Xena's Feminine Mystique
by Marion Williams
Zadok Perspectives Issue No. 63
Autumn 1999

Spirituality in the Xenaverse

ARE THERE ALSO SPIRITUAL metaphors in Xena? We must not forget, as this prologue describes, "Xena is set in the 'Golden Age' of myth, long before ancient Greece or Rome, on the distant frontier of known civilisation far away from the land of mighty Hercules. The whims of capricious gods and the greed of human tyrants make her world a treacherous one."

Xena borrows imagery and ideology from ancient pluralistic Graeco-Roman civilisation, where blending of mythologies and civil concerns gave rise to individualised cults and philosophies. Xena, like the Roman Empire, has absorbed and synthesised many streams of thought and practice, making it a melting pot of spiritual, moral and philosophical notions.

To: Perspectives Issue 63

Marion Williams Marion Williams is a counsellor specialising in sexuality and gender, and director of Women's Ministries at Exodus, South Melbourne. She wishes to thank Xena-fan, Dr. Louise MacIntosh, for her kind input into this article. e-mail: Maz_Williams@iname.com