Homeric Hymn To Demeter

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter tells the story of Demeter, the goddess of fertility of grain. Demeter has a daughter with Zeus by the name of Persephone. The hymn explains the strong bond between Demeter and Persephone and how distraught Demeter is when her daughter is abducted. This traumatic event causes Demeter to live among mortal men disguised as an old woman and withdraw the fertility of the earth. In this paper, I will examine how the Homeric Hymn to Demeter operates as a charter myth, or narrative that explains modern practices, and how successful the hymn is in conveying the modern practice.

Demeter is very angry at Zeus for giving Persephone to Hades to be his wife and queen of the underworld in the Hymn and Zeus is playing the role of someone who is powerful that has made a mistake. To rectify his mistake, Zeus tries to appease Demeter by sending Iris to try to talk some sense into her. The next step he takes is to send all of the gods to her, but she is not able to be consoled. Following these attempts, Zeus decided to send Hermes to the underworld to tell Hades to send Persephone back to them (Nagy: 314-39) While Zeus is playing the forgetful god that is trying to rectify his mistake, he is also playing the powerful god that Zeus is famously known to be as he himself never actually goes on any of the journeys to see Demeter or Hades. Rather than going himself, he displays his power by sending everyone else to do his errands. The only gods in the story that even make decisions on their own are Zeus, Demeter, Hades, and Hekate, but Zeus is shown controlling all of the other gods. Even Hades is being controlled by Zeus to some degree when Zeus sends Hermes to the underworld to tell Hades to allow Persephone to come back to them. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Zeus is given the title of being the most important god, as well as a king of the gods. Zeus’s defining line in Theogony is when he is

     Hades is one of the brothers of Zeus. He is the unlucky one who got to rule the underworld. He is cruel and unforgiving. Only two have ever gone to Hades domain and returned, Hercules and Odysseus. Hades fell in love with Zeus’s daughter and devised a plan to abduct her. With Zeus’s help they succeeded in the capture of Persephone. Her mother Demeter was so enraged she cursed the Earth. She continued the curse even after she was released. It was only after her mother Rhea was allowed to see her that she let the Earth prosper (message).

In the myth “Persephone”, as retold by Anne Terry White, Hades falls instantly in love with the Goddess of harvest and takes her to the underworld with him. Have is all the sudden alarmed by the heaven, fire breathing beasts that had been buried underground, so he comes up to the land. Anthradite, Goddess of love, spots Hades and commands her son, Eros, to shoot with an arrow of love, hoping it would make Hades release the beasts kindly. Hades suddenly gets shot and his heart slowly begins to soften. Suddenly, in the distance, Hades sees Persephone, goddess of harvest, gracefully working in the meadows and he instantly falls in love with her. As a result, he decides to practically kidnap he and takes her down to the underworld with him.

Gender inequality has been a controversial topic for numerous religions and cultures throughout history. Women were commonly regarded as the subservient gender, an idea that was no different in Ancient Greece. Throughout Greek mythology, women were considered inferior and troublesome symbols, while men were known for courage, leadership, and strength. While there is no argument of the flagrant sexism that is illustrated in Greek mythology, it can also be claimed that women were given a situated position of freedom, necessity, and power as well. Many popular Greek plays and myths contain several complexes and well described female characters. These goddesses themselves, partook the role of victim, heroine, and villain as it illustrated the diversity of characters in which women were portrayed and seen in both Ancient Greek society and mythology, allowing us to question “Were the women of Ancient Greek mythology equally represented as free and superior?” The creation of the Greek mythological universe, the creation of multi-gendered goddesses or deities, and the free and superior personalities accredited to women in Ancient Greek mythology to answer the question that women were fairly represented as powerful in Ancient Greek mythology.

Does gender affect how much authority one has over another? In what ways are the male gender superior in relation to “The Homeric Hymn to Demeter”? The hymn is often viewed as an explanation of how the seasons came to be. However, many overall themes can derive from the myth. It tells the story of Persephone, goddess of spring, taken against her will by Hades. Her grieving mother, Demeter, goes through great lengths to be reunited with her beloved daughter. Throughout the story a recurring theme can be seen through the divide in power between male and female.

The Rape of Persephone began as a simple story of peace and unchanging atmosphere. Demeter, goddess of the earth, agriculture and fertility in general, withheld her gifts from the earth in an act of isolation and depression once she lost Persephone. Before tragedy struck, she was loved by all for providing a climate for crops to flourish year round.Persephone held the sweetest disposition and was admired by all who knew her- including the God of the dead, Hades. However, unbenounced to her and her mother, her father Zeus had agreed to the turmoil that would soon ensue. As Persephone quested for the most enchanting flower, Hades, “the lord of the dark underworld, the king of the multitudinous dead, carried her off underneath the earth, driving a

Gender roles play an essential part in Homeric society. Book 1 sees Telemachos’ interaction with his mother Penelope that is again repeated in a few more scenes, which put emphasis on gender role in an ideal Homeric society. However, book 7 reveals an action that goes against the principles of gender role during the interaction between Odysseus and Arete. While there exists complexity in the ways women are treated, whether by them being confined or by exercising minimal power, the Homeric society ultimately remains a male dominant society.

Despite the similarities in both the Homeric Hymns to Demeter and Ovid Metamorphoses, the Roman literature incorporated new characters into the myth of the rape of Proserpine. In the Homeric Hymns to Demeter, the gods and goddesses that were involved in the abduction of Persephone were Gaia, Zeus, and Hades whereas in Ovid Metamorphoses, Venus, the goddess of sexuality and Cupid, the son of Venus and god of desire were introduced and involved in the scheme of the abduction of Proserpine.

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter addresses the fate of Persephone is in the hands of others and is removed from freedom of choice as she is portrayed as a minor. In effect, it is symbolic of the power family holds as the actions of her mother, her father Zeus and her husband Hades determine her path. The text accustoms nickname Persephone throughout the passage as the ‘Core’, the ‘Girl’, or ‘Virgin’. These nicknames assume her role as an underage girl not responsible for her life decisions. The Hymn begins with highlighting the role of the patriarch in a family Zeus as both the head of the family and the other gods who must defer to him as he arranges Hades to take Persephone against her will. As Demeter struggles with the mourn and loss of her child she begins to abandon her reproduction responsibilities and Persephone is ordered to go to the side of your dark robed mother. However, Hades persuades Persephone to eat pomegranate seeds, representing the loss of her innocence as it spiritually bounds her to Hades. Zeus accustomed to be acknowledges as the father of justice and good government rectifies the issue with the arrangement that Persephone remains with Hades however returns to her mother and the Gods for 2 thirds of the year. The Fate of Persephone portrays the common marriage cycle that pertained in Ancient Greece whereby it held the connotation of death for the maiden and submission and adaptation into their Fathers orders.

Chelsea started the discussion off with a quick summary of Foley’s essay. She mostly wrote about the main points, like “Demeter’s role in the Olympian struggle for cosmological power” and how Demeter’s role differs from Zeus’s role in the hymn. She also addresses the question saying that Demeter’s role in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter was the rebel because, despite Zeus wanting the gods and humans to be separate, Demeter shows that the gods and humans are “permanently connected.” She went on to say that Demeter’s reliance on humans during the hymn mirrored the gods reliance on humans and their sacrifices to the gods.

Women in ancient Greece had very few rights in comparison to male citizens. Women were unable to vote, own property, or inherit wealth. A woman’s place was in the home and her purpose in life was to rear children. Considering this limited role in society, we see a diverse cast of female characters in Greek mythology. We are presented with women that are powerful and warlike, or sexualized, submissive and emotionally unstable. In many myths, we encounter subversive behavior from women, suggesting, perhaps, the possibility of female empowerment. While produced in an ostensibly misogynistic and oppressive society, these myths consider the possibility for a collapse of male power and the patriarchal system. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey,

Have you ever wondered who would want to marry someone who is God of the Underworld? Well Persephone did. She was the first living visitor to the Underworld. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Persephone was the goddess of Spring. She was an innocent maiden, a virgin who loved to play at places where spring time was eternal. Hades wanted Persephone to himself. He had a plan of how he would make her his own. He thought to himself that he would steal her innocence and take her virginity. After that he would turn her into the goddess of the underworld. I would say I would call him evil now. Hades fell in love with Persephone, and wanted her as his bride. Zeus consented to the marriage. Zeus warned Hades the Demeter would never approve

Hades agrees to let Persephone return to Demeter, but before letting Persephone go, Hades gives Persephone the honey-sweet berry of the pomegranate to eat (HH372), so that Zeus has to command Persephone to return to the realms of dark for one third of a year, and the remaining two thirds with Demeter (HH464). Demeter clearly does not like the fact that Persephone has to spend one third of a year with Hades, but still, she chooses not to disobey the order from Zeus (HH471) and

Ideologies are crucial and meaningful in the culture. This myth has etiology because of the second religious rights that celebrated Demeter and Persephone which for any reason allowed happiness in the underworld, if we're Hercules were to die during the fight with Cerberus (54C.E:146-147). The myth provides the fact that it is true, based on a faith's structure.