A contemporary love story that highlights the similarities between the ancient Greek goddesses of mythology and Greek women of today. Greg is a Greek American journalist who comes to Greece to create a documentary for Greek women. Athena is a young lawyer who has written a thesis “Greek women are goddesses”. She undertakes the task to bring Gregg to contact with women willing to participate in his documentary. Athena is beautiful, dynamic, a modern-day goddess who holds a secret. The more Greg knows her the more he likes her until he falls in love with her. But there is a fiancée back in NYC... Through Athena’s thesis we come to know that Greek women have many similarities with the 6 Olympus Goddesses.

More Than 1,000 Goddesses & Heroines from around the World Groundbreaking scholar Patricia Monaghan spent her life researching, writing about, and documenting goddesses and heroines from all religions and all corners of the globe. Her work demonstrated that from the beginning of recorded history, goddesses reigned alongside their male counterparts as figures of inspiration and awe. Drawing on anthropology, folklore, literature, and psychology, Monaghan’s vibrant and accessible encyclopedia covers female deities from Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, Asia and Oceania, Europe, and the Americas, as well as every major religious tradition.

"The scholarship in this book is superior, revealing a depth of insight and a scope of knowledge possible only from a scholar who has lived with the concerns of feminist theology for decades. Ruether is a gifted storyteller, and lucidly translates complex ideas and debates. This work is of the highest importance, and Ruether asks the right questions at the right time. The text is groundbreaking."—Nancy Pineda-Madrid, Saint Mary's College of California "Ruether has provided a valuable introduction to an important feminist topic: what can we know about sacred female imagery in Western culture? She guides us through contemporary feminist scholarship, providing engaging narrative, and venturing her own interpretations. Ruether calls for feminists to move beyond divisions created by our different interpretations of prehistory and work together towards our common project of a more peaceful, just, and ecological world."—Carol Hepokoski, Meadville Lombard Theological School

This book brings to life the meaning of the stories of the seven goddesses of Greek mythology. Each goddess represents a “sacred calling,” a way of life whose goal is to live for the sake of something greater than oneself. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and justice; Artemis is the woods woman who protects the natural world; Demeter is the goddess of the fertility of the earth and the birth and nurturing of children; Hera is the wife of Zeus, the king, who dedicates her life to creating a high quality of public life through nurturing various community activities; Aphrodite is the goddess of creativity; Persephone is the victim who was raped by Hades and abducted to the underworld where she punishes those who victimized others while alive; and Hestia is the contemplative, she who reflects upon human affairs and “sees” how all the parts fit a larger whole. The book will allow readers to recognize themselves and their own sacred passions in these stories. Once recognized, women can educate themselves and each other. They can use the wisdom represented in Greek mythology to create meaningful and complete lives in the context of a culture that is still dominated by men and their passions. In this way, women will be liberated to do everything they can to leave a better world behind for their children, grandchildren and future generations.

This reference offers reliable knowledge about women's diverse faith practices throughout history and prehistory, and across cultures. Across the span of human history, women have participated in world-building and life-sustaining cultural creativity, making enormous contributions to religion and spirituality. In the contemporary period, women have achieved greater equality, with more educational opportunities, female role models in public life, and opportunities for religious expression than ever before. Contemporaneously with this increased visibility, women are actively and energetically engaging with religion for themselves and for their communities. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars, this reference chronicles the religious experiences of women across time and cultures. The book includes sections on major religions as well as on spirituality, African religions, prehistoric religions, and other broad topics. Each section begins with an introduction, followed by reference entries on specialized subjects along with excerpts from primary source documents. The entries provide numerous suggestions for further reading, and the book closes with a detailed bibliography.

Largely excluded from any public role, the women of ancient Greece nonetheless appear in various guises in the art and writing of the period, and in legal documents. These representations, in Sue Blundell's analysis, reveal a great deal about women's day-to-day experience as well as their legal and economic position - and how they were regarded by men.

It is often assumed that the female characters found in popular folk and fairy tales are little more than inconsequential stereotypes--mostly serving as hapless victims in need of rescue, boring one-dimensional princesses, or egotistical and conniving villains. This book presents more fully-realized portraits of these female characters and the ways in which they actually represent bold and powerful connections to the goddesses of classic mythic narratives. The rich legacy of female goddesses, shamans, queens, and priestesses is in fact preserved and celebrated through these more modern representations, whether as brides who can transform into animals, wise old women who live alone in the deep wilderness, strong warrior maidens, or witches who can conquer and command the elements of nature. In contemplating this revised analysis of female characters within global folktales and fairy tales, readers can see that the goddesses of old have never truly been forgotten.

A classic work of female psychology that uses seven archetypcal goddesses as a way of describing behavior patterns and personality traits is being introduced to the next generation of readers with a new introduction by the author. Psychoanalyst Jean Bolen's career soared in the early 1980s when Goddesses in Everywoman was published. Thousands of women readers became fascinated with identifying their own inner goddesses and using these archetypes to guide themselves to greater self–esteem, creativity, and happiness. Bolen's radical idea was that just as women used to be unconscious of the powerful effects that cultural stereotypes had on them, they were also unconscious of powerful archetypal forces within them that influence what they do and how they feel, and which account for major differences among them. Bolen believes that an understanding of these inner patterns and their interrelationships offers reassuring, true–to–life alternatives that take women far beyond such restrictive dichotomies as masculine/feminine, mother/lover, careerist/housewife. And she demonstrates in this book how understanding them can provide the key to self–knowledge and wholeness. Dr. Bolen introduced these patterns in the guise of seven archetypal goddesses, or personality types, with whom all women could identify, from the autonomous Artemis and the cool Athena to the nurturing Demeter and the creative Aphrodite, and explains how to decide which to cultivate and which to overcome, and how to tap the power of these enduring archetypes to become a better "heroine" in one's own life story.

This two-volume set provides a comprehensive guide to the vast array of feminine divine figures found throughout the world. Drawn from a variety of sources ranging from classical literature to early ethnographies to contemporary interpretations, the Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines provides a comprehensive introduction to the ways goddess figures have been viewed through the ages. This unique encyclopedia of over thousands of figures of feminine divinity describes the myths and attributes of goddesses and female spiritual powers from around the world. The two-volume set is organized by culture and religion, exploring the role of women in each culture's religious life and introducing readers to the background of each pantheon, as well as the individual figures who peopled it. Alternative names for important divinities are offered, as are lists of minor goddesses and their attributes. Interest in women's spirituality has grown significantly over the last 30 years, both among those who remain in traditional religions and those who explore spirituality outside those confines. This work speaks to them all.

Greece is a sovereign state located in eastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. The country is surrounded by the Aegean Sea to the east and the Ionian Sea to the west, and has a population of about 10.8 million people. Greece is recognized the world over as one of the cradles of Western civilization, with its ancient history playing a huge role in shaping the modern world. It was in ancient Greece, over 2,500 years ago, that democracy, art, philosophy, literature, and architecture flourished. The country’s ancient past remains evident in its monuments and architecture, which draw millions of tourists each year. Greece has a diverse economy that is growing steadily, thanks to excellent infrastructure and tourism. The country's major industries include tourism, shipping, and agriculture, and it has made progress in developing its renewable energy resources, particularly wind turbines and solar power. Greece also has a high standard of living and a well-educated population, including a thriving university system. The country's cuisine is characterized by a mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences, with seafood and lamb dishes being particularly popular. Overall, Greece is a unique and fascinating country that is well worth exploring.