Myth and Legends: Baba Yaga & Lysistrata

I was reading the famous play known as Lysistrata by Aristophanes when my friend appeared on a WhatsApp call. Her hair was unkempt.

            ‘What happened to your hair?’ I inquired.

            ‘I’m like Baba Yaga.’ She spoke.

            ‘Who’s Baba Yaga?’ I asked.

Then, she began to tell me the legend of this Slavic folklore. According to her, Baba Yaga is considered a superhuman creature with many attributes, of course ensconced by humans. Baba relishes the human adulations of her power and enigma. Baba Yaga has other three sisters who are also called Baba Yaga. In appearance, she appears misshapen and has bony legs and a nose that sticks out. She could be seen accessorized with a mortar and a pestle. She separated herself from humans and dwelled in the deep forest in a hut that stood on chicken legs.

Being a puzzle to the entire Slavic People, she has been variously described as having many sides. Some could view her as Death, a totem, Bird, or Earth-goddess, others could also view her as Moon, Winter, a female initiator, phallic mother, or a certain kind of being who could exhibit some nefarious behaviors. Baba Yaga could also be helpful to humans as noted below.

My friend said to me that Baba Yaga means different things in different Eastern European languages. Baba’s meanings could range from a midwife, sorceress, grandmother, or old woman to an old, foolish, smelly, and dirty woman. The latter description is very disapproving of her. The term ‘baba’ could be used to disapprove and describe a man without a spine or a person of effete tendencies. Then, the term ‘Yaga’ also is not without some problems in the interpretation of meaning and usage. Among many Eastern European cultures, there is no common agreement as to what ‘Yaga’ means. It has been variously understood as horror, shudder, anger, witch, evil woman, or even a disease.

As I listen with interest, I begin to draw some comparisons between the story of Baba Yaga and Lysistrata. Then, she excused herself and went to the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee.

            ‘There’s a typical folklore associated with Baba Yaga.’ She spoke as she settled her cup of coffee on the table.

            ‘I would love to hear it.’ I beckoned.

This story was told by Alexander Afanasyev in The Maiden Tsar. It was about the visit of Ivan, a gentle and handsome son of a merchant, who visited one of the three Baba Yagas in her chicken-leg hut. As legend has it, the moment she saw him, she was outraged and said: ‘From their hut deep in the forest, they could not hear or see the Russian smell, but the smell is everywhere in this hut.’ She asked Ivan whether he visited on his own accord or was forced to do so. In reply, he was a bit ambiguous. He said that he was both of his own accord and compelled to do so. Then, Ivan posed a question to Baba Yaga. Do you know the location of the three-tenth kingdom? She answered that she did not know but told him to consult her second sister for an answer.

Ivan went to the second Baba Yaga and posed the same question. But the second sister did not know either. She directed him to consult the third sister. However, she advised him that if her sister became angry at him and was about to eat him ask for three horns and with her permission blow them in a form of symphonic order: first horn – softly, second horn – louder, and third horn – more loudly.

Finally, Ivan met the third sister, who was the youngest. She asked him the same question that was asked by the first sister and immediately wanted to eat Ivan. He nervously requested three horns. He blew the horns in symphonic order as described above. The sound from the horns attracted different kinds of birds and they filled the hut. Among the birds was a firebird, which whisked Ivan away as he hopped on its back. He was saved from the Baba Yaga’s claws of death by a firebird.

            ‘That’s the end of my story about Baba Yaga.’ She spoke.

            ‘Excellent!’ I spoke. It was both interesting and informative.

            ‘Now, tell me what you’re reading before I appear like a Baba Yaga.’ She asked.

I picked up the book and cleared my throat.

            ‘I will only give you a summary.’ I advised.

Lysistrata is a drama by Aristophanes that painted a picture of how the Athenian women wanted to end the Peloponnesian War. The Athenian women were led by a woman whose name was Lysistrata. They planned to occupy the Acropolis, starve the city of a source of income to fund the war, and force their husbands to make peace by denying them sex.

They started the campaign in good faith but halfway through, the burden of missing sex and the desire to have sex with their husbands was becoming so unbearable that some of them contemplated reneging on their oath. But Lysistrata held her grounds and reasons with Myrrhine to seduce her husband, Cinesias but leave him at the climax of sexual feelings.  

The way Athenian women felt was not different from the Spartan women. Lysistrata had a consultation with the Athenian magistrate, and they agreed to a quick peace talk. The peace talk resulted in the embracing and kissing of 12 old men (the first semichorus) and 12 old women (the second semichorus), which marked the reconciliation of the two semichoruses.

Finally, to concretize the reconciliation pact, Lysistrata brought a delegate from Sparta, whose name was Lampito (reconciliation). She was young and elegant. Her beauty dazzled and nobody took their eyes off her. Under her charm, the delegates signed the peace declaration.

            ‘That’s interesting.’ She spoke.

            ‘One more thing,’ I noted. Lysistrata means ‘She who breaks up armies.’

The above stories tell us these: Two different characters, one a creation of an artist’s imagination and the other, a Slavic myth. One on the advocacy of peace and structures of conflict resolution, the other in humble admission of their limited knowledge even though they have been ascribed supernatural powers by humans.

The current war going on between Russia and Ukraine could be averted if men would listen to women. Many women are mothers, and no loving mother will sanction war instead of peace. Men approve of wars because they have no feelings, too egotistic, self-obsessed, inhumane, boastful, and unemotional. I think if more and more women become leaders of nations, the world might know more peace than the marginal peace the world has known.