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The Tales of Neo, a woman who appears throughout myth, across cultures and times. She never seems to blend in, but despite this, is depicted within their stories. This article is an attempt to show her every recorded moment in chronological order, as best as mythological telling allows.
The earliest mention of Neo is in a rarely discussed Roman myth describing the city of Carthage, prior to Aeneas’ arrival within the city. The story is called Aureus Nuntius Iunonis, which translates to “Juno’s Golden Messenger”. Gold is a repeated theme in the stories that discuss Neo, having her frequently appearing within a golden glow, or perhaps from a golden crack in the air. In this myth, she is described as appearing with the colours of a rose upon her body, in a mist of golden sands that never fell. She is depicted as a messenger for the Goddess Juno, one who across myths is known for favouring Dido of Carthage. The conversation she held with Dido is lost to time, but it is known that she spent many days within the palace, shortly before the arrival of Aeneas. Her mark was left across the art produced in Carthage, however most of the art that she featured upon was destroyed in the Punic Wars, leaving her as a shadow of a woman with pink hair, and a strange dress.
She also appears in a fragment of a retelling of the Odyssey, one which mentions a mysterious visitor who landed on Scherie from gold like a cracked vase, and conversed with Nausicaa, Alcinous’ daughter. Scholars debate whether this truly is Neo, but due to the mentioning of a strange manner of speaking, the golden appearance making her believed to be a Goddess, and her pink hair once again, the general consensus is that this appearance was Neo.
Neo also features in an adaptation of the 木兰辞, translated to the Ballad of Mulan, one that survives from the Northern Yuan dynasty, not the Northern Wei where the song was first believed to have been composed as a folk song, nor the surviving Song Dynasty anthology 樂府詩集, Yuefu Shiji. Rather, this myth depicts a figure appearing from the Yellow River, one who turned it to gold, but her voice was drowned out by the neighing of the horses Mulan could hear, and the foam of the river. Her body, despite being within the water, is described as remaining entirely dry, protected by the rainbow that covered her body. This is the earliest surviving recorded instance of Neo as wearing clothes that are multicoloured, although it is believed that the colours of the art of Carthage would have shown as much.
In Arthurian Legend, Neo has a brief appearance as a companion of Gwenhwyfar, anglicised as Guinevere. One Welsh oral tale, adapted into a Triad in the 13th century. This story makes a rare mention to Gwenhwyfarf‘s life before her marriage, stating how she held the company of a mysterious woman who emerged from the sky in a bolt of golden lightning, who looked as if a rose bloomed from her scalp. Their relationship is mentioned as close, and Neo is believed to be a magical figure in the story, but nothing more is discussed.
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