Recycled Myths

One of the main themes in "The World of Myth: An Anthology" by David Adams Lemming is the recycling of myths from one culture to another over a period of centuries or millennia. The basis of almost all myths is the existence of a Supreme Being, an entity that is both omniscient and omnipotent, creator of the universe. In some cultures, this deity is patriarchal; however, there is typically a matriarchal figure as well. In fact, the majority of myths and religions center on at least one feminine entity, whether the focus is as a divinity or human being.

Even in the instances in which the main deity is seen as the masculine creative principle, it may have been born of a mother figure. Virgin births are quite common in myth and credit the mother with the birth of the divine child. Two excellent examples of this...