Marking Myself, the Greek Way

I've blathered on and on about my love for Greek mythology many times. It's mostly not my fault--as a young girl my dad relayed the stories to me before bed, during lulls in dinner conversation, while driving together--can you blame me for using them to relate to most moments in my life?
Quizzes boast you can answer a few simple questions and learn which Greek goddess you are most like. Don't be fooled. I'll bet if you took three minutes, you could admit that you are bits and pieces of all of them, just like I am.

Some moments call for Athena, goddess of wisdom. Times of war call for times of strategy. I slip into Athena-mode quite often throughout the day. She was virginal, unattached, concentrating only on matters of the intellect. She keeps with her an owl, because the ability to see in the darkness is a grand metaphor for wisdom. I found so much in common with her as a younger teenager. Are you an Athena?

Other, more titillating moments call for Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. Hers is my favorite birth story: she sprung fully grown from the foam of the sea, and immediately began charming and fooling lovers. We've all been Aphrodite, right? And we've all seen incarnations of this goddess-Marilyn Monroe had the Aphrodite streak, certainly. She was quick to jealousy, not because she was weak, but because she was also quick to lust. I channeled Aphrodite as a late teenager--didn't we all? Are you an Aphrodite?

 Persephone is the Queen of the Underworld, and was abducted by Hades in the middle of summer. Instantly the natural world died, and her compromise to spend two seasons in the Underworld each year gave us autumn and winter, when things die for awhile. I've felt the victim, captured against my will, forced to serve as the Queen of sorrow and death. Luckily I pull myself out of it as soon as I'm aware, because Persephone is to be pitied. Are you a Persephone?

 The goddess of the harvest was Demeter, bright-eyed, nurturing, symbol of fertility and warmth. She is the giver of the food. She presides over marriage, law, and the cycle of life and death. Sliding into motherhood gives me grand new perspective on Demeter, because these days I spend hours in Demeter mode, giving kisses, snacks, and naps. Are you a Demeter?

If I'm really choosing only one goddess to compare myself to, it's Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. She is a warrior, a champion over the wilderness, present during childbirth, defender of virginity and innocence, an independent woman who wields a deadly bow and arrow, spear, and gang of feral animals. The older I get, the more I bring Artemis out to make things happen. Are you an Artemis?

Well, which one are you? Or are you all of them in different moments?