s played an
important part as peacemaker in the kingdom of her husband."[193]

[193] Gladstone, _Homeric Studies_, Vol. II, p. 507.
Donaldson, _Woman_, pp. 18-19.

If we turn to the evidence of the ancient mythology and art, it is
also clear that the number of female deities must be connected with
the early predominance of women in Greece. We have to remember that
"the gods" are shaped by human beings in their own image, and the
status of women on earth is reflected in the status of a goddess. Five
out of the eight divinities of immemorial Greek worship were female,
Hera, Demeter, Persephone, Athene and Aphrodite. In addition there
were numerous lesser goddesses. One must consider also that it was
not uncommon for cities to be named after women; and the Greek stories
seem to point to tribes with totem names. How can these things be
explained, unless we accept a maternal stage? There are numerous other
facts all indicating this same conclusion. We find relationships on
the mother's side regarded as much more close than those on the
father's side. In Athens and Sparta a man might marry his father's
sister, but not his mother's sister. Lycaon, in pleading with
Achilles, says in order to appease him, that he is not the uterine
brother of Hector. It is also noteworthy to find that the Thebans,
when pressed in war, seek assistance from the AEginetans as their
nearest kin, _recollecting that Thebe and AEginia had been sisters_. A
similar case is that of the Lycaones in Crete, who claimed affinity
with Athens and with Sparta, which affinity was traced through the
mother.[194]

[194] McLennan, "Kinship in Ancient Greece"; Essay in
_Studies in Ancient History_, pp. 195-246.

There is much evidence I am compelled to pass over. It must, however,
be noted that there seems clear proof of the maternal form of marriage
having at one time been practised. Plutarch mentions that the
relations between husband and wife in Sparta were at first
secret.[195] The story told by Pausanias about Ulysses' marriage
certainly points to the custom of the bridegroom going to live with
the wife's family.[196] In this connection the action of Intaphernes
is significant, who, when granted by Darius permission to claim the
life of a single man, chose her brother, saying that both husband and
children could be replaced.[197] Similarly the declaration of Antigone
that neither for husband nor children would she have performed the
toil sh