Parthene,
Mistress of the Frontlines
Goddess of warfare, strategy & tactics, and motherhood, patron and ancestress of the Amazons
The virgin goddess worshipped as the patroness of the Amazons, Parthene’s cult has expanded beyond the Amazon homeland in the Land of the Phoenix thanks in part to young Amazons being expected to travel throughout Realmgard. Given that the Amazons are renowned throughout Realmgard as one of the most pious peoples on the continent, these many young Amazon travellers have brought their goddess with them far beyond the borders of the Land of the Phoenix.
Although acknowledged by non-Amazons, worship of Parthene remains primarily an Amazon tradition. However, Parthene has found non-Amazons devotees particularly among women and other Elves.
Like Capitolina, Parthene is invariably depicted as an Elf. The most common depictions of the goddess portray her as a young maiden woman dressed for battle in full armour. While less frequent, Parthene is also sometimes depicted as a gentle, matronly woman with an Amazon child in her arms, symbolically representing her maternal qualities. These two aspects are often depicted side-by-side to represent the Amazon belief that their goddess is equal parts martial and maternal.
Particularly symbolic, abstract depictions Parthene will be split down the middle, with the two halves of one figure of the goddess depicting her martial and maternal aspects as literally the two halves of one whole.
Although the Amazons do not claim direct descent from Parthene, it is nevertheless believed that Parthene herself fostered the first generation of Amazon girls — after the foremothers of the Amazons were apparently cursed by the sorcerer Angeron to only give birth to daughters.
This legend gives rise to two major aspects of Amazon life that have survived down to the present day. Firstly, as this fostering of the first Amazons occurred on the island in the middle of Lake Koron, that island has become Parthene’s major sanctuary and the heart of Amazon spiritual life. Fittingly, this island is located at almost the exact centre of the Decapolis.
Secondly, Parthene’s fostering of the first generation of Amazons is the basis of the rigorous system of military instruction all young Amazons receive.
For almost as long as the Amazons have worshipped Parthene, she has been primarily (though not, of course, exclusively; as seen above) worshipped as a war goddess. The myth of Parthene’s fostering of the first generation of Amazons culminates in her personally leading the first army ever raised by the Amazons to overthrow the sorcerer Angeron. The most widespread of Parthene’s titles and epithets reflect this: “Mistress of the Frontlines”, “Tip of the Spear”, “Protectress in Battle.”
While numerous other gods worshipped in Realmgard are known to have taken either divine or mortal spouses, or at least carried on numerous torrid love affairs, the Amazons pointedly portray their patroness as perpetually chaste and unmarried. There are numerous myths of Parthene spurning all potential suitors.
These myths, combined with Parthene herself not being a well-understood deity, along with the Amazons not being a well-understood people, in wider Realmgard have led to the longstanding misconception that the Amazons are inherently hostile to men and even to marriage as an institution, culminating in the widely-circulated rumours that Amazons boil men alive and use their bones for witchcraft. This is, of course, patently untrue and considered rather offensive by the Amazons themselves.
Particularly those interested in finding husbands…
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