ese constituted a patriarchal mythology dominated in turn by three principal father-figures: Uranus, his son, Cronis, and finally, Cronis' son, Zeus (Hamilton, 1940).
Bolen (1984), however, points out that the patriarchal
mythology of the Greeks reflects the actual historical encounter and subjugation of peoples who had matriarchal or mother-based religions, by invaders who had warrior gods and patriarchal mythologies and religions. Matriarchal mythologies flourished at least 5,000 years (or perhaps even as much as 25,000 years ago) before the rise of male-based mythologies (Bolen, 1984).
Old Europe was a matrifocal, sedentary, peaceful, art-loving, earth and sea-bound culture that worshipped the Great Goddess. Evidence gleaned from burial sites shows that Old Europe was an unstratified, egalitarian society that was destroyed by an infiltration of seminomadic, horse-riding, Indo-European peoples from the distant north and east. These invaders were
patrifocal, mobile, warlike, ideologically skyoriented, and indifferent to art (Bolen, 1984, p. 20).
The early or Old Europeans of which Bolen (1984) speaks
worshipped the Great Goddess, which was known by a number of
names, including Astarte, Ishtar, Inanna, Nut, Isis, Ashtoreth,
Au Set, Hathor, Nina, Nammu, and Ningal (Hall, 1980). The
Great Goddess was a feminine life-force, a creator, as well as a destroyer, who was deeply connected to nature and fertility.
Graves (1980) concurs with Bolen's (1984) view of the Great Goddess theory, that before the coming of the great patriarchal religions, the Great Goddess was omnipotent, immortal and changeless.
The matriarchal religions were usurped through a series
of invasions that are estimated to have occurred between 4500
B.C. and 2400 B.C. (Bolen, 1984). However, both Bolen (1984) and Graves (1980) affirm that the Great Goddess was not completely suppressed, but rather, was divided into many goddesses and ...