Persephone, Psyche, and the Mother-Maiden Archetype

While the figure of the Mother Goddess has always fascinated students of Greek myth and religion (Vernant, 1965, 102-31), the subject has in recent years generated an enormous amount of scholarly literature which has illuminated the goddess’ role from a number of perspectives (Harding, 1971).* This expanding interest is due in part to exciting new developments in the fields of psychology, anthropology, and women’s studies, whose findings underscore the prominence of the Great Mother in the psychic and cultural life of humanity. Among the schools of thought that have produced some of the most provocative though not unchallenged ideas about the female figure in Greek myth is that of C.G. Jung and his adherents, who have found in the image of the Mother Goddess a fruitful field for the application of their theories concerning the relationship of myth to human consciousness, the development of the feminine psyche, and the role of woman in the family.