Jean:
>However, from the medical point of view, plump ladies might not
>necessarily be the best equipped for this biological task.
Cort:
>True, but it is not uncommon for plumpness to be considered both attractive
>and a sign of fecundity.
You're both off track, I think. In our current timeframe, "plump ladies"
are now the opposite of the drug-induced, paper-thin images of beauty
now being advertised for both men and women in popular media. That,
together with the medical statements warning against obesity, definitely
will steer us away from any neolithic viewpoint on "fat". On the other
hand, I've heard the "fecundity" explanation too and it leaves me
unsatisfied. Jean might have a point there.
Taking both your statements, there may be a solution. "Fat" here is used
as a means to convey "large". Remember, if this goddess is to be viewed
as the creator of all things, she must be very large to have given birth
to the heavens, the land and the waters below. To convey her cosmic
magnitude, fat would be the only way I can think of to show this.
>And, finally, how do we know that the figurines were supposed to be divine?
The fact that there is a sufficient amount of these figurines shows that
there was a great enough importance placed on them to rule out just idle
obsessions with fat woman, otherwise we should see fat men, fat children,
skinny children, skinny men, medium-sized people, people with clothes on,
people on a picnic, etc. :)
Secondarily, the predominence of the same Venus-like fertility goddesses
across different cultures right from the dawn of history, with the same
sorts of associated symbols and legends, emphasizes a common prehistoric
origin hands down.
- gLeN
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