Editing Matrilineality (section)

== In mythology ==
Certain ancient myths have been argued to expose ancient traces of matrilineal customs that existed before historical records.

The ancient historian [[Herodotus]] is cited by [[Robert Graves]] in his translations of Greek myths as attesting that the [[Lycia]]ns<ref>[[Herodotus]], before 425 [[BCE]]. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_Herodotus/Book_1, "History of Herodotus".  Graves's notation is "i.173" meaning in Book 1 – Scroll down to paragraph 173 to find the (matrilineal) Lycians.</ref><ref>[[Graves, Robert]] (1955, 1960).  ''[[The Greek Myths]], Vol. 1''.  Penguin Books.  {{ISBN|0-14-020508-X}}; p. 296 (myth #88, comment #2).</ref> of their times "still reckoned" by matrilineal descent, or were matrilineal, as were the [[Caria]]ns.<ref>Graves 1955,1960; p. 256 (myth #75, comment #5).</ref>

In Greek mythology, while the royal function was a [[male privilege]], power devolution often came through women, and the future king inherited power through marrying the queen heiress.  This is illustrated in the [[Homer]]ic myths where all the noblest men in Greece vie for the hand of [[Helen of Troy|Helen]] (and the throne of [[Sparta]]), as well as the Oedipian cycle where [[Oedipus]] weds the recently widowed queen at the same time he assumes the Theban kingship.

This trend also is evident in many [[Celtic mythology|Celtic myths]], such as the (Welsh) [[mabinogi]] stories of [[Culhwch and Olwen]], or the (Irish) [[Ulster Cycle]], most notably the key facts to the [[Cúchulainn]] cycle that Cúchulainn gets his final secret training with a [[warrior]] woman, [[Scáthach]], and becomes the lover of her daughter; and the root of the [[Táin Bó Cuailnge]], that while [[Ailill mac Máta|Ailill]] may wear the crown of [[Connacht]], it is his wife [[Medb]] who is the real power, and she needs to affirm her equality to her husband by owning chattels as great as he does.

The Picts are widely cited as being matrilineal.<ref>http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/GaelsPictland.htm "thanks to the practise of matrilineal descent followed by the Picts, and a large number of eligible would-be kings"</ref><ref>http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/EnglandMercia.htm "the Picts are known as strong adherents to the concept of matrilineal descent"</ref>

A number of other [[Breton people|Breton]] stories also illustrate the motif. Even the [[King Arthur]] legends have been interpreted in this light by some.  For example, the [[Round Table (Camelot)|Round Table]], both as a piece of furniture and as concerns the majority of knights belonging to it, was a gift to Arthur from [[Guinevere]]'s father [[Leodegrance]].

Arguments also have been made that matriliny lay behind various [[fairy tale]] plots which may contain the vestiges of folk traditions not recorded.

For instance, the widespread motif of a father who wishes to marry his own daughter—appearing in such tales as ''[[Allerleirauh]]'', ''[[Donkeyskin]]'', ''[[The King who Wished to Marry His Daughter]]'', and ''[[The She-Bear]]''—has been explained as his wish to prolong his reign, which he would lose after his wife's death to his son-in-law.<ref>[[Margaret Schlauch|Schlauch, Margaret]] (1969). ''Chaucer's Constance and Accused Queens''. New York: Gordian Press. {{ISBN|0-87752-097-6}}; p. 43.</ref> More mildly, the hostility of kings to their daughter's suitors is explained by hostility to their successors.  In such tales as ''[[The Three May Peaches]]'', ''[[Jesper Who Herded the Hares]]'', or ''[[The Griffin (fairy tale)|The Griffin]]'', kings set dangerous tasks in an attempt to prevent the marriage.<ref>Schlauch 1969, p. 45.</ref>

Fairy tales with hostility between the mother-in-law and the heroine—such as ''[[Mary's Child]]'', ''[[The Six Swans]]'', and Perrault's [[Sleeping Beauty]]—have been held to reflect a transition between a matrilineal society, where a man's loyalty was to his mother, and a patrilineal one, where his wife could claim it, although this interpretation is predicated on such a transition being a normal development in societies.<ref>Schlauch 1969, p. 34.</ref>