Mythology Case

Throughout history we have had myths and legends. Some of those myths tell of how we have a dominant sex and a inferior sex. This shift is called matriarchal to Patriarchal, and it influences many cultures and changed our history to how we know of it now. However, unlike Greek mythology, we have a patriarchal to matriarchal shift, which is unusual. Yet, on the other hand, we have the Norse myths that do not display a shift in power.

In the Greek creation story, we first have Gaea, who is the supreme mother goddess to humans, as well as the titans. However, with the matriarchal/patriarchal shift, she is overthrown by, first, her husband, and then, her son Cronus. According the Greeks, the Mother Goddess was cherished because she was believed to give great harvests and fertility to women. In spite of this, we see that the Patriarchal society of gods are prayed to for harvests. The shift between the two societies also leads to the shift from it being peaceful, working with nature, nurturing, and co-operation (matriarchal), to one that is more war-driven, competitive, and controlling nature (patriarchal).

Unlike the Greek myths of a shift from matriarchal to patriarchal, the Chinese have a patriarchal to matriarchal shift. We start off with the world in a egg and Pangu emerges to hold up the heavens from crashing into the earth. When Pangu dies, Nugua emerges as the mother goddess. However, instead of a main matriarchal society, the Chinese culture has divided the universe into two equal principles. Yin (meaning shaded) and Yang (sunlit) work together; as in, where there is one, there is the other. Yin represents the female aspects (earthy, dark, cool, submissive, fertile), and Yang represents the male perspective of the whole ( bright, celestial, warm, active). So, though there is a shift between patriarchal and matriarchal societies, the Chinese' divide everything into two complementary aspects of the whole. An example of this can be seen when, just like human males and females join together, the sun god and the moon goddess join together in marriage.

Regardless of the society shifts in both Greek and Chinese mythology, we have matriarchal/patriarchal shift in the Norse lore. However, we have a shift in power between two types of beings, much like the Greek shift between the Titans and the Olympians. At first in the Norse creation story we have the Frost-Giants that are in control, who then falls out of power when the Norse gods appear to kill Ymir, the leader of the Frost-Giants. This shift could be described as going from frost-giant control to the elevation of the Aesir gods (Crystalinks). And, as well as Zeus giving Cronus control of Oceanus, a part of Tartarus, in which dead heroes reside, we have Loki, the son of two Frost-Giants that lives among the gods as the Trickster, representing the battle of good and evil in humans.

Matriarchal and Patriarchal societies have made themselves known through-out