smokingboot

The Island of Gozo has a story about its megalithic temple; the clue is in the name 'Ggantija,' the giantess. Tales tell of how one such titan lived on Gozo, her diet being of broad beans and honey. She bore a child by one of the human men of the island, and built the temple with her bare hands, child sat upon her shoulder.

I found the story reassuring, because it depicts a female artist/builder as opposed to yet another fertility goddess. Maybe prehistoric societies were intrigued by genitals, but their interest pales beside the obsessions of 19th/20th century researchers. I can see how periods and pregnancies might have seemed magical, but surely it's possible that priests and potters occasionally thought about something else. The idea of Woman as Embodiment and Man as Agency, that women are while men do remains, however insidiously. A female artist friend mentioned how she was told her artistic drive was a male characteristic, a 'trans man' part of her psyche. New bottle, new label, but some of this wine is very old. Fortunately, the giantess is older, her temple standing millennia before the pyramids rose.

When we visited, the Ggantijan temple complex seemed thoroughly de-magicked by heat and scaffolding but the art held me. Fertility my patootie! What they loved was food, more food, and sitting around probably contemplating their next meal.

How they loved their sofas! How they dripped in luxurious fat! How strange their haircuts were! The Sleeping Lady was the best example with her Max Wall coiffure and divan seeming to creak beneath her weight.