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116-426: Minerva is a virgin goddess. Her domain includes music, poetry , medicine , wisdom , commerce , weaving , and the crafts . Minerva is often depicted with her sacred creature, an owl usually named the " owl of Minerva ". which symbolised her association with wisdom and knowledge, as well as, less frequently, the snake and the olive tree . Minerva is commonly depicted as tall with an athletic and muscular build. She

232-421: A bride's virginity before her marriage. This has traditionally been tested by inspection for an "intact" hymen , or by a "proof of blood", which refers to vaginal bleeding wrongly believed to be caused by the tearing of the hymen after the first sanctioned sexual contact. Coerced medical virginity tests are practiced in many regions of the world, but are today condemned as a form of abuse of women. According to

348-563: A cow being sacrificed to Minerva among the many sacrifices made as a part of the New Year vows. In Fasti III, Ovid called her the "goddess of a thousand works" due to all of the things she was associated with. Minerva was worshipped throughout Italy, and when she eventually became equated with the Greek goddess Athena, she also became a goddess of battle. Unlike Mars, god of war, she was sometimes portrayed with sword lowered, in sympathy for

464-456: A daughter named Danaë . Disappointed by not having a male heir, Acrisius consulted the Oracle at Delphi , who warned him that he would one day be killed by his own grandson. To keep Danaë childless, Acrisius imprisoned her in a room atop a bronze tower in the courtyard of his palace: This mytheme is also connected to Ares , Oenopion , Eurystheus , and others. Zeus came to her in the form of

580-654: A factor in encouraging both girls and boys to have sex. Some studies suggest that people commence sexual activity at an earlier age than previous generations. The 2005 Durex Global sex survey found that people worldwide are having sex for the first time at an average age of 17.3, ranging from 15.6 in Iceland to 19.8 in India (though evidence has shown that the average age is not a good indicator of sexual initiation, and that percentages of sexually initiated youth at each age are preferred). A 2008 survey of UK teenagers between

696-425: A female is commonly considered within many cultures to be an important personal milestone. Its significance is reflected in expressions such as "saving oneself", "losing one's virginity," "taking someone's virginity" and sometimes as "deflowering". The occasion is at times seen as the end of innocence, integrity, or purity, and the sexualization of the individual. Traditionally, there was a cultural expectation that

812-542: A female referent. Unlike English, German also has a specific word for a male virgin Jüngling (Youngling) . It is, however, dated and rarely used. Jungfrau , with some masculine modifier, is more typical, as evidenced by the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin , about a 40-year-old male virgin, titled in German, Jungfrau (40), männlich, sucht… . German also distinguishes between young women and girls , who are denoted by

928-416: A female would not engage in premarital sex and would come to her wedding a virgin and that she would "give up" her virginity to her new husband in the act of consummation of the marriage. Feminine sexual practices have revolved around the idea of females waiting to have sex until they are married. Some females who have been previously sexually active (or their hymen has been otherwise damaged) may undergo

1044-457: A greater amount of protection from the goddess of crafts. Some women would also have images of her on accessories such as hairpins or jewellery. She was even featured on some funerary art on coffins and signet rings. During Roman rule, Minerva became equated with the Celtic goddess Sulis , to the degree where their names were used both together and interchangeably. She was believed to preside over

1160-534: A measurable change during first experience of vaginal intercourse. Some medical procedures occasionally may require a woman's hymen to be opened ( hymenotomy ). Historically, and in modern times, female virginity has been regarded as more significant than male virginity; the perception that sexual prowess is fundamental to masculinity has lowered the expectation of male virginity without lowering social status. For example, in Mataram , Indonesia , where around 80% of

1276-433: A range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern and ethical concepts. Religious rituals for regaining virginity exist in many cultures. Some men and women consider themselves born-again virgins . There are cultural and religious traditions that place special value and significance on this state, predominantly towards unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor , and worth. Like chastity ,

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1392-455: A shower of gold, and fathered her child. Soon after, their child, a son, was born; Perseus-"Perseus Eurymedon, for his mother gave him this name as well". Fearful for his future, but unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods and the Erinyes by killing the offspring of Zeus and his daughter, Acrisius cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest. Danaë's fearful prayer, made while afloat in

1508-446: A skydiving "virgin". In the latter usage, virgin means uninitiated, as in the much older virgin knight . "Virgin" is also used as an adjective in terms like virgin field . The concept of virginity has significance only in a particular social, cultural or moral context. According to Hanne Blank , "virginity reflects no known biological imperative and grants no demonstrable evolutionary advantage." Medieval bestiaries stated that

1624-435: A study by researcher and author Laura M. Carpenter, many men and women discussed how they felt virginity could not be taken through rape. They described losing their virginities in one of three ways: "as a gift, stigma or part of the process." Carpenter states that despite perceptions of what determines virginity loss being as varied among gay men and lesbians as they are among heterosexuals, and in some cases more varied among

1740-482: A study released in 2008 by the Guttmacher Institute , author of the findings Laura Lindberg stated that there "is a widespread belief that teens engage in nonvaginal forms of sex, especially oral sex, as a way to be sexually active while still claiming that technically, they are virgins", but that her study drew the conclusion that "research shows that this supposed substitution of oral sex for vaginal sex

1856-510: A surgical procedure, called hymenorrhaphy or hymenoplasty, to repair or replace her hymen, and cause vaginal bleeding on the next intercourse as proof of virginity ( see below ). In some cultures, an unmarried female who is found not to be a virgin, whether by choice or as a result of a rape , can be subject to shame, ostracism or even an honor killing . In those cultures, female virginity is closely interwoven with personal or even family honor, especially those known as shame societies , in which

1972-482: A virgin complex directed towards oneself. There are varying understandings as to which types of sexual activities result in loss of virginity. The traditional view is that virginity is only lost through vaginal penetration by the penis, consensual or non-consensual, and that acts of oral sex , anal sex , manual sex or other forms of non-penetrative sex do not result in loss of virginity. A person who engages in such acts without having engaged in vaginal intercourse

2088-444: A virginity pledge, and deduced that there was substitution of oral and anal sex for vaginal sex among the pledgers. However, the data for anal sex without vaginal sex reported by males did not reflect this directly. Early loss of virginity has been shown to be linked to factors such as level of education, independence, biological factors like age and gender, and social factors such as parental supervision or religious affiliation, with

2204-510: A web would forever be a reminder to Arachne of her actions that offended the gods. This story also acted as a warning to mortals not to challenge the gods. Medusa was once a beautiful human girl with magnificent hair, she was also a priestess of Minerva. Neptune was obsessed with her and lusted after her. One day Neptune was watching her pray in the Temple of Minerva and decided to act upon his lustful obsession. He forced himself on Medusa but she

2320-422: Is a virgin, and a man cannot divorce her on grounds that she was not. Hymenorraphy is considered a form of cosmetic surgery, and is not generally accepted, taught, or regulated by the medical profession. There is a common belief that some women are born without a hymen, but some doubt has been cast on this by a recent study. It is likely that almost all women are born with a hymen, but most will not experience

2436-413: Is also applied to men, in both cases specifically denoting absence of sexual experience. When used of men, it does not carry a strong association of "never-married" status. However, in reference to women, historically, it was sometimes used to refer to an engaged woman— parthenos autou (παρθένος αὐτού, his virgin) = his fiancée as opposed to gunē autou (γυνή αὐτού, his woman) = his wife. This distinction

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2552-505: Is archaeological evidence to suggest that Minerva was worshipped not only in a formal civic fashion, but also by individuals on a more personal level. Minerva is featured on the coinage of different Roman emperors . She often is represented on the reverse side of a coin holding an owl and a spear among her attributes. During the Roman occupation of Britain , it was common for carpenters to own tools ornamented with images of Minerva to invoke

2668-620: Is at later ages than that of women, but is often extra-marital. This group included sub-Saharan Africa (the study listed Mali, Senegal and Ethiopia). The study considered the Indian subcontinent to also fall into this group, although data was only available from Nepal. In the second group, the data indicated families encouraged daughters to delay marriage, and to abstain from sexual activity before that time. However, sons are encouraged to gain experience with older women or prostitutes before marriage. Age of men at sexual initiation in these societies

2784-529: Is at lower ages than that of women. This group includes Latin cultures, both from southern Europe (Portugal, Greece and Romania are noted) and from Latin America (Brazil, Chile, and the Dominican Republic). The study considered many Asian societies to also fall into this group, although matching data was only available from Thailand. In the third group, age of men and women at sexual initiation

2900-648: Is famously portrayed in an outfit inspired by Minerva, and also wrote poems in her honour. Virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse ; it is considered a social construct , not an objective term with an operational definition . Social definitions of virginity therefore vary. Heterosexual individuals may or may not consider loss of virginity to occur only through penile-vaginal penetration, while people of other sexual orientations often include oral sex , anal sex , or manual sex in their definitions of losing one's virginity. The term virgin encompasses

3016-475: Is found in a Middle English manuscript held at Trinity College, Cambridge of about 1200: Ðar haueð ... martirs, and confessors, and uirgines maked faier bode inne to women. In this, and many later contexts, the reference is specifically Christian, alluding to members of the Ordo Virginum (Order of Virgins), which applies to the consecrated virgins known to have existed since the early church from

3132-547: Is furious with Aglauros. She seeks the assistance of Envy , who fills Aglauros with so much envy for the good fortune of others that she turns to stone . Mercury fails to seduce Herse. Minerva assisted the hero Hercules . In Hyginus ' Fabulae she is said to have helped him kill the Hydra (30.3). Minerva assisted the hero Ulysses . Hyginus describes in his work Fabulae that Minerva changes Odysseus' appearance in order to protect and assist him multiple times (126). Minerva

3248-505: Is illegal, and physicians are encouraged to instead provide education, guidance, social support, and where needed, physical protection. Such virginity-testing bans have been controversial; while there is a consensus that virginity cannot be scientifically and medically certified, some physicians argue that certificates, while intrinsically dishonest, protect vulnerable women from potentially life-threatening danger. Some women undergo hymenorrhaphy (or hymenoplasty) to reshape their hymens with

3364-808: Is largely a myth". A 2003 study published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality focusing on definitions of "having sex" and noting studies concerning university students from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia reported that "[w]hile the vast majority of respondents (more than 97%) in these three studies included penile-vaginal intercourse in their definition of sex, fewer (between 70% and 90%) respondents considered penile-anal intercourse to constitute having sex" and that "oral-genital behaviours were defined as sex by between 32% and 58% of respondents". A different study by

3480-607: Is lost." The concept of "technical virginity" or sexual abstinence through oral sex is popular among teenagers. For example, oral sex is common among adolescent girls who fellate their boyfriends not only to preserve their virginity, but also to create and maintain intimacy or to avoid pregnancy. In a 1999 study published in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association ), the definition of "sex"

3596-465: Is more obscure. Hofmann lists the possible root as *bher- , from which Latin ferio , "strike". This corresponds to Pokorny's *bher- (3), "scrape, cut". Ordinarily *bh- descends to Greek as ph- . This difficulty can be overcome by presuming a dissimilation from the -th- in pérthein , which the Greeks would have preferred from a putative *phérthein . Graves carries the meaning still further, to

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3712-561: Is necessary due to there being no specific word for wife (or husband) in Greek. By extension from its primary sense, the idea that a virgin has a sexual "blank slate", unchanged by any past intimate connection or experience, can imply that the person is of unadulterated purity. The English sense is not retricted to youth or females; older women can be virgins ( the Virgin Queen ), men can be virgins, and potential initiates into many fields can be colloquially termed virgins ; for example,

3828-685: Is not far from the stars Betelgeuse and Sirius; his wife's constellation Andromeda is also nearby. It is southward from Cassiopeia, and to the left of Taurus. His constellation contains the most famous variable star Algol and some deep sky objects such as Messier 34, the Double Cluster, the California Nebula, and the Little Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 76). There are eight named stars in the constellation Algol, Atik, Berehinya, Menkib, Miram, Mirfak, Misam, and Muspelheim. It

3944-445: Is often regarded among heterosexuals and researchers as "technically a virgin". By contrast, gay or lesbian individuals often describe such acts as resulting in loss of virginity. Some gay males regard penile-anal penetration as resulting in loss of virginity, but not fellatio , handjobs or other types of non-penetrative sex, while lesbians may regard cunnilingus or fingering as virginity loss. Some lesbians who debate

4060-454: Is often wearing armour and carrying a spear. As an important Roman goddess, she is highly revered, honored, and respected. Marcus Terentius Varro considered her to be ideal and the plan for the universe personified. The name Minerva stems from Proto-Italic * meneswo ("intelligent, understanding"), and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) * menos ("thought"). Helmut Rix (1981) and Gerhard Meiser (1998) have proposed

4176-470: Is regarded as a valuable commodity in some cultures. In the past, within most societies a woman's options for marriage were largely dependent upon her status as a virgin. Those women who were not virgins experienced a dramatic decrease in opportunities for a socially advantageous marriage, and in some instances the premarital loss of virginity eliminated their chances of marriage entirely. Modern virginity auctions , like that of Natalie Dylan , are discussed in

4292-566: Is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty . He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon , the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles . He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus . He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë , as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles (as they were both children of Zeus, and Heracles's mother

4408-409: Is thought to have invented the flute by piercing holes into boxwood. She enjoyed the music, but became embarrassed by how it made her face look when her cheeks puffed out to play. Because of this she threw it away and it landed on a riverbank where it was found by a satyr . The Romans celebrated her festival from March 19 to March 23 during the day that is called, in the neuter plural, Quinquatria ,

4524-586: Is unlikely, however, that Apollodorus knew who walled in Mycenae; he was only conjecturing. Perseus took up official residence in Mycenae with Andromeda where he had a long, successful reign as king. According to the Suda , Perseus, after he married Andromeda, founded a city and called it Amandra (Ἄμανδραν). In the city there was a stele depicting the Gorgon. The city later changed the name to Ikonion because it had

4640-694: Is why Heinrich Schliemann named the largest tholos tomb the Treasury of Atreus . Apart from these more historical references, the only accounts of him are from folk-etymology: Perseus dropped his cap or found a mushroom (both named myces ) at Mycenae, or perhaps the place was named after the lady Mycene, daughter of Inachus , mentioned in a now-fragmentary poem, the Megalai Ehoiai . For whatever reasons, perhaps as outposts, Perseus fortified Mycenae according to Apollodorus along with Midea , an action that implies that they both previously existed. It

4756-495: The Bibliotheca . Pausanias asserts that the Greeks believed Perseus founded Mycenae. He mentions the shrine to Perseus that stood on the left-hand side of the road from Mycenae to Argos, and also a sacred fountain at Mycenae called Persea . Located outside the walls, this was perhaps the spring that filled the citadel's underground cistern. He states also that Atreus stored his treasures in an underground chamber there, which

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4872-469: The Acta Arvalia , a cow was sacrificed to Minerva on October 13 58 AD along with many other sacrifices to celebrate the anniversary of Nero coming to power. On January 3 81 AD, as a part of the New Year vows, two cows were sacrificed to Minerva (among many others) to secure the well-being of the emperor Titus, Domitian Caesar, Julia Augusta, and their children. On January 3 87 AD there is again record of

4988-571: The Atlas mountains . On the way back to Seriphos, Perseus stopped in the kingdom of Aethiopia . This mythical Ethiopia was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia . Cassiopeia, having boasted that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids , drew the vengeance of Poseidon, who sent an inundation on the land and a sea serpent, Cetus , which destroyed man and beast. The oracle of Ammon announced that no relief would be found until

5104-554: The Aventine Hill . Among others, its members included Livius Andronicus . The Aventine sanctuary of Minerva continued to be an important center of the arts for much of the middle Roman Republic . As Minerva Medica , she was the goddess of medicine and physicians. As Minerva Achaea , she was worshipped at Lucera in Apulia where votive gifts and arms said to be those of Diomedes were preserved in her temple. According to

5220-721: The Graeae , the Gorgons' sisters, for the snake-haired women's whereabouts (in other versions, it was the Hesperides nymphs who gave Perseus the weapons after he sought out the Graeae). Following Athena's guidance, Perseus found the Graeae, who were three old swan -shaped witches sharing a single eye and a single tooth. As the witches passed their eye from one to another, Perseus snatched it from them, holding it for ransom in return for

5336-749: The Guttmacher Institute showed that in the countries surveyed, most men have experienced sexual intercourse by their 20th birthdays. Male sexuality is seen as something that is innate and competitive and displays a different set of cultural values and stigmas from female sexuality and virginity. In one study, scholars Wenger and Berger found that male virginity is understood to be real by society, but it has been ignored by sociological studies. Within British and American culture in particular, male virginity has been made an object of embarrassment and ridicule in films such as Summer of '42 , American Pie , The Inbetweeners Movie and The 40-Year-Old Virgin , with

5452-615: The Perse- in Persephone , goddess of death. Ventris & Chadwick speculate about a Mycenaean goddess pe-re-*82 ( Linear B : 𐀟𐀩𐁚 ), attested on tablet PY Tn 316, and tentatively reconstructed as *Preswa . A Greek folk etymology connected Perseus to the name of the Persian people , whom they called the Pérsai (from Old Persian Pārsa "Persia, a Persian"). However,

5568-603: The Quinquatria by appointing a college of priests who were to stage plays and animal games in addition to poetry and oratory competitions. A lesser version, the Minusculae Quinquatria , was held on the Ides of June, June 13, by the flute-players , as Minerva was thought to have invented the flute. In 207 BC, a guild of poets and actors was formed to meet and make votive offerings at the temple of Minerva on

5684-555: The World Health Organization (WHO): " Sexual violence encompasses a wide range of acts including (...) violent acts against the sexual integrity of women, including female genital mutilation and obligatory inspections for virginity ". Although it is not actually possible to determine virginity by inspection, some doctors feel socially pressured into performing " virginity testing " inspections and providing "certificates of virginity". In some jurisdictions, this

5800-471: The quoit and was making a public display of them when Acrisius, who happened to be visiting, stepped into the trajectory of the quoit and was killed: thus the oracle was fulfilled. This is an unusual variant on the story of such a prophecy, as Acrisius's actions did not, in this variant, cause his death. In the Bibliotheca , the inevitable occurred by another route: Perseus did return to Argos, but when Acrisius learned of his grandson's approach, mindful of

5916-563: The root form of Latin virgo , genitive virginis , meaning literally "maiden" or " virgin " The words virgino (“female virgin”) and virgulo (literally "virgin person" but often used for a male virgin) are hyponyms . The Latin word likely arose by analogy with a suit of lexemes based on vireo , meaning "to be green, fresh or flourishing", mostly with botanic reference—in particular, virga meaning "strip of wood". The first known use of virgin in English

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6032-524: The 2013 documentary How to Lose Your Virginity . The Bible required a man who had sex with a virgin to pay her bride price to her father and marry the girl. In some countries, until the late 20th century, a woman could sue a man who had taken her virginity but did not marry her. In some languages, the compensation for these damages are called " wreath money ". Despite common cultural beliefs, links between hymen state and vaginal penetration are not clear-cut. Inserting objects (including penises) into

6148-462: The Athenian orator Isocrates helps to date Perseus approximately. He said that Heracles was four generations later than Perseus, which corresponds to the legendary succession: Perseus, Electryon , Alcmena , and Heracles , who was a contemporary of Eurystheus . Atreus was one generation later, a total of five generations. The replacement of Bellerophon as the tamer and rider of Pegasus by

6264-552: The Gorgon and, when a fireball fell from the sky, he took the fire and gave it to the people to guard and revere it. Later, during a war, he tried to use Medusa's head again, but because he was old and could not see well, the head did not work. Because he thought that it was useless, he turned it toward himself and he died. Later his son Merros (Μέρρος) burned the head. Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons: Perses , Alcaeus , Heleus , Mestor , Sthenelus , Electryon , and Cynurus , and two daughters, Gorgophone and Autochthe . Perses

6380-467: The Gorgons' location. The Graeae informed Perseus that the Gorgons lived on the Island of Sarpedon. Perseus then gave the Graeae their eye back and proceeded to the island. On the Island of Sarpedon, Perseus came across a cave where Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa lay sleeping. Using Athena's reflective shield, Perseus overcame the looking taboo , walked into the cave backwards, safely observing and approaching

6496-471: The Greek verb πέρθειν ( pérthein , "to waste, ravage, sack, destroy") some form of which is familiar in Homeric epithets. According to Buck , the -eus suffix is typically used to form an agent noun, in this case from the aorist stem, pers- . Pers-eus therefore is a "sacker [of cities]"; that is, a soldier by occupation, a fitting name for the first Mycenaean warrior. The further origin of perth-

6612-575: The Kinsey Institute sampled 484 people, ranging in ages 18–96. "Nearly 95 percent of people in the study agreed that penile-vaginal intercourse meant 'had sex.' But the numbers changed as the questions got more specific." 11 percent of respondents based "had sex" on whether the man had achieved an orgasm , concluding that absence of an orgasm does not constitute "having had" sex. "About 80 percent of respondents said penile-anal intercourse meant 'had sex.' About 70 percent of people believed oral sex

6728-497: The PIE derivative * menes-ueh₂ ("provided with a mind, intelligent") as the transitional form. The myth of Minerva's birth follows that of Athena. In it, Minerva was borne of Metis , who had been swallowed by Jupiter , and burst from her father's head, fully grown and clad in armour. Jupiter had sex with the titaness Metis, which resulted in her attempting to change shape (or shapeshift ) to escape him. Jupiter then recalled

6844-560: The United States, approximately 25% of 15-year-olds and 50% of 17-year-olds have had sex. A 2002 international survey sought to study the sexual behavior of teenagers . 33,943 students aged 15, from 24 countries, completed a self-administered, anonymous, classroom survey, consisting of a standard questionnaire, developed by the HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children) international research network. The survey revealed that

6960-518: The ages of 14 and 17 (conducted by YouGov for Channel 4 ), showed that only 6% of these teenagers intended to wait until marriage before having sex. According to a 2011 CDC study, in the 15-to-19-year-old age group 43 percent of males and 48 percent of females in the United States reported never having an opposite-sex partner. Perseus In Greek mythology , Perseus ( US : / ˈ p ɜː r . s i . ə s / , UK : / ˈ p ɜː . sj uː s / ; Greek : Περσεύς, translit. Perseús)

7076-590: The concept of virginity has traditionally involved sexual abstinence . The concept of virginity usually involves moral or religious issues and can have consequences in terms of social status and in interpersonal relationships . Although virginity has social implications and had significant legal implications in some societies in the past, it has no legal consequences in most societies today. The social implications of virginity still remain in many societies and can have varying effects on an individual's social agency. The word virgin comes via Old French virgine from

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7192-409: The concept of virginity is also dubious because of the many individual definitions of virginity loss, and that valuing virginity has placed a woman's morality "between her legs." She critiques the notion that sexual activity has any influence on morality or ethics. The urge of wanting one's spouse or partner to have never engaged in sexual activities is called a virgin complex . A person may also have

7308-424: The darkness, has been expressed by the poet Simonides of Ceos . Mother and child washed ashore on the island of Seriphos , where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys ("fishing net"), who raised the boy to manhood. The brother of Dictys was Polydectes ("he who receives/welcomes many"), the king of the island. When Perseus was grown, Polydectes came to lust for the beautiful Danaë. Perseus believed Polydectes

7424-576: The depiction (ἀπεικόνισμα) of the Gorgon. Then he fought the Isaurians and the Cilicians and founded the city of Tarsus because an oracle told him to found a city in the place where after the victory, the flat (ταρσός) of his foot will touch the earth while he is dismounting from his horse. Then he conquered the Medes and changed the name of the country to Persia. At Persia, he taught the magi about

7540-589: The eighteen definitions of virgin from the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary ( OED1 , pages 230–232). Most of the OED1 definitions, however, are similar. The German word for "virgin" is Jungfrau . Jungfrau literally means "young woman", but is not used in this sense anymore. Instead junge Frau can be used. Jungfrau is the word reserved specifically for sexual inexperience. As Frau means "woman", it suggests

7656-496: The episode of Perseus and Andromeda the subject of tragedies, and its incidents were represented in many ancient works of art. As Perseus was flying in his return above the sands of Libya , according to Apollonius of Rhodes , the falling drops of Medusa's blood created a race of toxic serpents, one of whom was to kill the Argonaut Mopsus . Upon returning to Seriphos and discovering that his mother had to take refuge from

7772-641: The face of a quarry next to the River Dee . Stemming from an Italic moon goddess * Meneswā ('She who measures'), the Etruscans adopted the inherited Old Latin name, * Menerwā , thereby calling her Menrva . It is presumed that her Roman name, Minerva, is based on this Etruscan mythology . Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, war, art, schools, justice and commerce. She was the Etruscan counterpart to Greek Athena . Like Athena, Minerva burst from

7888-531: The fifth day after the Ides of March, the nineteenth, an artisans ' holiday. This festival was of deepest importance to artists and craftsmen as she was the patron goddess of crafting and arts. According to Ovid ( Fasti 3.809) the festival was 5 days long, and the first day was said to be the anniversary of Minerva's birth, so no blood was to be shed. The following four days were full of games of "drawn swords" in honour of Minerva's military association. Suetonius tells us (Life of Domitian 4.4) that Domitian celebrated

8004-598: The fight. In order to do this he slept in Minerva's temple, and she came to him with a golden bridle. When Pegasus saw Bellerophon with the bridle the horse immediately allowed Bellerophon to mount, and they defeated the Chimera. Metamorphoses by Ovid tell the story of Minerva and Aglauros . When Mercury comes to seduce mortal virgin Herse , her sister Aglauros is driven by her greed to help him. Minerva discovers this and

8120-439: The former, that the matter has been described to her as people viewing sexual acts relating to virginity loss as "acts that correspond to your sexual orientation," which suggests the following: "So if you're a gay male, you're supposed to have anal sex because that's what gay men do. And if you're a gay woman, then you're supposed to have oral sex, because that's what gay women do. And so those become, like markers, for when virginity

8236-503: The gift; he would not refuse it. Polydectes held Perseus to his rash promise and demanded the snake-haired Medusa 's head. Medusa and her two immortal older sisters, Stheno and Euryale , were Gorgons , monsters with snakes for hair, sharp fangs and claws , wings of gold , and gazes that turned people to stone . Before setting out on his quest, Perseus prayed to the gods and Zeus answered by sending two of his other children – Hermes and Athena – to bless their half-brother with

8352-909: The head of her father, Jupiter (Greek Zeus ), who had devoured her mother (Metis) in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent her birth. By a process of folk etymology , the Romans could have linked her foreign name to the root men- in Latin words such as mens meaning "mind", perhaps because one of her aspects as goddess pertained to the intellectual. The word mens is built from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- 'mind' (linked with memory as in Greek Mnemosyne /μνημοσύνη and mnestis /μνῆστις: memory, remembrance, recollection, manush in Sanskrit meaning mind). The Etruscan Menrva

8468-563: The healing hot springs located in Bath . Though Minerva is not a water deity, her association with intellectual professions as Minerva Medica she could also be thought of as a healing goddess, the epigraphic evidence present makes it clear that this is how Minerva was thought of in Bath. Some of the archaeological evidence present in Bath leads scholars to believe that it was thought Minerva could provide full healing from things such as rheumatism via

8584-514: The hot springs if she was given full credit for the healing. The temple of Sulis Minerva was known for having a miraculous altar-fire that burned coal as opposed to the traditional wood. There is evidence of worship of Minerva Medica in Carrawburgh due to archaeological evidence such as a relief depicting her and Aesculapius . There is a shrine dedicated to Minerva in Edgar's Field built in

8700-421: The hymen. Hymens rarely completely cover the vagina , hymens naturally have irregularities in width, and hymens can heal spontaneously without scarring. Visible breaks in the hymen, including complete hymenal clefts, are also common in girls and women who have never been sexually active. Medical professionals therefore recommend against describing hymens as "intact" or "broken". Some cultures require proof of

8816-495: The intent of causing vaginal bleeding on the next intercourse. Hymenorraphy is based on the false belief that all women bleed when first having vaginal intercourse; in fact, only about half bleed. In some cultures, the nuptial blood-spotted bed sheet would be displayed as proof of both consummation of marriage and that the bride had been a virgin. Hymens have few blood vessels and may not bleed significantly even when torn, and vaginal walls may bleed significantly when torn. Blood on

8932-449: The king sacrificed his daughter, Andromeda, to the monster, and so she was fastened naked to a rock on the shore. Wearing the winged sandals given to him by Hermes, Perseus reached Andromeda and used the harpe to behead the monster (in other versions, Perseus used Medusa's head to petrify Cetus). By rescuing Andromeda, Perseus claimed her in marriage. Perseus married Andromeda in spite of Phineus , to whom she had been previously engaged. At

9048-407: The loss of virginity before marriage is a matter of deep shame. In some parts of Africa, the myth that sex with a virgin can cure HIV/AIDS continues to prevail, leading to girls and women being raped. In other societies, such as many modern-day Western cultures, lack of sexual abstinence before marriage is not as socially stigmatized as it may be in the formerly mentioned cultures. Virginity

9164-524: The majority of the students were still virgins (they had no experience of sexual intercourse), and, among those who were sexually active, the majority (82%) used contraception. In a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study of US teenagers, 29% of teens reported feeling pressure to have sex, 33% of sexually active teens reported "being in a relationship where they felt things were moving too fast sexually", and 24% had "done something sexual they didn't really want to do". Several polls have indicated peer pressure as

9280-426: The male virgin typically being presented as socially inept. Such attitudes have resulted in some men keeping their status as a virgin a secret. The prevalence of virginity varies from culture to culture. In cultures which place importance on a female's virginity at marriage, the age at which virginity is lost is in effect determined by the age at which marriages would normally take place in those cultures, as well as

9396-596: The minimum marriage age set by the laws of the country where the marriage takes place. In a cross-cultural study, At what age do women and men have their first sexual intercourse? (2003), Michael Bozon of the French Institut national d'études démographiques found that contemporary cultures fall into three broad categories. In the first group, the data indicated families arranging marriage for daughters as close to puberty as possible with significantly older men. Age of men at sexual initiation in these societies

9512-811: The more familiar culture hero Perseus was not simply an error of painters and poets of the Renaissance . The transition was a development of Classical times which became the standard image during the Middle Ages and has been adopted by the European poets of the Renaissance and later: Giovanni Boccaccio 's Genealogia deorum gentilium libri (10.27) identifies Pegasus as the steed of Perseus, and Pierre Corneille places Perseus upon Pegasus in Andromède . Various modern representations of Pegasus depict

9628-817: The most common being sociodemographic variables. Along with this, sexual abuse has also been shown to have a link to later risky sexual behaviors and a younger age of voluntary sexual intercourse. Sexual initiation at an earlier age has been associated with: less frequency of condom use, less satisfaction and more frequency of non-autonomous reasons for that first sexual encounter. Adverse effects for losing virginity at an early age include lower chance of economic stability, lower level of education, social isolation, marital disruption and greater medical consequences. These medical consequences consist of an increase in STDs, cervical cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease, fertility and unwanted pregnancies. The first act of sexual intercourse by

9744-550: The native name of the Persians – Pārsa in Persian – has always been pronounced with an -a- . Herodotus recounts this story, devising a foreign son of Andromeda and Perseus, Perses , from whom the Persians took the name. Apparently the Persians also knew that story, as Xerxes tried to use it to suborn the Argives during his invasion of Greece, but ultimately failed to do so. King Acrisius of Argos had only one child,

9860-586: The only way to capture or tame a unicorn was by way of using a virgin as a lure, due to her implied purity. The topic is popular in Renaissance paintings. Although virginity has historically been correlated with purity and worth, many feminist scholars believe that virginity itself is a myth. They argue that no standardized medical definition of virginity exists, that there is no scientifically verifiable proof of virginity loss, and that sexual intercourse results in no change in personality. Jessica Valenti , feminist writer and author of The Purity Myth , reasons that

9976-467: The oracle he went into voluntary exile in Pelasgiotis ( Thessaly ). There Teutamides, king of Larissa , was holding funeral games for his father. Competing in the discus throw, Perseus's throw veered-and struck Acrisius, killing him instantly. In a third tradition, Acrisius had been driven into exile by his brother Proetus . Perseus petrified the brother with Medusa's head and restored Acrisius to

10092-590: The population are Muslims, unmarried women who are not virgins may be subject to name-calling, shunning , or family shame, while unmarried men who have lost their virginities are not, though premarital sex is forbidden in the Quran with regard to both men and women. Among various countries or cultures, males are expected or encouraged to want to engage in sexual activity, and to be more sexually experienced. Not following these standards often leads to teasing and other such ridicule from their male peers. A 2003 study by

10208-494: The price for it. This angered Minerva, and she took the form of an old woman to approach Arachne, offering her a chance to take back her challenge and ask forgiveness. When Arachne refused, Minerva rid herself of her disguise and took Arachne up on her challenge. Arachne began to weave a tapestry that showed the shortcomings of the gods, while Minerva depicted her competition with Neptune and the gods looking down with disgust on mortals who would dare to challenge them. Minerva's weaving

10324-537: The prophecy that his own child would overthrow him, as he had Saturn , and in turn, Saturn had Caelus . Fearing that their child would be male, and would grow stronger than he was and rule the Heavens in his place, Jupiter swallowed Metis whole after tricking her into turning herself into a fly. The Titaness gave birth to Minerva and forged weapons and armour for her child while within Jupiter's body. In some versions of

10440-399: The recent dead, rather than raised in triumph and battle lust. In Rome her bellicose nature was emphasized less than elsewhere. According to Livy 's History of Rome (7.3), the annual nail marking the year, a process where the praetor maximus drove a nail in to formally keep track of the current year, happened in the temple of Minerva because she was thought to have invented numbers. There

10556-572: The severed head to Minerva, who placed its image on her Aegis . When Perseus beheaded Medusa some of the blood spilled onto the ground, and from it came Pegasus . Minerva caught the horse and tamed it before gifting the horse to the Muses . It was a kick from the hoof of Pegasus that opened the fountain Hippocrene . When Bellerophon later went to fight the Chimera he sought to use Pegasus in

10672-405: The sheets on first intercourse is more likely to be due to lacerations to the vaginal wall caused by inadequate vaginal lubrication or forced penetration. A small study found that of 19 women who underwent hymenorrhaphy, 17 did not have bleeding at the next intercourse. In Iran, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadeq Rohani has issued a fatwa which states that a women, after undergoing hymenorrhaphy,

10788-514: The sleeping Gorgons. With Athena guiding the sword, Perseus beheaded Medusa. From Medusa's neck sprang her two children with Poseidon : the winged horse Pegasus ("he who sprang") and the giant Chrysaor ("sword of gold"). To avenge their sister's death, Stheno and Euryale flew after Perseus, but he escaped them by wearing Hades's invisibility helm. From here he proceeded to visit King Atlas who had refused him hospitality; in revenge Perseus petrified him with Medusa's head and King Atlas became

10904-551: The stories of her Greek counterpart Athena are attributed to Minerva in Roman mythology, such as that of the naming of Athens resulting from a competition between Minerva and Neptune , in which Minerva created the olive tree. Arachne was a mortal highly proficient in weaving and embroidery. Not only were her finished works beautiful, but also her process, so much so that nymphs would come out of their natural environments to watch her work. Arachne boasted that her skills could beat those of Minerva, and if she were wrong she would pay

11020-511: The story, Metis continued to live inside of Jupiter's mind as the source of his wisdom. Others say she was simply a vessel for the birth of Minerva. The constant pounding and ringing left Jupiter with agonizing pain. To relieve the pain, Vulcan used a hammer to split Jupiter's head and, from the cleft, Minerva emerged, whole, adult, and in full battle armour. Minerva is a prominent figure in Roman mythology . She appears in many famous myths. Many of

11136-463: The swap that Perseus was ashamed to have become king of Argos by inflicting death. In any case, early Greek literature reiterates that manslaughter, even involuntary, requires the exile of the slaughterer, expiation and ritual purification. The exchange might well have proved a creative solution to a difficult problem. The two main sources regarding the legendary life of Perseus—for the Greeks considered him an authentic historical figure—are Pausanias and

11252-532: The throne. Then, accused by Acrisius of lying about having slain Medusa, Perseus proves himself by showing Acrisius the Gorgon's head, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Having killed Acrisius, Perseus, who was next in line for the throne, gave the kingdom to Megapenthes ("great mourning"), son of Proetus , and took over Megapenthes's kingdom of Tiryns . The story is related in Pausanias, who gives as motivation for

11368-461: The traditional definition consider whether or not non-penile forms of vaginal penetration constitute virginity loss, while other gay men and lesbians assert that the term virginity is meaningless to them because of the prevalence of the traditional definition. Whether a person can lose their virginity through rape is also subject to debate, with the belief that virginity can only be lost through consensual sex being prevalent in some studies. In

11484-492: The vagina may or may not affect the hymen . The state of a hymen cannot be used to prove or disprove virginity . Penile penetration does not lead to predictable changes to female genital organs; after puberty, hymens are highly elastic and can stretch during penetration without trace of injury. Females with a confirmed history of sexual abuse involving genital penetration may have normal hymens. Young females who say they have had consensual sex mostly show no identifiable changes in

11600-572: The violent advances of Polydectes, Perseus killed him with Medusa's head, and made Dictys the new king of Seriphos. Perseus then returned his magical loans and gave Medusa's head as a votive gift to Athena, who set it on her aegis (which Zeus gave her) as the Gorgoneion . The fulfillment of the oracle was told several ways, each incorporating the mythic theme of exile. In Pausanias he did not return to Argos, but went instead to Larissa , where athletic games were being held. He had just invented

11716-495: The weapons needed to defeat Medusa. Hermes gave Perseus his own pair of winged sandals to fly with and lent him his harpe sword to slay Medusa with, and Hades 's helm of darkness to become invisible with. Athena lent Perseus her polished shield for him to view Medusa's reflection without becoming petrified, and gave him a kibisis , a knapsack to safely contain the Gorgon's head which the goddess warned could still petrify even in death. Lastly, Athena instructed Perseus to seek out

11832-610: The wedding, a quarrel took place between the rivals, and Phineus was petrified by the sight of Medusa's head. Andromeda ("queen of men") followed her husband to Tiryns in Argos , and became the ancestress of the family of the Perseidae who ruled at Tiryns through her son with Perseus, Perses . After her death she was placed by Athena among the constellations in the northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia. Sophocles and Euripides (and in more modern times Pierre Corneille ) made

11948-509: The winged horse with Perseus, including the fantasy film Clash of the Titans and its 2010 remake .   Male   Female   Deity Perseus has a constellation named after him . The legend says that because he was so brave fighting Cetus for someone else he was given a place in the stars forever. It is located in the east in the winter at about the Latitude 10-N. It

12064-624: The word Mädchen . The English cognate "maid" was often used to imply virginity, especially in poetry – e.g. Maid Marian , the love interest of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood in English folklore . German is not the only language to have a specific name for male virginity; in French, a male virgin is called a " puceau ". The Greek word for "virgin" is parthenos ( παρθένος , see Parthenon ). Although typically applied to women, like English, it

12180-533: The writings of the Church Fathers . By about 1300, the word was expanded to apply also to Mary , the mother of Jesus , hence to sexual virginity explicitly: Conceiud o þe hali gast, born o þe virgine marie. Further expansion of the word to include virtuous (or naïve) young women, irrespective of religious connection, occurred over about another century, until by about 1400 we find: Voide & vacand of vices as virgyns it ware. These are three of

12296-478: Was cataloged in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy and is known for the famous Perseid Meteor Shower. There is in fact a whole family of constellations based on the myth of Perseus, which includes Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cetus. There is also a molecular cloud in the constellation that is 600 light years from our solar system. There is also a cluster of galaxies called the Perseus cluster. There

12412-459: Was descended from Perseus). Because of the obscurity of the name "Perseus" and the legendary character of its bearer, most etymologists presume that it might be pre-Greek; however, the name of Perseus's native city was Greek and so were the names of his wife and relatives. There is some idea that it descended into Greek from the Proto-Indo-European language . In that regard Graves proposed the only Greek derivation available: Perseus might be from

12528-497: Was examined based on a 1991 random sample of 599 college students from 29 US states; it found that 60% said oral-genital contact (like fellatio, cunnilingus) did not constitute having sex. Stephanie Sanders of the Kinsey Institute , co-author of the study, stated, "That's the 'technical virginity' thing that's going on." She and other researchers titled their findings "Would You Say You 'Had Sex' If ...?" By contrast, in

12644-624: Was left in Aethiopia and was believed to have been an ancestor of the Persians . The other descendants ruled Mycenae from Electryon to Eurystheus , after whom Atreus got the kingdom. However, the Perseids included the great hero, Heracles , stepson of Amphitryon , son of Alcaeus . The Heraclides, or descendants of Heracles, successfully contested the rule of the Atreids. A statement by

12760-409: Was less than honorable, and protected his mother from him; then Polydectes plotted to send Perseus away in disgrace. He held a large banquet where each guest was expected to bring a gift. Polydectes requested that the guests bring horses, under the pretense that he was collecting contributions for the hand of Hippodamia , daughter of Oinomaos. Perseus had no horse to give, so he asked Polydectes to name

12876-466: Was lower, with both men and women involved in sexual activity before any union formation. The study listed Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic as members of this group. According to a 2001 UNICEF survey, in 10 out of 12 developed nations with available data, more than two thirds of young people have had sexual intercourse while still in their teens. In Australia, the United Kingdom and

12992-414: Was meant as a final warning to her foe to back down. Minerva was insulted by the scenes that Arachne was weaving, and destroyed it. She then touched Arachne on the forehead, which made her feel shame for what she had done, leading her to hang herself. Minerva then felt bad for the woman, and brought her back to life. However, Minerva transformed her into a spider as punishment for her actions, and hanging from

13108-601: Was more closely matched. There were two sub-groups, however. In non-Latin, Catholic countries (Poland and Lithuania are mentioned), age at sexual initiation was higher, suggesting later marriage and reciprocal valuing of male and female virginity. The same pattern of late marriage and reciprocal valuing of virginity was reflected in Singapore and Sri Lanka. The study considered China and Vietnam to also fall into this group, although data were not available. Finally, in northern and eastern European countries, age at sexual initiation

13224-557: Was not strong enough to fight him off. Minerva was furious this took place in her temple and she turned Medusa into a monster, replacing her hair with hissing snakes and removing her charm. Medusa turned any living creature she looked upon into stone. Neptune was not ever confronted for his wrongdoings to Medusa. When Perseus approached Medusa he used her reflection in his shield to avoid contact with her eyes, and then beheaded her. Medusa’s spilt blood gave birth to Pegasus; which Minerva immediately tamed and gifted to Bellerophon. He delivered

13340-688: Was part of a holy triad with Tinia and Uni , equivalent to the Roman Capitoline Triad of Jupiter-Juno-Minerva. She is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris , a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio , composed in 1361–62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature. Poet Elizabeth Carter

13456-482: Was sex." Virginity pledges (or abstinence pledges) made by heterosexual teenagers and young adults may also include the practice of "technical virginity". In a peer-reviewed study by sociologists Peter Bearman and Hannah Brueckner, which looked at virginity pledgers five years after their pledge, they found that the pledgers have similar proportions of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and at least as high proportions of anal and oral sex as those who have not made

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