Myth, Religion, and Mother Right

The Swiss thinker J.J. Bachofen is most often connected with his theory of matriarchy, or "Mother Right", but that concept is only a small part of his contribution to our understanding of cultural history. A pioneer of the idea of a transcendent mythical content present in all societies, Bachofen was deeply concerned with the inner life and how it is expressed in symbolic terms. He had a profound influence on a number of European philosophers and indirectly affected American ethnology through Lewis Henry Morgan, student of the American Indian. This book includes an autobiographical essay and selections from "An Essay on Ancient Mortuary Symbolism", "Mother Right", and "The Myth of Tanaquil".