The Ancients Inanna: Mesopotamian Sex Goddess
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Sep 25, 2025 
Dr. Kate Lister, a sex historian and the engaging host of Betwixt the Sheets, explores the transformative journey of the Sumerian goddess Inanna. They discuss Inanna's evolution from an agricultural deity to a powerful symbol of love, war, and political power. Kate dives into her connections with seasonal myths, erotic worship, and divine legitimacy in kingship. Notably, they analyze her influence on later figures like Persephone and the Virgin Mary. The conversation reveals Inanna's enduring cultural legacy and the intricate ties of ancient mythology.
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From Granary To Goddess
- Inanna evolved from a humble grain-storage deity into a powerful goddess of sex and war over millennia.
- Kate Lister highlights this dramatic career-shift as central to her importance in Sumerian religion.
Sex And War As Connected Realms
- Sex and war appear opposite yet overlap symbolically in Inanna's domains.
- Lister explains both involve bodily closeness, penetration imagery, and life-or-death stakes.
The Stolen Sacred Tree
- Inanna steals a sacred tree, fails to clear demons, then Gilgamesh rips it up and gives her wood.
- She turns the remains into a throne, showing violent desire and acquisitiveness in myth.
