7.
The Vulnerable Goddesses:
Hera, Demeter, and
Persephone
The three vulnerable goddesses are Hera, Goddess of Marriage;
Demeter, Goddess of Grain; and Persephone, known as the Kore,
or Maiden, and as Queen of the Underworld. These three goddesses
personify archetypes that represent the traditional roles of wo-
men—wife, mother, and daughter. They are the relationship-oriented
goddesses, whose identity and well-being depend on having a sig-
nificant relationship. They express the needs in women for affiliation.
In their mythologies, these three goddesses were raped, abducted,
dominated, or humiliated by male gods. Each suffered when an at-
tachment was broken or dishonored. Each experienced powerless-
ness. And each responded characteristically—Hera with rage and
jealousy, Demeter and Persephone with depression. Each showed
symptoms that resembled psychological illnesses. Women in whom
these goddesses exist as archetypes are likewise vulnerable. Know-
ledge of Hera, Demeter, and Persephone can provide women with
insights into the nature of their need for relationships and into the
pattern of their reaction to loss.
When Hera, Demeter, or Persephone are dominant archetypes,
the motivational pull is relationship, rather than achievement and
autonomy or new experience. The focus of attention is on others,
not on an outer goal or an inner state. Consequently, women identi-
fied with these goddesses are attentive and receptive to others. They
are motivated by the