3.
The Virgin Goddesses:
Artemis, Athena, and Hestia
The three virgin goddesses of Greek mythology are Artemis,
Goddess of the Hunt and of the Moon; Athena, Goddess of Wisdom
and Crafts; and Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Temple. These three
goddesses personify the independent, active, nonrelationship aspects
of women’s psychology. Artemis and Athena are outward- and
achievement-oriented archetypes, whereas Hestia is inwardly fo-
cused. All three represent inner drives in women to develop talents,
pursue interests, solve problems, compete with others, express
themselves articulately in words or through art forms, put their
surroundings in order, or lead contemplative lives. Every woman
who has ever wanted “a room of her own,” or feels at home in nature,
or delights in figuring out how something works, or appreciates
solitude, has a kinship with one of these virgin goddesses.
The virgin goddess aspect is that part of a woman that is unowned
by or “unpenetrated” by a man—that is untouched by her need for
a man or need to be validated by him, that exists wholly separate
from him, in her own right. When a woman is living out a virgin
archetype, it means that a significant part of her is psychologically
virginal, not that she is physically and literally virginal.
The term virgin means undefiled, pure, uncorrupted, unused,
untilled, untouched and unworked on “by man,” as in virgin soil,
virgin forest; or not previously processed, as in virgin wool. Virgin
oil is oil made from the first pressing of olives