Written By Jeffrey Roth
The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh
In English, the word “mother” represents one of the most evocative and symbolic concepts in the lexicon; unique in its power to command love and life, reverence and respect, worship and wonder, prayer and praise.
A biological imperative, motherhood encompasses the objective and the subjective, the physical and the metaphysical, the corporeal and the spiritual, the secular and the sacred, the historic and the mythic. Derived from the Old English word, modor, the actual origins of the word are obscured by the mists of time.
Linguistically, mother is a derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root, ma, meaning breast. The word is believed to be a form of onomatopoeia, which mimics the sound made by an infant at its mother’s breast.
Often an infant’s first word, it may be the most widespread root word in the world. Ma is the basis for mother in western and non-western languages É mater, in Latin; meter, in Greek; French, mre; German, mutter; Russian, mate; Icelandic, modher; Sanskrit, mata; Arabic, oum; Hebrew, em; Swahili, mama; Chinese, ma, and Hawaiian, makuahine, are but a few.
One of the oldest symbolic representations for mother was unearthed in 1908, near Willendorf, Austria, said Gretchen K. McKay, associate professor of art history at McDaniel College. The Willendorf “Venus,” an 11.5 centimeter-high effigy(roughly 4.5 inches) may represent the paleolithic ideal of fertility.
“Although they were called Venus figures É they have nothing to do with the (Roman) goddess Venus,” said McKay, a Medieval Byzantine art and manuscripts expert who holds a BA in art history from Colby College, Waterville, Maine, and an MA and a PhD from the University of Virginia.
“Women would wear the amulet to imbue themselves with the qualities of the represented woman. If you wore a fertile woman, you would become one.”
“The medieval depiction of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child, is the most ubiquitous image of motherhood from 300 CE until you get into impressionism,” McKay said. “Some historians believe the Madonna and Child image is based on the Egyptian depictions of the goddess Isis, holding her child, Horus.”
McKay said by 1300, religious art shifted toward humanism. Italian Renaissance artist, Giotto, depicted the Virgin Mary, in “The Lamentation,” not only as the mother of Christ in the religious sense, but also as a mother, whose real grief is evident in her face as she cradles her crucified son in her arms.
In the 19th century, the image of motherhood moved from the ideal to the actual. American impressionist artist Mary Cassatt, who lived in Paris, as an adult, and French impressionist Berthe Morisot, (sister-in-law of Edourard Manet), achieved fame for their paintings, depicting mothers and children in domestic settings, McKay said.
“The Daughters of Edward Boit,” 1882, by John Singer Sargent, offers an interesting take on expectations for women in America, McKay said. The four girls are all dressed in white pinafores.
“The youngest daughter, (Julia, 4), is sitting on the floor playing with a doll, between her legs, as if she is giving birth,” said McKay. “The prepubescent daughter, (Mary Louise, 8), is standing to the left, not totally in the light, as if she is leaving childhood, but not yet an adult. The other two daughters, (Jane, 12, and Florence, 14), are standing next to oriental vases, and appear to be fading into the shadowy background. It is a commentary on the life of a woman É and how they were viewed as possessions to be collected.” – J.B.R.
For more information on the etymology of the word “mother” or on the history of Mother’s Day, visit: www.mothersdaycelebration.com/mother-in-different-languages.html; www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/mother; www.dictionary.reference.com/features/mothers.html; www.theholidayspot.com/mothersday/history.htm.
