NotNormativelyHuman 273
presence in the social and cultural manifold, past and present. It is a
noteworthybutsometimesoverlookedfactthatdespitedisabledpersons'
frequent relegation to the social and cultural margins, many of
humankind's most ancient myths do indeed negotiate embodied non-
normativity, featuring characters which would today be considered
disabled, even assigning significant roles to them. Thus, in the Sanskrit
epicTheMaharabharata(ca. 4thcent. BCE to 4thcent. CE), Manthara,
the hunchbackmaidservant, is an evil agent that sets into motion the
chain of events leading to Rama's exile, the central event of the epic.
Other examples of physically non-normative characters positioned at
crucialjuncturesofepicnarrativesincludePhiloctetes,thefamedarcher
in Homer'sIliad(ca. 750 to 710 BCE). In Sophocles' tragedy by that
name(returnedtobelow),heissoincapacitatedbyasnakebiteastobe
no longer fit to take part in active warfare. In Nordic folklore (for
example inRagnars saga, 13thcent. CE), we find Ivar the Boneless,
who,inspiteofhisinfirmbodyconsistingonlyofcartilage,turnsoutto
beawarriorwithsuperhumanabilitieswhocanchangethehistoryofhis
people.
In manynarratives,disability isalsolinkedwith spirituality,^103 often
uneasilyso,becausesometimesnon-normativephysicalityisunderstood
(^103) It may be worth remembering that in the three Abrahamitic religions the
figure of the devil is often endowed with non-normative bodily features. Some
of these features, such as the proverbial horns and a quadruped's foot, are
folkloristic embellishments often drawing on depictions of gods from other
religious traditions such as the Greek Pan. In both theHebrew Bibleand the
Qur'an, Satan's/Shaytan's/Iblis' physical characteristics are not fully specified,
only negatively so. In the Book of Ezekiel, for example, God addressing Satan,
emphasizesindetailhowthelatter,oncecreatedinunimaginablebeauty(28:12-
18),hasinthemeantimebecomeafallenangelwhichGodhimselfdescribesas
a monstrous creature: "a terror" deservedly to be brought to ashes (28:19). The
NewTestament,on the otherhand, is replete with images of the devil's physical
appearance,especiallyintheBookofRevelations,whereSatanisconceivedasa
"sign [that] appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven
heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept
awayathirdofthestarsofheaven,andthrewthemtotheearth"(Rev.12:3-4).–
The religious gesture of associating evil with non-normative physical features
may have paved the way for investing disabled people with a stigma. And a