> [[dexter]]; [[mair]]. "Apotropaia and Fecundity in Eurasian Myth and Iconography: Erotic Female Display Figures". > [pdf](a/dexter-mairIDK.pdf) > #link #nodoi ## Abstract > In this paper, we find several new cross-cultural reference points for a group of similar female figures. In comparing written descriptions of these female figures, we examine texts from the Old Irish tale, “The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel,” and the text describing the birth of Kalê from the Indic Devêmahatmyam. The iconography of these female figures depicts a similar “crouching” or “bent-knee” position.” Parallels to these terrifying, yet empowering, figures in Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia are enigmatic Central Asian and East Asian representations of women exposing themselves, some of which go back to as early as the 3rd millennium BC. One particularly curious aspect of the motif of female sexual exposure is that it occurs both in East Asia and Europe in the context of war, either to frighten the enemy or to embolden one’s own troops.