I’ve wondered why so many fan writers seem to have no problems with this impossible concept. (Of course, in magical/fantasy universes, an author can do anything she wants to.)
Today, I attended a very traditional wedding, and something the preacher said made me ask myself: are we somehow culturally conditioned to accept mpreg as a reality?
The preacher started out by discussing how Eve was formed from Adam’s rib. And there you have it – a human being “born” from a man.
And, west of Eden, Athena was ‘born’ from Zeus’ forehead.
So I did some googling on the internets and here's what I harvested about Athena:
The story of Athena’s birth comes in several versions. In the one most commonly cited, Zeus lay with Metis, the goddess of crafty thought, but immediately feared the consequences. It had been prophesied that Metis would bear children more powerful than Zeus himself. In order to forestall these dire consequences, Zeus transformed Metis into a fly and swallowed her immediately after lying with her. He was too late: Metis had already conceived a child. Metis immediately began making a helmet and robe for her fetal daughter. The hammering as she made the helmet caused Zeus great pain and Prometheus, Hephaestus, Hermes or Palaemon (depending on the sources examined) cleaved Zeus's head with the double-headed Minoan axe (labrys). Athena leaped from Zeus's head, fully grown and armed, and Zeus was none the worse for the experience.
(Yeow! Back to “Alien” imagery here! Good thing that gods (obviously) heal quickly!)
Which brings me to my question: Since Western culture has theological precedent for mpreg, do writers/readers have those images deep within their subconscious minds when they write/read mpreg stories?
Or am I just off on some strange tangent here?
