Daughters of Demeter

Demeter`s Olympian world was a patriarchal one, governed by Zeus, "father of gods and men." But in her myth, Demeter successfully resists the arbitrary and tyrannical exercise of patriarchal power, circumscribes her own areas of potency and authority, and celebrates her affinity with other female divinities. Similarly, the women of ancient Greece inhabited a polis ("city-state") which was governed by male authority, but in whose social, economic, and religious dimensions they participated actively. Marilyn A. Katz, Wesleyan Univ. [Greece] [Resources]