 "Thou saucy earth-vexing strumpet!"- the eerily appropriate insult awaiting my first visit to some guy's shakespeare page. Who was Tisiphone?
Who am I?I haven't figured that out yet myself, although I have gathered together a few thoughts on the subject for display here, arranged in bite-sized bits for your digesting pleasure. Now, I know that there's nothing more seductive than an international format that lets you talk about yourself ad nauseum. And I'll try my best to keep this page from growing into an obscene compendium of info about me. But I'm only a blood thirsty Greek goddess, so be sure to tell me if you think this page is getting out of hand. Here's all you really need to know about me:
Why am I Tisiphone?I had a very rough year emotionally last year, and one of the things that I took refuge in was a whirlwind of different identities, mostly culled from books and plays. I picked this up from the man I was madly in love with at the time, who is both a poet and a compulsive writer of email (among other things...see this poem for an example of what I mean). He also rarely identifies himself the same way for more than a day at a time. The very worst period of time that I played musical identities was during a spectacular period of temporary insanity, when I drank hideous amounts of port, listened to the Braveheart soundtrack & was utterly convinced that I was Ophelia (and not just because my somewhat unbalanced objet d'amore insisted on being Hamlet.) A month later, when my heart broke resoundingly for what I hoped was the last time, I decided to forget about playing the victim. I wanted to fuck shit up. And no-one fucks your shit up worse than a Furie. They've had more experience than anyone else. And that's who I wanted to be. I've calmed down quite a bit since then, but the Tisiphone thing seems to have stuck through it all. I rather fancy it now. So this is who I plan to be for the foreseeable future. In case you're interested, here's a rather lovely little poem that my friend Stephen wrote to me about my mad shuffle of identities: "Milady's not poppy nor ginger nor june, (here's hoping you settle on an identity someday)"
   
Boy, that smirk I'm wearing is getting awfully old...
Last modified on July 13th, 1998. |
A rather gloomy and bloody figure in Greek mythology, I'm afraid. Our gal Tis was one of the three dark goddesses that went around punishing kin-slayers, and she and her gory sisters were part of an older pantheon of gods and goddesses that held sway in Greece long before Zeus' grandfather was even castrated. Most people know of them through the "Orestia" trilogy, as Homer thought that the earth-tied deities were a bit too nasty for his epics...not that the Olympians weren't a bunch of lying, cheating, adulterous bastards. But that's godhead for you...always sticking their noses in & making the poor mortals keep the golden apples & decide their silly contests. But we know who's really the fairest, don't we?