Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence

If one were to judge 19th century American and European society by images alone one might conclude that it was a more gender egalitarian society than what exists today (eg. the statue of liberty, Queen Victoria, liberty on the barracades, the statue on the top of the US capitol, etc.). Lucy Goodison and other contributors start from the premise that we don't know what we don't know. True believers, of course, will have no use for this kind of skepticism. While not comprehensive this book does a good job separating archeology from modern myth.

If motivated to read a less tendentious view of the 'Mother Goddess' myth than the one written by Merlin Stone, for example, one must choose wisely. A wise choice is Ancient Goddesses.This volume collects ten essays written and presented in a scholarly fashion by self-proclaimed feminist archeologists. Each essay begins with an introduction and history of a particular issue or site (for example, the archeology of Malta, Catalhoyuk in Turkey,and sites in France, Ireland, Greece, and Crete)followed by a clear statement of what the writer intends to show in her essay. Line drawings or photographs of figurines, tombs, and other objects illustrate the text.(The essay Beyond the 'Great Mother' by the volume's editors, Lucey Goodison and Christine Morris, uses the familiar Snake Goddess picture.)Abundant documentation flavors each essay, and the writers end their pieces with a summerizing conclusion. Additionally, a list of books for 'further reading' amends each essay. The essays are short, focused, dense with information, and very readable. Counter to the 'Goddess Movement,' however, the editorial mission of Ancient Goddesses is to deflect, if not defeat, the colonization of the past for the purposes of the present,and to subvert, thereby, a future determined by one's biology. The essays in Ancient Goddesses, for example, tells us that there is no evidence to support the claim that a universal belief in a monotheistic 'Mother Goddess'unified an 'old Europe' or anywhere else. Indeed, the indentity and powers attributed to any female diety changed over time and from place to place and female divinities, no matter how important, formed part of a pantheon. Moreover, their is neither evidence to support the wishful claim that societies that deify females also politically enfranchise mortal woman, nor were there societes that were by virtue of their goddess worship matrifocal of peaceful. While the essays in Ancient Goddesses may not turn the faithful, they did for this reader provide a welcome intellectual airing, for both the history and the wisdom of their attitude.

When I purchased this book I thought I was buying simply a book about pagan goddesses in ancient cultures, but this book actually is a very detailed account of the information presented from neopagans and goddess enthusiasts, and how it contradicts information presented by modern archaeology. For the most part, the book is on side of modern archaeologists, debunking many longstanding myths about ancient Old European society and how it was(according to neopagans) a peaceful and matriarchal society that was thwarted and ransacked by the "evil" Indo-Europeans. Piece by piece and location by location and looked at from a different angle showing us that things that were once thought of as being undeniable evidence for matriarchy may be completely the oppisite. For instance they bring to our attention the notion that an image of a large,stationary woman was a symbol of pregnancy, whereas the authors show us that there's just as much likelyhood that a statue of a large woman may very well symbolize male dominance and female submission, since the woman is unattractive and therefore unable to seduce other men and be powerful. And this position is also a prime indicator of the position the gives the greatest amount of sexual pleasure. The most amazing part is how so many symbols and statues that are today staples in modern neopagan practice are in fact completely undistinguishable as representing the female form at all and could in fact represent either sex, or both. True, much of the book is a rant, but in this case it's a rant about some of the most influencial pieces of historical propaganda of all time.