Following is an outline of the chapter along with the main learning objectives.  To help coordinate your studies, this outline and the learning objectives are organized to match your textbook.  This organization is also utilized in the chapter review section.

Part 1: The Great Goddess

The Great Goddess. (pg. 97)

• You should understand the over-all importance and historical context of the Great Goddess mythology beginning in the Paleolithic 

The Universality of the Great Goddess. (pg. 99)

• You should understand the multi-cultural context of Great Goddess mythology.

The Three Functions of the Great Goddess. (pg.100)

• You should understand and be able to identify the three functions associated with the Great Goddess.

 Symbols of the Great Goddess. (pg. 101)

• You should be able to identify the major symbols associated with the Great Goddess and be able to explain the significance of each.

The Division of the Great Goddess. (pg. 101)

• You should understand why the aspects of the Great Goddess were separated and then associated with individual goddesses.
• You should understand the relationship between patriarchy among the gods and the hero archetype.
• You should be able to explain the significance of dualism in this new mythological context.

Part 2: Gaea (pg. 104)

Gaea. (pg. 104)

• You should understand the role of Gaea in the Greek creation myth.
• You should be able to explain how the process of separation and differentiation is evident in the Gaea myth and why it is significant.
• You should understand how the Gaea myth deals with the tension between the masculine and the feminine.

Gaea and Her Consort (pg. 105)

• You should be able to explain the mythological roles of Uranus, Gaea and Gaea’s children when considering the source and cycle of life and death and the importance of violence and personal power.

The Subordination of the Great Goddess. (pg. 106)

• You should understand how each of the significant functions of the Great Goddess are reinterpreted based on a system of patriarchy.

Part 3: The Great Goddess Divided  (pg. 107)

The Great Goddess Divided. (pg. 107)

• You should be able to identify the main characteristics and symbols associated with the Great Goddess explain how each was associated with an individual goddess.

Athena. (pg. 107)

• You should understand how Athena represents the serpent, the source of wisdom, and the virgin.

Hera. (pg. 107)

• You should understand how Hera represents: the power of parthenogenesis, child-birth, the Queen of Heaven, and marriage.

Aphrodite. (pg. 109)

• You should understand Aphrodite as an embodiment of Eros and be able to explain how patriarchy subordinated this power.
• You should be able to identify the significant role Aphrodite played in relationship to the following: Hephaestus, Media, Jason, Paris of Troy, Hippolytus, Phaedra, Theseus, Anchises, Adonis, Symrna, and Persephone.
• You should understand how the Aphrodite-Adonis myth relates to Near Eastern myths and why this relationship is significant in understanding the broader context of the Great Goddess myth. 

Artemis. (pg. 112)

• You should understand how Artemis represents the chthonic aspect of the Great Goddess.

 Hecate. (p 114)

• You should understand how Hecate represents, among other things, the gift of fertility of the soil.
• You should understand how Hecate’s power and importance was altered by patriarchy.

Part 4: Demeter (pg. 115)

Demeter. (pg. 115)

• You should understand why Demeter is considered the most complex of all the goddesses that survived the shift to patriarchy.

The Rituals in Honor of Demeter. (pg. 116)

The Eleusinian Mysteries. (pg. 116)

• You should be able to explain the how the Eleusinian Mysteries relate to the myth of Demeter and Persephone.
• You should be able to explain what hieros gamos and how it relates to the Eleusinian Mysteries and to Demeter.
• You should be able to explain how the concept of epiphany relates to the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Demeter and Dionysus. (pg. 117)

• You should understand the mythological relationship between Demeter and Dionysus and how the Eleusinian Mysteries are similar to the Dionysian festival.

The Thesmophoria. (pg. 117)

• You should understand the ritualistic importance of the Thesmophoria and how it relates to Demeter.

The Psychological Components of the Demeter Myth. (pg. 118)

 

The Meditation of Contraries. (pg. 118)

• You should understand how the Demeter Myth reconciles the powers of the Great Goddess with patriarchy.
• You should understand how the Demeter Myth contrasts with the archetypical hero myth.

The Feminine Archetype. (pg. 118)

• You should understand how Demeter manifests the threefold nature of the Goddess: mother, grain goddess, and goddess of mysteries.
• You should understand how various elements of the Demeter Myth manifests this triple function.

 Demeter and Female Values. (pg. 118)

• You should understand how, in contrasting the themes of the archetypical hero myth, the Demeter Myth exemplifies female values.
• You should be able to offer specific examples from the Demeter Myth that highlight the tension between masculine and feminine values.

Agriculture and the Source of Civilization. (pg. 119)

• You should be able to explain how the Demeter Myth represents the feminine principle as the source of civilization.
• You should be able to explain the similarities between the Myth of Demeter and the story of Prometheus.

The Demeter Myth and Female Psychology. (pg. 119)

• You should understand how the Demeter Myth represents the physical and psychological stages of the life of a woman.

Chapter Index