> > LOL hmm, the Bible example seems to provoke a strong response; it was an ill-considered example. I shall have to remmeber to be more careful in future ; - )
>
> Not at all. It was the perfect example, because it was easy to debunk it as one. :-) You'll have to do that more often in the future. :-)

LOL Very well, Sam, I shall see what I can do ...

> I was speaking facetiously, so I exaggerated a little bit, but I don't think it's wholly untrue. Uther certainly met his end from greed and lust -- you can't say it was Igraine's fault! (Did I get the right name there?) And Lancelot's arrogance was instrumental in his own downfall, although Guinevere must share the blame for her unfaithfulness to Arthur. But Arthur's destruction by Morgause (or, in newer accounts of the legend, Morgan le Fay) and Merlin's destruction by Nimue were absolutely out of their own hands. Morgause and Nimue saw what they wanted, ensnared Arthur and Merlin by using their gender against them, and left them crushed. Anyway, it's hard to deny that the Arthurian legends were all about how women destroyed great men (regardless of fault), just as the Iliad is all about how one woman destroyed an entire civilization (this time not her fault at all -- in this case it probably says more about men than women).

Now this is interesting ... ; - ) You were exaggerating to make a point? Ah, I see ... not unlike my (regretable) Bible comment? ; - )

you also mentioned that Merlin and Arthur were 'ensnared'; that their gender was used against them? It is difficult to sympathises, then, with these two characters, if such mighty men can be dominanted by so small a thing .... Funny, don't you think, that with these two examples, the notion of manipulation and dominance seem very wrong - two loathsome notions hightened by the tragic fates of these two men - and yet it would be reasonable to wonder how one might feel if we were discussing two women instead?

It's probably unwise to pursue this line of thinking - I'm already deemed a blasphemer LOL don't want to be considered a militant man hater as well! LOL