Artemis and the Silver Hind

This article first appeared on Substack on April 12, 2023.

Today’s research has led me down the ‘silver’ rabbit hole - learning about the symbolism of silver and its associations. My project began as a re-imagining of the characters and plot points (and life) of Charlotte-Rose de La Force and it has morphed into something else entirely. One of the features of the de La Force’s Rapunzel (Persinette) is that she is put into a tower of silver by the woman who raised her.

Silver was meant to ward off evil and in the context of this story, the mother’s intention is to ward off the advances from men hoping to take Persinette’s innocence from her. Across the world, there are various symbolic ideas about silver, including wealth, spiritual enlightenment, femininity, strength and others. We use silver to describe a ‘silver' lining (hidden blessings), ‘silver’ spoon (privilege) and ‘silver’ tongued (eloquent).

My explorations of this malleable element have sent my greying hair down the path of the Greek goddess Artemis. She was a first-born twin to her sibling Apollo and is the goddess of childbirth, midwifery, nature, virginity, young women and the moon. Often seen with a deer or bow and arrow, I have been inadvertently channelling all of these symbols in my creative artefact. Or perhaps it was Charlotte-Rose who was inspired by Artemis’ brightness. Either way, the story of Persinette being entrapped in a silver tower seems to be the protective work of the Goddess Artemis. In Fairer than a Fairy, a silver hind is featured as a goddess-like woman trapped in a deer skin and one of my characters carries a bow and arrow. The Roman equivalent is Diana and she is mentioned at least once in the fairy tale collection.

I’m constantly amazed at how stories come through me (and I assume for other writers) and in the case of this work, wonder how much de La Force was influenced by Ancient Greek mythology that has somehow subconsciously influenced my work. There are many references to Greek and Roman mythology in her stories and yet, it is not known how she was educated, given women were unable to study at the time.

So, now rather than procrastinating on Substack, I return to my creative work and start to weave more silver threads into some amazing fairy tales written by an extraordinary woman.

~ Alyssa