Is Anthy a Goddess?

Version 1.0 (I expect to update this as I find more goddess information.)

There is much speculation as to whether Anthy and Akio are human or not. Arguments can be (and have been) made either way. In this short piece, I attempt to organize evidence indicative of Anthy's divine origins.

What aspects of Anthy's character seem to be extant in a number of goddess myths?

She is a perpetual adolescent, caught at age 14 (the cusp of adulthood in Japan), and perpetually maidenly in aspect.
She possesses unusual knowledge and ability with plants and animals (see "Miki's Nest Box").
She is raped repeatedly by a male deity who is her brother.
She has profound floral associations (the Rose Bride).
She has profound death associations (the coffin symbology).
She is a perpetual sacrifice for the "good" of the world.
She is the focus of intense (symbolic and actual) sexual competitiveness (the duels).
She is the focus of egg symbology (the "chick speech" and "Nanami's Egg").
She evinces the ability to shapechange (as Mamiya).
She demonstrates that time has little hold over her by being able to carry out a number of plots and schemes at once (as in being Mamiya and seducing Miki and Kozue's father).
She is the source of the Power of Dios, and is therefore the power to revolutionize the world (as seen when Utena opens the Rose Seal, which imprisons the Power of Dios, and finds Anthy behind it).
As the Power of Dios/the power to grasp eternity, she is the focus of at least two cults -- one of which involves actual human sacrifice (the boys of the Black Rose) and the other involving symbolic human sacrifice (the duels) and the power to control the goddess through symbolic or actual sexual means (the whole "being engaged to the Rose Bride" thing).

What specific goddesses does she resemble?

Antheia (Greek)
Antheia is a maiden goddess of flowers, and is considered the maiden aspect of Hera.

Hera (Greek)
Represented in classical times as the sister and wife of Zeus and a jealous shrew, there are older myths which specify that Zeus was a younger, patriarchal god of an invading pantheon, while she was the immensely powerful mother goddess to a pre-Hellenic people in that region. Zeus dominated Hera by changing himself into a cuckoo (her favorite bird) and arriving in her lap, looking injured and bedraggled. As she comforted it, Zeus caught her unawares and raped her. After that, she was integrated into the Hellenic pantheon as one of Zeus' siblings that were swallowed and regurgitated by Cronus (note that at least one of the other "siblings" was an intensely powerful mother goddess -- Demeter -- whose following was so devoted that the Greeks could not stamp out that sect -- the Eleusinian mystery religion). Her jealousy of Zeus' other conquests (in many cases, other goddesses of other religions that were being conquered by the Greeks) led her to capture Zeus and tie him to his bed so that the other gods could mock him. In retribution, after Zeus escaped, he strung her up in the stars by her wrists.

Shakti (Hindu)
This is one name of the goddess in the Hindu pantheon, and the one that emphasizes most a striking aspect of Hindu goddesses: they must be paired with a male god, because they are the motivating and empowering force behind the male god. The passive male god has no power without his female counterpart.

Kali (Hindu)
Many people know her as a destroyer and death goddess, but Kali is also a compassionate mother, and the mother of time. She is the power to destroy and recreate the world (while her male counterpart, Shiva, is both her companion in the destruction and an inhibiting force to that destruction).

Isis (Egyptian)
There is a possibility that Isis (who was married to her brother, Osiris) was originally a personification of the throne, and thus one of the key sources of the pharoah's (who, you recall, was considered to be a deity) power. Because of her search for the pieces of her husband's body after he was killed by their brother Set, she became a goddess of death and funeral rights. The fourth sibling of this group, Nephthys, was the consort of Set, and she was somewhat subsumed into Isis in later times.

Information on the Egyptian mythos: http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/areas/egyptian/

Information on the other goddesses: Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan

Feedback? Suggestions for other goddess associations? Email utena@mindspring.com!