Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines by Patricia Monaghan Ph.D

Author:Patricia Monaghan, Ph.D.
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: New World Library

GREECE

The lasting influence of Greek mythology stems from the region’s early development of literacy. By the seventh century BCE the Greeks recorded their myths in epic, lyric, and dramatic poetry that are still read today. But literature can hide as well as reveal. What appears to be a highly structured pantheon, with careful lines of descent among divinities, was originally a complex group of tales from various ethnic groups and eras. Among those myths were those that contradicted or subverted Greek visions of appropriate womanly behavior.

The question of the status of women in ancient Greece is similarly complex. By the historical period, Greek women lived a restricted life, but the goddesses they worshipped showed impressive power, perhaps because they were vestiges of earlier cultures. Archaeology suggests that goddesses figured more significantly in the religion of Crete and its mainland colony, Mycenae, than in Greece after invasion by patriarchal Indo-Europeans. The wealthy Cretan culture flourished around 1600 BCE, only to be destroyed in 1200 BCE, probably by earthquakes and volcanic explosions. Before its destruction, this Minoan culture gave prominence to goddesses. Minoan art shows bare-breasted women worshipping naked goddesses. Cretan myths emphasize a mother goddess but also show vulnerable maiden goddesses.

During the height of Cretan power, a proto-Indo-European group settled on the mainland, where they adopted Minoan culture. These Mycenaean Greeks left inscriptions to Hera, Artemis, and Athena, showing that classical divinities had roots in the earlier culture. Mycenaeans appear in the epics of Homer, recorded around 800 BCE but referring to events of at least 500 years earlier. Helen, Clytemnestra, and other strong female characters existed in oral tradition before appearing in the Iliad and the Odyssey.

The Indo-Europeans, who based family and religion on father figures, arrived in waves over many centuries. Under the Dorians in 1200 BCE, Mycenaean cities were destroyed and their religious sites sacked. The next 400 years show little cultural development. But earlier religions did not disappear, for the invaders’ gods were “married” to indigenous earth goddesses. Thus the thunderer Zeus married the important goddess Hera, as well as raping or seducing innumerable other divine women.

Around 800 BCE, classical Greece emerged with a developed religion and a carefully organized pantheon of divinities that included these earlier goddesses. For the next 200 years, Greek cities held sway over the Mediterranean. Athens, Sparta, Argos, and Thebes were similar in the status afforded to women. Greek women were cloistered in households, where they rarely interacted with men outside their immediate families. Slave women, both Greek and foreign, had few rights and lived lives of dangerous vulnerability. The exceptions were hetaerae, educated courtesans who provided entertainment and stimulation for powerful men.

Despite these limitations, Greek women had a place in religious life. In Athens, women offered rituals that showcased their economic contribution through home industries such as weaving. Because the division of “secular” from “spiritual” was not sharp, women holding positions of religious power may have had some secular power as well. The question of the status of Greek women, including their religious rites and duties, is a subject of scholarly debate.

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