Reimagining Gender Through Myth

Gender as a Mythic Spectrum

Gender is often viewed as a rigid dichotomy: masculine or feminine, with little room for nuance or fluidity. Yet, throughout history and across cultures, many archetypes have existed that challenge this binary, representing the true and dynamic spectrum of gender expression. From the traditional masculine strength of Jupiter-Zeus to the nurturing and transformative power of Juno-Feronia, these archetypes offer a deeper roadmap to understanding the ways that gender can be experienced, expressed, and embodied.

This article explores a variety of mythological and symbolic figures that embody the diverse and fluid nature of gender, offering insight into both the masculine and feminine energies, as well as those who exist beyond, between, or even transcend these categories. From the sovereign masculine authority of Mars-Quirinus, to the shapeshifting, boundary-defying energy of Phanes, we see that gender expression is not a fixed thing, let alone just a binary. There are many different gender expressions that exist, that used to be part of the larger pantheon within mythology. They were not just patterns and stories, but also symbols of states of being. Which includes also gender expression and sexuality. Where in this article it is the spectrum of gender that is going to be explored.

☁️ Jupiter-Zeus – The Stoic Masculine-Self

Archetype: Cosmic Law, Authority, King of Gods

Gender Expression: Jupiter expresses masculinity through presence, stature, and controlled elegance. There is a regal quality to how he carries his gender, relying on quiet authority, traditional masculine clothing with subtle refinement, and often minimalistic but intentional grooming. He doesn’t need to boast; his masculinity is rooted in confidence and lawfulness. Think tailored suits, a composed voice, and strong, unshakable posture. His gender says: I am the structure you rely on.

Human Qualities: Leadership, Wisdom, Authority, Justice, Protector of the law, Visionary, Charismatic, Strategic thinker, Assertive, bold energy

Modern Characters: Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek, King T’Challa from Black Panther, Castiel from Supernatural, Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings

MBTI Types: ESTJ, ENTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ

• Reason: Rationality at its highest form. Jupiter’s masculinity is intellectual, strategic, and visionary, offering clarity, guidance, and protection. A person embodying this archetype may be seen as a leader or mentor who commands respect, offering guidance in ways that feel grounded in fairness.

• Emotion: While Jupiter’s expression can seem emotionally distant, his emotional landscape is about containment and temperance. There is an emotional fortitude that allows him to make difficult decisions for the greater good.

• Intuition: Strong, yet measured. Jupiter’s intuition is not impulsive, but deeply grounded in wisdom, divine inspiration, and a broader vision of what is best for the long-term.

• Psychological Qualities: Wisdom and justice, the ability to step back and see the bigger picture. Jupiter represents the ability to govern your life with a sense of purpose, to transcend immediate desires for the sake of lasting values.

⚔️ Mars-Quirinus – The Warrior Masculine-Self

Archetype: Warrior, Protector, Founder

Gender Expression: Mars-Quirinus performs masculinity through physical presence and utility. His gender is expressed through action, grit, and directness. There’s a militaristic edge to his style, practical, athletic, sturdy, often understated yet clearly masculine. Hair may be short or tied back for function. He expresses gender through acts of protection and endurance, embracing a masculinity that’s built to withstand the storm. His gender says: I am here to protect. I am the shield and the spear.

Human Qualities: Determination, Courage, Resilience, Physical strength, Loyalty, Honor, Protectiveness, Self-discipline, Physical and emotional endurance

Modern Characters: Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, Joel from The Last of Us, Dean Winchester from Supernatural, Nero from Devil May Cry

MBTI Types: ESTP, ISTP, ISFJ

• Reason: Mars-Quirinus is deeply practical and focused on immediate solutions. He is strategic, but in a tactical sense, calculating the next steps.

• Emotion: His emotional world is tied to honor and duty. A deep sense of pride fuels his actions, but there is a vulnerability in his emotional expression: he does not shy away from showing determination, but also an occasional loneliness in the weight of his responsibility.

• Intuition: Instinctive and physical. Mars-Quirinus is driven by action, so his intuition is often based on gut-feelings and sensory data. He trusts his body’s wisdom and experiences.

• Psychological Qualities: He represents resilience and the ability to push through obstacles. He embodies masculinity as protection and courage but is also aware of the burden it can carry, this archetype asks us to consider how we use our power, whether to protect or to dominate.

🐺 Hermes – The Fluid-Masculine

Archetype: Messenger, Trickster, Inventor

Gender Expression: Hermes dances along the edges of masculine presentation. His gender is often androgynous, playful, and in motion. He might blend masculine cuts with feminine textures, mixing accessories that defy categorization, necklaces with combat boots, eyeliner with a sly grin. He enjoys subverting expectations: one day sharp and tailored, the next flowing and asymmetrical. Hermes doesn’t confine his masculinity; he lets it flirt, adapt, and experiment. His gender is a dialogue, a pun, a riddle. It says: Why choose one form, when I can be all of them in turn?

Human Qualities: Quick-witted, Resourceful, Curious, Eloquence, Trickster energy, Adaptability, Communicative, Mischievous, Fluid masculine

Modern Characters: Loki from Marvel Universe, Dante from Devil May Cry, Matthew the Raven from The Sandman, Sam Winchester from Supernatural

MBTI Types: ENTP, INTP, maybe ENFP

• Reason: Sharp intellect, but one that is quick, inventive, and often mischievous. Hermes represents mental flexibility, the ability to think outside the box and connect disparate ideas to form new solutions.

• Emotion: Often playful and detached from convention, Hermes’ emotional world is based more in experience than deep attachment. He moves through the world lightly, seeing it as a playground where everything is temporary.

• Intuition: Hermes is intuitive in a fluid sense. His sense of timing is impeccable, and he can read a situation and act on a whim. His intuition is less grounded in deep reflection, more in the ability to adapt and find clever solutions.

🍷 Dionysus – The Masc Enby-Self

Archetype: Liberation, Ecstasy, Transgression, Divine Child and Wise Masc

Gender Expression: Dionysus queers masculinity by turning it inside out and then adorning it with silk and glitter. He embodies a soft, intoxicating, ecstatic gender that blurs line, lipstick on a bearded face, a flower crown over tousled curls, velvet robes over a bare chest. His masculinity is fluid, enby-leaning, and fearless in its sensuality. He might weep in public and then dance on a table with wine-stained lips. His body, his expression, his style all declare: I am where your binaries dissolve.

Human Qualities: Free-spirited, Creative, Emotionally expressive, Joyful, Intuitive, Spontaneous, Fluid Masculine/Enby, Sensual

Modern Characters: Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Elio Perlman from Call Me By Your Name, Raine Whispers from The Owl House

MBTI Types: ENFP, INFP, ESFP

• Reason: Dionysus’ reason operates on a different wavelength, seeing patterns and truths in chaos. His reasoning is based in feeling and deep intuitive insights that break down the mind’s rigid structures.

• Emotion: Intense emotional depth. Dionysus lives fully through his emotions, think joy, anger, ecstasy, grief. He’s unafraid to dive deep into the messiness of feeling, to experience it as both life-affirming and destructive.

• Intuition: His intuition is boundless, spontaneous, and wild. Dionysus can read between the lines and sense what is not being said. He is intuitive in the mystical sense, always flowing between realms and dimensions.

🦚 Phanes – The Enby-Self

Archetype: Origin, Light Before Light, Source of All

Gender Expression: Phanes doesn’t express gender, Phanes radiates beyond it. Their presentation may shift, but it always emanates from a core beyond gender. They wear robes or garments that seem timeless, and without obvious gender markers. Leaning towards androgyny. Phanes’ gender says: I was before gender, and I am beyond it.

Human Qualities: Creativity, Spontaneous, Androgynous Enby, Transcendent of gendered boundaries, Compassionate, Emotionally expressive, Fierce, Protective

Modern Characters: Dream from The Sandman, Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle, Thirteenth Doctor from Doctor Who, Haruko Haruhara from FLCL

MBTI Types: INFJ, ENFJ, INTJ (masc) and ENTP, ENFP, ISTP (fem)

• Reason: Phanes’ reason is cosmic. His understanding is not about logic but about the interconnectedness of all things. His reasoning comes from the void, the primordial source that informs all other ways of knowing.

• Emotion: Emotionally, Phanes embodies the fluidity of existence itself. There is a profound calmness in his being, an acceptance of all emotional states as part of the greater web of life. There is no conflict in his expression, just an ever-present understanding of all emotions as valid.

• Intuition: The intuition of Phanes is is not rooted in the individual but in the cosmic web. Phanes is an archetype of deep knowing, an instinct that is rooted in the collective rather than the personal. Being able to spot the external patterns of existence and human behaviour.

🌿 Persephone – The Fem Enby-Self

Archetype: Queen of the Underworld, Goddess of Spring, Maiden and Wise Femme

Gender Expression: Persephone’s femininity is in-between and poetic. She may wear light fabrics that float between innocence and power. Think pastel lace paired with dark eyeliner, floral prints over boots made for walking into the underworld. Her gender exists in soft contradiction: delicate yet commanding, gentle but resolute. She doesn’t shed her femininity to be strong; she deepens it, filling it with complexity. Her gender says: I am cute like springtime but complex like an ecosystem. Her presence often brings comfort, and yet something in her gaze sees much more than she lets on.

Human Qualities: Resilience, Empathy, Compassion, Wisdom, Adaptability, Emotional depth, Embracing life’s contradictions, Feminine and Strong

Modern Characters: Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Calliope from The Sandman, Jo Harvelle from Supernatural, Amity Blight from The Owl House

MBTI Types: INFP, ISFJ, ENFP

• Reason: Persephone’s reasoning is cyclical and rooted in renewal. She sees life and death as part of the same eternal cycle. She does not see endings as final, but as part of a continual process of becoming.

• Emotion: Persephone is emotionally complex. Her duality means she feels both the heaviness of descent and the lightness of ascend. This inner fluctuation in emotional states allows her to deeply empathize with both joy and sorrow.

• Intuition: Her intuition is tied to the rhythms of the seasons and her inner world. Persephone is deeply connected to the unconscious mind. Her intuition moves with the changing tides of the soul, sensing when things need to die and when they need to be reborn.

🦇 Hecate – The Fluid Feminine-Self

Archetype: Mystic, Witch, Queen of the Crossroads

Gender Expression: Hecate expresses femininity through mystery and depth. Her style is layered. Her gender is not easily labeled: it shifts, bends, and expands in the night. Hecate’s fluid femininity is not about softness, it’s about her own power. She chooses when to be seen and when to remain hidden. Her gender says: I am the crone, the witch, the threshold.

Human Qualities: Wisdom, Emotional complexity, Empathy for the shadow side, Psychological insight, Fluid femininity, Deep connection to liminality

Modern Characters: Laura Moon from American Gods, Wanda Maximoff from WandaVision, Rowena MacLeod from Supernatural

MBTI Types: INFJ, INTJ, INTP

• Reason: Hecate’s reason is esoteric, intuitive, and based on hidden knowledge. She knows the hidden patterns that others overlook, using wisdom from the unconscious to guide her actions. Her reasoning is not linear, seeing connections that are not immediately apparent.

• Emotion: Hecate’s emotions are deep and vast. She understands grief, and the darker, more difficult emotional terrain. While she may not express herself in outward emotional outbursts, she holds space for emotions that others might deem taboo, such as sorrow, rage, and despair.

• Intuition: Her intuition is deep and rooted in the unseen. She knows things that can’t be explained, and her connection to the liminal space allows her to access wisdom that transcends normal boundaries of understanding.

🦅 Artemis – Sovereign wild Feminine-Self

Archetype: Wildness, Protector of Women, Lunar Sovereignty

Gender Expression: Artemis walks with the quiet strength of a forest at midnight. Her gender expression lives as slightly more masculine than feminine, rooted in function and freedom. She might wear loose shirts, durable boots, and a moon-pendant. Her hair is tied back when needed, let loose when alone. Artemis is unconcerned with performance; she is sovereign. Her expression says: I do not perform femininity for you. I wear what makes me move, what keeps me sharp, what lets me run. Her gender is crisp, wild, and rooted in self-trust.

Human Qualities: Independence, Strength, Focus, Loyalty to causes, Protective, Calm under pressure, Fierce, Autonomous, non-performative Feminine expression

Modern Characters: Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, Yennefer from The Witcher, Korra from The Legends of Korra, Eileen Leahy from Supernatural

MBTI Types: ISFP, ESTP, ENFJ

• Reason: Artemis’ reasoning is strategic and precise. As a huntress, her logic is sharp, focused, and attuned to her environment. She acts with purpose, guided by an innate sense of what needs to be done to protect and preserve.

• Emotion: Artemis’ emotions are strong and clear but rarely entangled with others. Her emotional expression is direct and unflinching. She switches between focussed instinct to moments of softness in her emotional world; she is both passionate and detached, channelling emotion into action.

• Intuition: Her intuition is rooted deeply in the rhythms of nature. It’s sharp, instinctive, and drawn from her connection to the wilderness. Artemis has an innate understanding of timing, placement, and her relationship with the world around her.

🌺 Juno-Feronia – Sovereign Feminine-Self

Archetype: Marriage, Protection, Freedom

Gender Expression: This is a person who may appear femme, but never fragile, who may wear softness like velvet over steel. One day their body is clothed in flowing fabrics, golden adornments, and the scent of myrrh. The next, they are barefoot in mud, hair wild, clothed in bark tones and raw linen. Think deep greens, copper, ash gray, wine red, ochre, dark gold. Their gender is not “performed” it is enshrined in how they carry themselves. Her gender says: I was queen before you knew what a woman was.

Human Qualities: Nurturing, Loyalty, Strength, Protection, Sovereignty, Love for justice, Autonomy, Guardian of boundaries

Modern Characters: Lucienne from The Sandman, Jody Mills from Supernatural, Molly Weasley and Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter

MBTI Types: ESFJ, ESTJ, ISTJ, ENTJ

• Reason: Juno-Feronia’s reason is practical and protective, focused on sustaining what is important and ensuring the well-being of others. They think about what is needed to safeguard harmony and freedom, whether home, society, or the self.

• Emotion: Juno-Feronia’s emotional world is full of care, compassion, and responsibility. Their love and loyalty are fierce, and their capacity for empathy allows them to deeply connect with others. At the same time, there is a strong desire for personal autonomy and freedom that drives their emotional responses.

• Intuition: Intuition in Juno-Feronia is grounded in a deep understanding of relationships and the cycles of care and freedom. Their instincts guide them toward what is necessary for protection, but also toward what needs to be liberated or protected from harm.