Motherhood has always been central to human culture and mythology, but its meaning and significance have transformed profoundly over time. From ancient fertility goddesses who embodied the raw power of life and creation to the subdued maternal figures of patriarchal religions, myths about mothers reveal not only societal values but also deep conflicts between genders and shifting power dynamics. Far from being merely nurturing figures, mother goddesses were often sites of control, conflict, and sacrifice, embodying both creation and destruction.
The Early Mother Goddesses: Creation, Fertility, and Power
In early societies, mother goddesses played a central role in mythological systems. Figures like Inanna, Ishtar, Demeter, and Pachamama embodied the cycles of birth, growth, death, and renewal, celebrating women’s roles as life-givers and caretakers. These goddesses were intrinsically tied to fertility and sexuality, seen as sacred rather than taboo. They represented both the nurturing and the untamed aspects of nature, often wielding immense power over life and death.
Unlike later maternal figures, these goddesses were not confined to domestic roles or passive nurturing. They could be warriors, protectors, or even destructive forces when crossed. Cybele, the Magna Mater of Phrygia and later Rome, exemplifies this duality. As a goddess of life and fertility, she was celebrated with wild, ecstatic rituals led by her priests, the Galli, who castrated themselves as an act of complete devotion to her. This self-castration mirrored the myth of Attis, Cybele’s consort or devotee, who was driven mad by the goddess’s jealous love and castrated himself before dying. Attis’ fate tied him to the cycles of vegetation, death, and rebirth, further cementing Cybele’s association with both creation and destruction.
To the Romans, this aspect of her worship was shocking. While they adopted Cybele as a protector of Rome, they were uncomfortable with the wildness of her cult and the perceived threat it posed to their patriarchal ideals. Far from an idealised maternal figure, Cybele embodied profound ambivalence: both nurturing and castrating, life-giving and life-consuming. This tension between reverence and fear speaks to the broader ‘battle of the sexes’ embedded in her myth, as her power over male sexuality challenged patriarchal norms.
The Rise of Patriarchy and the Subjugation of Motherhood
The transition from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural civilizations marked a profound transformation in the role of women and mothers. The control of women’s reproductive power coevolved with a concept of property, inheritance, and governance that became central to social organisation. This shift diminished the power of mother goddesses, replacing their autonomous and multifaceted roles with ideals of chastity, modesty, and submission.
Fertility goddesses, once celebrated for their sexual and life-giving power, were either suppressed or reimagined. In the Abrahamic religions, for example, the Virgin Mary became the dominant maternal figure. Unlike Ishtar or Cybele, Mary was defined by her virginity and obedience to divine will. While she retained nurturing qualities, her role as a mother was divorced from sexuality, reflecting patriarchal ideals that sought to control and regulate female drives.
This emphasis on virginity also highlights the conflict between male-dominated societies and the unrestrained power of earlier mother goddesses. By redefining motherhood in terms of purity and obedience, patriarchal systems sought to resolve the tension between reverence for maternal power and fear of its potential autonomy and dominance. Mary’s miraculous motherhood, free of sexual agency, contrasted sharply with the earthy, sensual fertility of earlier goddesses, marking a definitive shift in the cultural conception of motherhood.
Motherhood as Sacrifice: Rhea Silvia, Creusa, and Cybele
While the early mother goddesses were powerful and awe-inspiring, myths from patriarchal societies increasingly portrayed motherhood as an act of sacrifice. In Roman mythology, Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus, exemplifies this theme. Forced into celibacy as a Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia is impregnated by the god Mars and later separated from her children. Her ambiguous fate—whether death, reunion with her sons, or transformation into a river goddess—underscores the sacrifices maternal figures are often forced to make in patriarchal narratives. Her absence becomes a catalyst for her sons to fulfil their destiny, founding Rome and transforming her sacrifice into the foundation of a civilization.
A similar theme appears in the story of Creusa in Virgil’s Aeneid. As Troy falls, Creusa, Aeneas’ wife, dies during their escape, her death marking the end of one epoch and the beginning of another. Before her death, Creusa prophecies Aeneas’ destiny to found a new city, Rome. Her sacrifice becomes a symbolic reincarnation: though she is lost, her spirit lives on in the foundation of a new homeland. Rome itself becomes a ‘motherland,’ inheriting and transforming the nurturing and protective qualities of these maternal figures.
Cybele’s connection to Troy further deepens these themes. As a Phrygian goddess, she was intrinsically linked to the city of Troy, which the Greeks symbolically ‘murdered from within,’ like alienated children, severing their bond with the womb through the Trojan horse. In adopting Cybele as a protector of Rome, the Romans crafted an opposing narrative of origins, aligning her with their own survival and continuity. Like Creusa, Cybele represents the maternal sacrifice necessary for Rome’s foundation. Her mythology of control and renewal parallels the themes of loss and rebirth in the Aeneid, where the death of Aeneas’ wife enables his journey to a new future.
Myth and the Legacy of Motherhood
The evolution of motherhood in myth mirrors the shifting dynamics of human society. Early myths celebrated the mother as a powerful and autonomous force, embodying both the nurturing and destructive aspects of nature. With the rise of patriarchal civilizations, this autonomy was replaced by ideals of purity and submission, transforming maternal figures into symbols of sacrifice rather than strength.
However, even in patriarchal myths, the mother’s absence or sacrifice often serves as a foundation for renewal and creation. Rhea Silvia’s forced celibacy and Creusa’s death become catalysts for the founding of Rome, while Cybele’s ambivalent power challenges societal norms, reminding us of the primal, untamed forces that motherhood once represented. These stories reveal the deep ambivalence surrounding motherhood in human culture: it is both revered and feared, celebrated and controlled.