Riane Eisler

The premise of The Chalice and the Blade is intriguing: author Riane Eisner posits that there were peaceful, egalitarian, Goddess-worshiping cultures before recorded history, but these exemplary societies were wiped out by cruel, male-dominated hordes that worshiped warlike, masculine gods. Eisner relies on a few archaeologists and a lot of conjecture to make her case. She equates Goddess worship with elevated status for women, and ignores examples from non-Western cultures such as Japan, China, and India, where goddesses are venerated but the position of actual women is low.

I don’t have enough knowledge of ancient civilizations to refute Eisner's thesis, but it seems to me to be oversimplified and based on too many unsupported assumptions and generalizations. If I had read this book as an idealistic young adult, I would have eaten it up, but now it just doesn't ring true to me.… (more)