Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms: Epistemological and Methodological Reflections on the Study of Religions, Gender, and Women
In: NumenSearch for other papers by Florence Pasche Guignard in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Giulia Pedrucci in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
Through an approach that combines the academic study of religions with motherhood studies, this article examines rarely considered maternal aspects of Demeter, a goddess of the pantheon of ancient Greek religion. We first discuss theoretical input and concepts drawn from maternal theory that are relevant to uncover innovative lines of research on religious representations and practices in polytheistic systems of the past. In this way we also contribute to broader epistemological reflections in the history and study of religions. Then, considering the Homeric Hymn as well as key ritual elements of the Thesmophoria festival through the lenses of maternal theory, we examine the mother-daughter relationship and the role of the mother as maternal trainer. This concrete case study from the ancient Greek world demonstrates the relevance for historians of religions of considering past polytheistic systems while harnessing the fruitful interdisciplinary potential of maternal theory.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Andò, Valeria. 2005. L’ape che tesse. Saperi femminili nella Grecia antica. Roma: Carrocci.
-
Blundell, Sue. 1995. Women in Ancient Greece. London: British Museum Press.
-
Bodiou, Lydie. 2006. “De la mère à la fille: fusion, séparation, réconciliation.” In Lydie Bodiou, Dominique Frère, and Véronique Mehl (eds.), L’expression des corps. Gestes, attitudes, regards dans l’iconographie antique, Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 311–327.
-
Bodiou, Lydie, Pierre Brulé, and Laurence Pierini. 2005. “En Grèce antique, la douloureuse obligation de la maternité.” Clio 21: 17–42. URL: http://clio.revues.org/index1441.html (accessed 25 October 2016).
-
Bremmer, Jan N. 2012. “Demeter in Megara.” In Attilio Mastrocinque and Concetta Giuffrè Scibona (eds.), Demeter, Isis, Vesta, and Cybele: Studies in Greek and Roman Religion in Honour of Giulia Sfameni Gasparro, Stuttgart: Steiner, 25–38.
-
Bruit Zaidman, Louise. 2012a. “Déméter déesse et mère.” In Anna Caiozzo and Nathalie Ernoult (eds.), Femmes médiatrices et ambivalentes. Mythes et imaginaires, Paris: Colin, 381–391.
-
Bruit Zaidman, Louise. 2012b. “Koré-Perséphone entre Déméter et Hadès.” In Attilio Mastrocinque and Concetta Giuffrè Scibona (eds.), Demeter, Isis, Vesta, and Cybele: Studies in Greek and Roman Religion in Honour of Giulia Sfameni Gasparro, Stuttgart: Steiner, 39–57.
-
Brulé, Pierre. 1987. La fille d’Athènes. La religion des filles à Athènes à l’époque classique. Mythes, cultes et société. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
-
Calame, Claude. 1997. “L’Hymne homérique à Déméter comme offrande: regard rétrospectif sur quelques catégories de l’anthropologie de la religion grecque.” Kernos 10: 111–133.
-
Cosentino, Augusto. 2017. “Il culto persefonico in Italia meridionale: modello rituale di maternità? Persefone (e Demetra) a Locri Epizefiri e nelle sue subcolonie.” In Florence Pasche Guignard, Giulia Pedrucci, and Marianna Scapini (eds.), Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms / Maternità e Politeismi, Bologna: Pàtron, 107–122.
-
Cultraro, Massimo. 2017. “Maternità asimmetriche: meccanismi di riproduzione-produzione sociale e dinamiche simboliche nella Grecia micenea.” In Florence Pasche Guignard, Giulia Pedrucci, and Marianna Scapini (eds.), Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms / Maternità e Politeismi, Bologna: Pàtron, 89–106.
-
Dasen, Véronique. 2004. “Femmes à tiroir.” In Véronique Dasen (ed.), Naissance et petite enfance dans l’antiquité. Actes du colloque de Fribourg, 28 novembre—1. décembre 2001, Fribourg-Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 127–144.
-
Demont, Paul. 1978. “Remarques sur le sens de τρέφω.” Revue des études grecques 91: 358–384.
-
Dixon, Suzanne. 1988. The Roman Mother. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
-
Douglas, Susan, and Meredith Michaels. 2004. The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined All Women. New York: Free Press.
-
Ducaté Paarmann, Sandrine. 2013. “Deux femmes à l’enfant. Etude d’une classe d’offrandes étrusco-latiales en terre cuit.” Mélanges de l’École française de Rome — Antiquité 115: 837–865.
-
Dugast, Fabienne. 2017. “‘Déesses mères’ et ‘Vénus’ chez les Celtes aux premiers siècles de notre ère.” In Florence Pasche Guignard, Giulia Pedrucci, and Marianna Scapini (eds.), Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms / Maternità e Politeismi, Bologna: Pàtron, 239–258.
-
Eller, Cynthia. 1993. Living in the Lap of the Goddess: The Feminist Spirituality Movement in America. New York: Crossroad.
-
Eller, Cynthia. 2000. The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Won’t Give Women a Future. Boston: Beacon Press.
-
Ernoult, Nathalie. 2015. “Les relations filles/mères autour de la question du mariage dans l’Athènes classique.” Cahiers “Mondes anciens” 6. URL: http://mondesanciens.revues.org/1339. DOI: 10.4000/mondesanciens.1339 (accessed 24 February 2017).
-
Ernoult, Alfred, and Alfred Meillet. 2001 [1932]. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine. Histoire des mots. Paris: Klincksieck.
-
Evelyn-White, Hugh (ed.). 1914. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. (Loeb Classical Library). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
-
Fast, Kerry and Rachel Epp Buller (eds.). 2013. Mothering Mennonite. Bradford: Demeter Press.
-
Fernández García, Véronica. 2009. “El ‘Himmo homérico a Démeter’: una reinterpretación de la relación madre-hija a travér del mito.” In Rosa Maria Cid López (ed.), Madres y maternidades. Construcciones culturales en la civilización clásica, Oviedo: KRK, 329–347.
-
Foley, Helen. 2003. “Mothers and Daughters.” In Jennifer Neils and John H. Oakley (eds.), Coming of Age in Ancient Greece: Images of Childhood from the Classical Past, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 113–137.
-
Georgoudi, Stella. 1991. “Bachofen, le matriarcat et le monde antique. Réflexion sur la création d’un mythe.” In Georges Duby and Michèle Perrot (eds.), Histoire des Femmes. Vol. 1. L’Antiquité, Paris: Plon, 477–491.
-
Gladigow, Burkhard. 2001. “Polytheismus.” In Hans G. Kippenberg and Martin Riesebrodt (eds.), Max Webers Religionssystematik, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 131–150.
-
Gladigow, Burkhard. 2007. “Polytheism.” In Kocku von Stuckrad (ed.), The Brill Dictionary of Religion, Leiden: Brill, vol. 3, 1466–1471.
-
Gualerzi, Saverio. 2007. Penelope, o della tessitura. Trame femminili da Omero a Ovidio. Bari: Palomar.
-
Guittard, Charles (ed.). 2010. Le monothéisme. Diversité, exclusivisme ou dialogue? Actes du Congrès de Paris, 11–14 septembre 2002. Paris: Société Ernest Renan.
-
Hays, Sharon. 1996. The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
-
Hennessey, Anna. 2015. “Representations of Birth and Motherhood as Contemporary Forms of the Sacred.” In Nadya Burton (ed.), Natal Signs: Cultural Representations of Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting, Bradford: Demeter Press, 194–217.
-
Jung, Carl G., and Károly Kerényi. 1969. Essays on a Science of Mythology. The Myths of the Divine Child and the Divine Maiden. Princeton, NJ: Bollingen.
-
Juschka, Darlene. 2005. “Gender.” In John Hinnells (ed.), The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, London: Routledge, 229–242.
-
Keller, Heidi, et al. 2009. “Distal and Proximal Parenting as Alternative Parenting Strategies during Infants’ Early Months of Life: A Cross-cultural Study.” International Journal of Behavioral Development 33(5): 412–420.
-
King, Ursula. 2004. “General Introduction: Gender-Critical Turns in the Study of Religion.” In Ursula King and Tina Beattie (eds.), Gender Religion and Diversity: Cross Cultural Perspectives, London: Bloomsbury, 1–10.
-
Klassen, Pamela. 2004. “Agency, Embodiment, and Scrupulous Women.” Journal of Religion 84(4): 592–603.
-
Lancy, David F. 2015. The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
-
Lévêque, Pierre. 1986. “Les cultes de la fécondité/fertilité dans la Grèce des cités.” In Anthony Bonanno (ed.), Archaeology and Fertility Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean, Amsterdam: Gruner, 242–260.
-
Lofton, Kathryn. 2016. “Religion and the Authority in American Parenting.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 84(2): 806–841.
-
McWilliam, Janette. 2013. “The Socialization of Roman Children.” In Judith Evans Grubbs and Tim Parkin (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Childhood and Education in the Classical World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 264–285.
-
Ohnuma, Reiko. 2012. Ties that Bind: Maternal Imagery and Discourse in Indian Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
O’Reilly, Andrea (ed.). 2007. Maternal Theory: Essential Readings. Toronto: Demeter Press.
-
O’Reilly, Andrea. 2014. “Ain’t I a Feminist?: Matricentric Feminism, Feminist Mamas, and Why Mothers Need a Feminist Movement/Theory of Their Own.” Keynote speech and induction into the Motherhood Hall of Fame at the Museum of Motherhood in New York City, 2014. URL: https://mommuseum.org/aint-i-a-feminist-matricentric-feminism-feminist-mamas-and-why-mothers-need-a-feminist-movementtheory-of-their-own (accessed 25 October 2016).
-
O’Reilly, Andrea. 2016. Matricentric Feminism: Theory, Activism, and Practice. Bradford: Demeter Press.
-
O’Reilly, Andrea, and Sara Ruddick. 2009. “A Conversation About Maternal Thinking.” In Andrea O’Reilly (ed.), Maternal Thinking: Philosophy, Politics, Practice, Toronto: Demeter Press, 14–38.
-
Pappano, M. Aziza, and Dana M. Olwan (eds.). 2016. Muslim Mothering: Global Histories, Theories, and Practices. Bradford: Demeter Press.
-
Parker, Robert. 2005. Polytheism and Society at Athens. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-
Pasche Guignard, Florence. 2016. “Reading Hindu Devotional Poetry through Maternal Theory: Maternal Thinking and Maternal Figures in Bhakti Poetry of Sūrdās.” In Vanessa Reimer (ed.), Angels on Earth: Mothering, Religion and Spirituality, Bradford: Demeter Press, 163–180.
-
Pasche Guignard, Florence. 2017a. “The Academic Study of Religions and Mothering, Motherhood and Mothers.” In Florence Pasche Guignard, Giulia Pedrucci, and Marianna Scapini (eds.), Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms / Maternità e Politeismi, Bologna: Pàtron, 61–88.
-
Pasche Guignard, Florence. 2017b. “Faire naître et faire croître. Les figures maternelles de Devakī et Yaśodā dans la poésie dévotionnelle hindoue de Sūrdās.” In Florence Pasche Guignard, Giulia Pedrucci, and Marianna Scapini (eds.), Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms / Maternità e Politeismi, Bologna: Pàtron, 383–396.
-
Pasche Guignard, Florence, Giulia Pedrucci, and Marianna Scapini (eds.). 2017. Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms / Maternità e Politeismi. Bologna: Pàtron.
-
Pedrucci, Giulia. 2013. L’allattamento nella Grecia di epoca arcaica e classica. Roma: Science e Lettere.
-
Pedrucci, Giulia. 2015. “Il corpo biologico e il corpo sociale nella donna alle origini della cultura occidentale. L’obbligo di (imparare a) essere madri in Grecia antica.” Narrare i gruppi 10(1): 71–95. URL: http://www.narrareigruppi.it/index.php?journal=narrareigruppi&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=236 (accessed 17 January 2018).
-
Pedrucci, Giulia. 2017a. “Le maternità nei politeismi: status quaestionis e nuove prospettive di ricerca.” In Florence Pasche Guignard, Giulia Pedrucci, and Marianna Scapini (eds.), Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms / Maternità e Politeismi, Bologna: Pàtron, 33–59.
-
Pedrucci, Giulia. 2017b. “Motherhood, Breastfeeding and Adoption: The Case of Hera Suckling Herakles.” In Patricia Johnston, Attilio Mastrocinque, and László Takács (eds.), Hera and Juno: The Functions of the Goddesses in Prehistoric and Historic Greece and Rome, Symposium Classicum Peregrinum, June 16–19, 2015, Budapest (Hungary), Budapest: Acta Antica Hung. 57, 325–336. DOI: 10.1556/068.2017.57.2-3.15.
-
Pedrucci, Giulia. 2018. Maternità e allattamenti nel mondo greco e romano. Un percorso fra storia delle religioni e studi sulla maternità. Roma: Scienze e Lettere.
-
Pedrucci, Giulia and Marianna Scapini. 2017. “Il ruolo della balia e di altre figure vicarie legate all’infanzia nella religione greca e romana: Arreforie e Matralia a confronto”. In Florence Pasche Guignard, Giulia Pedrucci, and Marianna Scapini (eds.), Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms / Maternità e Politeismi, Bologna: Pàtron, 325–358.
-
Pirenne-Delforge, Vinciane. 2008. “Maternité et divinité en Grèce antique: l’exemple de Déméter.” In Geneviève Dermenjian, Jacques Guilhaumou, and Martine Lapied (eds.), La puissance maternelle en Méditerranée. Mythes et représentation, Aix-en-Provence: Actes Sud, 37–54.
-
Pirenne-Delforge, Vinciane. 2010. “Nourricières d’immortalité: Déméter, Héra et autres déesses en pays grec.” In Véronique Pache-Huber and Véronique Dasen (eds.), Paedagogica Historica (Politics of Child Care in Historical Perspective: From the World of Wet Nurses to the Networks of Family Child Care Providers 46, 2010), 685–697.
-
Pironti, Gabriella. 2013. “Des dieux et des déesses: le genre en question dans la représentation du divin en Grèce ancienne.” In Sandra Boehringer and Violaine Sebillotte Cuchet (eds.), Des femmes en action. L’individu et la fonction en Grèce ancienne, Paris: Mètis, 155–167.
-
Räuchle, Viktoria. 2015. “For Youth is Impressionable and Plastic.” AHA, Meeting January 2–5. URL: https://www.academia.edu/10062802/_For_youth_is_impressionable_and_plastic_._Parental_Care_Strategies_and_Socialization_Goals_in_Classical_Athens (accessed 17 January 2018).
-
Reimer, Vanessa. 2014. “‘Who Is in Charge of the Family?’: Religious Mothering, Neoliberalism, and REAL Women of Canada.” In Melinda Vandenbeld Giles (ed.), Mothering in the Age of Neoliberalism, Bradford: Demeter Press, 279–296.
-
Reimer, Vanessa (ed.). 2016. Angels on Earth: Mothering, Religion and Spirituality. Bradford: Demeter Press.
-
Rich, Adrienne. 1995 [1976]. Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. New York: Norton.
-
Ruddick, Sara. 1990. Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace. New York: Ballantine Books.
-
Sabbione, Claudio, and Margherita Milanesio Macrì. 2008. “Recenti scoperte a Thesmophorion di Contrada Parapezza a Locri Epizefiri.” In Carmela A. Di Stefano (ed.), Demetra. La divinità, i santuari, il culto, la leggenda. Atti del 1. congresso internazionale, Enna, 1–4 luglio 2004, Pisa-Roma: Serra, 213–216.
-
Samuels, Jeffrey. 2010. Attracting the Heart: Social Relations and the Aesthetics of Emotion in Sri Lankan Monastic Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
-
Sangha, Jasjit K., and Tahira Gonsalves (eds.). 2013. South Asian Mothering: Negotiating Culture, Family and Selfhood. Bradford: Demeter Press.
-
Schmidt, Francis (ed.). 1988. L’impensable polythéisme. Etudes d’historiographie religieuse. Paris: Editions des archives contemporaines.
-
Sered, Susan Starr. 1994. Priestess, Mother, Sacred Sister: Religions Dominated by Women. New York: Oxford University Press.
-
Sfameni Gasparro, Giulia. 2008. “Demetra in Sicilia: fra identità panellenica e connotazioni locali.” In Carmela A. Di Stefano (ed.), Demetra. La divinità, i santuari, il culto, la leggenda. Atti del 1. congresso internazionale, Enna, 1–4 luglio 2004, Pisa-Roma: Serra, 25–40.
-
Thurer, Shari L. 1994. The Myths of Motherhood: How Culture Reinvents the Good Mother. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
-
Tognazzi, Giada. 2015. I canti nuziali di Saffo. Roma: Stamen.
-
Warne, Randi R. 2000. “Making the Gender-Critical Turn.” In Tim Jensen and Mikael Rothstein (eds.), Secular Theories on Religion: Current Perspectives, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 249–260.
-
Warner, Judith. 2005. Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. New York: Penguin.
-
Zwi Werblowsky, Raphael J. 1987. “Polytheism.” In Mircea Eliade (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion, New York: Macmillan, vol. 9, 435–439.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 920 | 131 | 29 |
| Full Text Views | 425 | 34 | 5 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 384 | 76 | 12 |
Motherhood(s) and Polytheisms: Epistemological and Methodological Reflections on the Study of Religions, Gender, and Women
In: NumenSearch for other papers by Florence Pasche Guignard in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Giulia Pedrucci in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Through an approach that combines the academic study of religions with motherhood studies, this article examines rarely considered maternal aspects of Demeter, a goddess of the pantheon of ancient Greek religion. We first discuss theoretical input and concepts drawn from maternal theory that are relevant to uncover innovative lines of research on religious representations and practices in polytheistic systems of the past. In this way we also contribute to broader epistemological reflections in the history and study of religions. Then, considering the Homeric Hymn as well as key ritual elements of the Thesmophoria festival through the lenses of maternal theory, we examine the mother-daughter relationship and the role of the mother as maternal trainer. This concrete case study from the ancient Greek world demonstrates the relevance for historians of religions of considering past polytheistic systems while harnessing the fruitful interdisciplinary potential of maternal theory.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 920 | 131 | 29 |
| Full Text Views | 425 | 34 | 5 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 384 | 76 | 12 |