[94] DELBRÜCK, "Das Mutterrecht bei den Indogermanen," in _Preussische Jahrbücher_, XCVII, 15, characterizes the work as "fantastic," though resting upon "einer äusserst ausgebreiteten Gelehrsamkeit." DR. STARCKE'S criticism is too severe: "We should rather call his 'Mutterrecht' the rhapsody of a well-informed poet than the work of a calm and clear-sighted man of science."--_Primitive Family_, 243. For the best analysis of Bachofen, see _ibid._, 241-51. _Cf._ also BERNHÖFT, "Zur Geschichte des eur. Familienrechts," in _ZVR._, VIII, 4, 5; LUBBOCK, _Origin of Civilization_, 98 ff.; MCLENNAN, _Studies in Ancient History_, I, 319-25; GIRAUD-TEULON, _La mère chez certains peuples de l'antiquité_, 6 ff.; ZMIGRODSKI, _Die Mutter_, 178 ff., 196 ff., 311 ff., _passim_; SCHMIDT, _Jus primae noctis_, 31, 36-38, 178, 190; WAKE, _Marriage and Kinship_, 14 ff., 257, 258; KAUTSKY, "Die Entstehung der Ehe und Familie," _Kosmos_, XII, 256, 257, 348; ACHELIS, _Die Entwicklung der Ehe_, 6 ff.; POSADA, _Théories modernes_, 47 ff., 148; CHAMBERLAIN, _The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought_, 12 ff.
[95] The author first discusses the account given by Herodotus and others of Lycian customs, which account, he declares, contains the clearest and most valuable evidence of the existence and character of _Mutterrecht_ (v). Then follows a similar treatment of the evidence derived from Crete, Athens, Lemnos, Egypt, India and central Asia, Orchomenos and the Minyœ, Epizephyrian Locris, Elis, Lesbos, Mantinea, the Cantabrians, and from the Pythagorean system.
According to Bachofen, there are three general phases in the evolution of human sexual relations. The first is the period of aphrodistic hetairism, in which men and women have each other in common; the second is the period of demetrian mother-right or gynocracy, in which kinship and succession are in the maternal line and woman gains religious and political supremacy; and the third, the period of the patriarchate or apollonistic father-right, in which the more spiritual principle of paternity is triumphant.[96] Each of these periods is regarded as a universal culture-stage.[97]
[96] _Das Mutterrecht_, vi, xviii-xix, xxi, _passim_.
[97] _Ibid._, vi. "Wie auf die Periode des Mutterrechts die Herrschaft der Paternität folgt, so geht jener eine Zeit des regellosen Hetärismus voran."--_Ibid._, xviii. For many illustrations, see the Index at "Aphrodite," "Demeter," and "Apollo," the names of the divinities presiding respectively over the three phases.