one to rub the stain.
No, there’s more! If she looks in the mirror towards the beginning and the end of her cycle, the stain would be light and more transparent. If she looks in it sometime in the middle of her cycle, the stain would be darker and thicker. This may symbolize the lighter flow of blood during the beginning and the end of the period and heavier flow during the second and third days – as was believed to be the case in ancient Greece.
Whether he simply gave in to popular superstitions or actually conducted an experiment is not known to any, but if you ever experience anything like this, I think it would be safe to blame it on sleep deprivation rather than your period!
Pliny the Elder, another renowned philosopher, in his essay, ‘Natural History’, wrote about how if menstruating women touch crops or a plant, it sterilizes the plant and withers the crop. Cuddling your pet dog while on your period might have given both you and your dog a bad reputation in 500 BCE Greece, because Pliny and most of Greece along with him, believed that a menstruating person touching a dog would turn the d rabid!
On the other hand, he also believed menstrual blood to have certain healing qualities. For example, Pliny believed menstrual blood could cure malaria and leprosy. Considering how empowering Greek Mythology is when it comes to womxn, transgender and non binary folks, the fact that Aristotle could believe in something so absurd might have come as a shock to some of you (or has it, didn’t he also say that Earth was flat?)
Let’s talk about Ptolemy. Yes, yes, he’s the one who invented the map. But, one of his most important and interesting – shall we say – philosophies, talks about his belief that the deepest and strongest desire of a mortal is, has been and always will be achieving immortality and supreme enlightenment through the consumption of ambrosia. And what is ambrosia? You guessed it – menstrual blood!
According to classical mythology, ambrosia is a kind of “supernatural red wine” given to the gods by Hera through her daughter Hebe. One thing that needs to be noted is that immortality, here, does not mean eternal physical presence. Perhaps for the mythological gods, yes, but not for humans. No, for humans, it could simply mean prosperity in life and popularity both in life and after death. After all, anyone and everyone linked to menstruation and the Divine Feminine (for argument’s sake) have successfully made their place in history, whether by worshipping it or by demonizing it.
According to ancient Greek texts, the Norse god Thor achieved immortality after bathing in a river of menstrual blood, called Timur. Similarly, in Taoism, the red Yin juice was believed to give the drinker immortality. Ancient Egyptians also sought to achieve enlightenment by drinking the blood of Isis.
But, Constantine converted to Christianity, and matriarchal Paganism was swept aside by patriarchal Christianity. See how it all adds up? Blood red apple, containing the secret of life that must always be a secret, a crafty snake luring humans into committing the sin of knowing basic science, the petrifying gaze of Greek goddess Medusa (often considered the emblem of menstruation) much like that of a menstruating person in various folklores and lastly, the sin of taking a bite out of the tree of knowledge and thus, consuming the forbidden fruit (wise blood). Petition to change the name of menstrual cups to menstrual chalices?
“Mainstream” classical literature has always been too busy building wooden horses, to talk about powerful and misrepresented womxn. Hopefully, modern literature makes room for everyone!