This is such a great explanation. I think most medieval representations of Greek and other mythologies seem condescending to those mythologies, just as the 19th century 'gentlemen' who drove much of early anthropology and archaeology (tomb raiding at the time) were incredibly misogynistic, not just in their own lives, but in their assessments of ancient societies and religions. We are still, in western civ, still trying to (or wallowing in) release ourselves from the narrow judgements which can really only be ascribed to the medieval and subsequent victorian and Edwardian eras as the prevailing attitudes toward life, religion and gender.
This is such a great explanation. I think most medieval representations of Greek and other mythologies seem condescending to those mythologies, just as the 19th century 'gentlemen' who drove much of early anthropology and archaeology (tomb raiding at the time) were incredibly misogynistic, not just in their own lives, but in their assessments of ancient societies and religions. We are still, in western civ, still trying to (or wallowing in) release ourselves from the narrow judgements which can really only be ascribed to the medieval and subsequent victorian and Edwardian eras as the prevailing attitudes toward life, religion and gender.