Reverence of Hathor is incredibly old -- one of the oldest in ancient Egypt. Originally a cow-headed deity; she was later represented with only the bovine's ears, her face represented on columns throughout Egyptian temples. She is usually pictured holding a sistrum. While sharing attributes among their deities was a common practice with the Egyptians, Hathor, like Isis, seems to have exhibited most all of them at one time or another.
So what has she represented? One myth has her as a sky goddess, her four limbs serving as the sky's supporting pillars. Her name can mean "House of Horus" due to one belief that he returned to her each evening to be reborn again in the morning. She also represented music, merriment, mother creator, and love and sensuality. The last attribute may have been why the Greeks associated her with Aphrodite.
Normally a benevolent deity, and well loved, she did possess a destructive side. The most well known story tells of Ra’s anger at humanity. He decided to destroy them and called upon Hathor for her help. Turning herself into Sekmet, the lion goddess, she began tearing everyone she came across limb from limb. Night fell as the survivors fled to the desert in terror. Ra began to rethink his hasty decision made in such anger and decided to spare what was left of man. Unfortunately, Hathor, still as Sekmet, had developed a lust for the taste of blood. To deter her, blood was mixed with beer and poured upon the desert in her path. Stopping to admire her reflection in the liquid, she could smell the alcohol fumes and began to lap it up. With Ra’s avenger drunk asleep, the humans could pass by her and return to their home. Upon waking, her blood thirst had passed. According to one version of the myth, her avenging side became a goddess in its own right -- the goddess Sekmet.
Also often mentioned with Hathor are the Seven Hathors. Some badly researched books identify the Seven Hathors as being Hathor, with no more information whatsoever. As best I can tell, and which makes the most sense to me, is that they represented "muses." This depiction makes sense with Hathor’s representation of music, merriment, and celebration. She was a joyful goddess. The Seven merely represented different aspects of that nature. These multiple Hathors were known to have different manifestations, or temples of worship. These are located at Thebes, Heliopolis, Aphroditopolis, Sinai, Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and Keset.
So there is a rather muddled, all too short, accounting of the Egyptian cow-goddess Hathor. If you seek a goddess that represents all that's good about womanhood, she's a good choice. On the one hand, she represented all that Egyptian men desired in a wife -- a mother and nurturer. Yet she also represented all they found desirable in a woman -- blatant sexuality and sensuality. She felt completely free to enjoy life as it came to her.
One last note. Other spellings of her name include: Hat-hor; Het-heru, House of Horus; Het-hert, House Above; Athyr; and Athor.
Mercante, Anthony S. Who's Who in Egyptian Mythology, Clarkson N. Potter, 1978.
Springborg, Patricia Royal Persons, Unwin Hyman, 1990.
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Originally
composed 25 May, 1998.
Copyright
Laurel Reufner, 1998. Comments? Email me!