5.1.6: Three Provinces of the Great Goddess

Throughout the bodies of literature that examine mythology, researchers are fond of identifying individual Olympian goddesses as the “Greek” Great Goddess. Karen Armstrong identifies Artemis, “Mistress of the Animals,” as an incarnation of the Great Goddess, for her demands of blood sacrifice if the divine rules of hunting are breached. Robert Graves furthers this position, citing her triple titles, “Maiden Goddess,” “Moon Goddess,” and “Goddess of the Hunt,” as credible evidence of her connection to the Great Goddess.

Other researchers point to Aphrodite, Hera, or Hecate as the Great Mother Goddess. Aphrodite, according to the Theogony, was born from the union of Ouranos’ severed genitals and the sea foam, in a version of parthenogenetic birth (conception and birth without intercourse, or without a father). Hera, as queen of Olympus and patron of marriage and married women, also appears as a candidate. Archeological evidence supports this; several of the oldest and largest temples from the Mycenaean era were dedicated to Hera. Hecate, as an elder goddess, also regularly emerges as an incarnation of the Great Goddess.

If we draw connections between each of these goddesses, looking carefully at what they represent, we find that they exemplify the three functions of the Great Goddess: life, death, and rebirth or metamorphosis.

Artemis maintained her earliest purview of birthing and midwifery, when moments after her own birth, she served as midwife to deliver her twin, Apollo, forever connecting her to the start of life, the most fragile period of existence and the one most in need of a powerful patron. As a goddess who bartered for the ability to remain a virgin and to never surrender her autonomy to a husband, she also represents the first phase of the Great Goddess, maidenhood. As goddess of the moon, her connection to the Great Goddess is further affirmed since the moon’s waxing and waning align with the three phases of womanhood–maiden, woman, and crone–and the moon’s passage through the three functions of the Great Goddess, with the full moon representing pregnancy and the promise of life, the absence of the moon representing death, and the return of the new moon representing rebirth.

Aphrodite represents the crux between maidenhood and womanhood. As the embodiment of sensual love, she serves to initiate women into the experience of sexual awareness and the threshold of motherhood. Motherhood unites life and rebirth, and was viewed as especially potent in early cultures that may not have understood the role of males in procreation.

Hera, in addition to her role as marriage patron, also has earlier roots as an earth goddess, similar to Demeter. Bringing fertility to fields is mirrored in her marriage role, where she blesses families with children, reassuring comfort that life is sustainable.

Hecate, the arcane retired goddess, represents the mysteries of death. Prior to Hades’ abduction of Persephone, and Hermes’ appointment as soul transporter, it was Hecate who oversaw death rites and who escorted shades (souls of the dead) safely to the underworld. After Persephone was anointed Queen of the Underworld, Hecate’s purview was transitioned into magic and witchcraft. But both goddesses portray the pre-Hellenic desire for rebirth; Hecate’s chthonic ability to travel between the two spheres and Persephone’s annual springtime return (rebirth) from Hades reinforced this belief and offers an antidote to the subconscious fear of the permanence of death.