Three of the remaining four archetypes—Artemis, Athena, and
Persephone—were “maiden” goddesses, who belonged to the gen-
eration of the daughters. These three were one more generation re-
moved from the Great Goddess. As archetypes, they are correspond-
ingly less overwhelming, and chiefly influence character patterns.
And Hestia, the oldest, wisest, and most honored goddess of them
all, avoided power altogether. She represents a spiritual component
that a woman does well to honor.
GREEK GODDESSES AND
CONTEMPORARY WOMEN
The Greek goddesses are images of women that have lived in the
human imagination for over three thousand years. The goddesses
are patterns or representations of what women are like—with more
power and diversity of behavior than women have historically been
allowed to exercise. They are beautiful and strong. They are motiv-
ated by what matters to them, and—as I maintain in this book—they
represent inherent patterns or archetypes that can shape the course
of a woman’s life.
These goddesses differ from one another. Each one has both pos-
itive and potentially negative traits. Their myths show what is im-
portant to them and express in metaphor what a woman who re-
sembles them might do.
I also have come to think of the Greek goddesses of Mt. Olym-
pus—each of whom was unique, some of whom were antagonistic
toward each other—as a metaphor for diversity and conflict within
women who are complex and many-sided. All the goddesses are
potentially present in every woman. When several goddesses com-
pete for dominance in a woman’s psyche, she needs to decide which
aspect of herself to express and when. Otherwise she will be pulled
first in one direction and then another.
The Greek goddesses also lived, as we do, in a patriarchal society.
Male gods ruled over the earth, heavens, ocean, and underworld.
Each independent goddess adapted to this reality in her own way
by separating from men, joining men as one of
Goddesses as Inner Images