ABSTRACT
The story of women and Goddesses presented in the previous chapter is by no means widely accepted among scholars. The well-known and respected classicist Moses Finley expressed a common view when he dismissed the notion of a Mother Goddess as nothing more than "a remarkable fable." 1 Resistance to Goddess history can be traced back to the myths of the slaying of the Goddess that rewrote history, defining man and his Gods as superior to woman and nature. Contemporary scholars often uncritically accept the views presented in these biased accounts as a true picture of religious origins. Many scholars are uncomfortable with an interpretation of the history of religion and culture that challenges long-held beliefs about who we are and what has come before us. But the desire to secure and preserve male dominance is not named as a motivation for distortions and denials the history of the Goddess in either ancient or modern works. Because those who study the Goddesses are often intimidated (as I have been) by academic authorities, I devote this chapter to considering the reasons the history of the Goddess is so frequently dismissed or ignored. Anyone who has already encountered the attitudes discussed in this chapter will know why it is necessary to learn how to counter them; those who have not will be forewarned of what to expect when they begin to talk about the Goddess history they have learned from the previous chapter.
