The love of a mother and wife is a love like no other. Incomparable and powerful, the love of a mother and wife can break down barriers and wreak havoc to all those who stand in their path. In the myths, Persephone and Demeter and Isis and Osiris, the love of a wife and mother has both Demeter and Isis traveling to the ends of the Earth to find their significant loved ones. Both women experience great journeys to find their daughter and husband respectively in order to fuel a rebirth in Persephone and Osiris.
The myth of Persephone and Demeter parallels to the myth of other cultures, particularly Egyptian culture and its myth of Isis and Osiris. Like Hades, Osiris was thought to be the ruler of the underworld, and his wife Isis, a mother goddess. It is said that Osiris is betrayed and placed in a sarcophagus by his brother, Set, and Isis searches the world for his body. She discovered that the casket had been thrown into the Nile, where it floated down to Byblos in Syria. It washed up on shore and a sacred tree had grown up around the sarcophagus, enclosing Osiris’s body in its trunk. The king of Byblos saw the tree, cut it down, and posted it upon the trunk as a sacred pillar in his house as intended by Osiris’s brother.
Isis, who has heard word of her husband’s disappearance, travels to Byblos and disguises herself as an old, common woman who the queen found favor in. She is chosen by said queen to nurse the royal baby. Isis nurses the boy with her fingers and places him
Together, the two patriarchal figures conspire to kidnap and force Persephone to marry Hades. This is done behind Demeter’s back, intentionally removing her from her role as mother. Their actions directly diminish or outright remove the will of Demeter, a symbol of women in Greek culture (The Homeric Hymn to Demeter 29-30). This theme of a removal of female autonomy is mirrored later in the text when Hades tricks Persephone into eating pomegranate seeds. This action is a deliberate attempt to remove Persephone’s ability to choose for herself, condemning her to spend the winter months in the underworld with him. Not only does this subjugate Persephone to Hades’ will, but it also lends justification to the subjugation of women by men (372-400). By removing the sovereignty of the female mind, the myth promotes male authority.
After reading the myth of Persephone, New myth times sent in a team of journalists to interview the young goddess.
Osiris (shown above) the god of the afterlife, or underworld, Osiris was the King of Egypt, murdered by his brother Seth and then resurrected by his sister/ wife Isis as the king of the dead, a king from which every Egyptian hoped to join in the afterlife. Osiris was a god originally connected with fertility, he is known primarily through the story of his death, murdered by his brother Seth over the jealousy of his throne, and
Some Greek deities can also be identified with Egyptian ones, in particular the Greek Dionysus and the Egyptian Osiris. They both preside over fertility, in addition to their other duties. Another similarity is that they are both twice-born. Dionysus was born first from Semele’s womb and then later from Zeus's thigh. Osiris was the son of Geb and Nut and was resurrected by Isis after being murdered by Set. (Livingston, Greek and Egyptian Religious Parallels) Other Gods and Goddesses that are similar include Horus and Apollo, Isis and Demeter, Hathor and Aphrodite, Neith and Athena and Bast and Artemis. (FOOTNOTE GREEK AND EGYPTIAN RELIGIOUS PARALLELS) There appears to be an overlap between many deities in Greek and Egyptian mythologies.
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.
Geb’s son, Osiris, was the god of afterlife. He was murdered by his own brother Seth, which they think was the cause of the droughts, but his miraculous rebirth caused the flooding of the Nile valley. He was married to his sister Isis and had a son named Horus. Osiris also had another sister, Nephthys. It was said that Osiris was the one who brought civilization to the ancient Egyptian. He left and showed the Egyptians many things, but while he was gone Seth planned to kill him. His plan worked, he killed Osiris and threw him into the Nile River, but Isis found his body only to let Seth rip it into 14 pieces. Isis and Nephthys worked together and found every piece except one, which was eaten by the Nile fish. Isis recovered him just long enough to have Horus, which would be the future king of Egypt.
“Go in peace” she replied, “and be happy in your daughter; I have lost mine.” (Bulfinch’s Mythology, pg 54, para 1). The farmer and his daughter sat with Demeter and cried with her. They invited her to stay for the night and introduced her to the sick son of the farmer. Demeter healed the boy and tried to make him immortal, but was stopped by the farmer’s wife. Demeter left the farm still searching for Persephone. Demeter came across a river nymph that knew what happened to Persephone. She dared not to tell, because she fears Hades. The nymph did give Demeter the girdle that Persephone dropped. Demeter sure her daughter was dead blamed the earth. Blaming the earth Demeter stopped fertilizing the land. The cattle died, the crops weren’t growing, there was too much sun and rain. Seeing this the nymph told the goddess what she saw. The goddess Demeter heard this and rode her chariot to meet Zeus. Zeus agreed to help,
Innocence, desire, and obsession are all facets in the story of Persephone and Hades. The arranged abduction broke a divine mother’s heart enough to affect the course of life on Earth forever. Persephone, or commonly called Kore meaning “the maiden,” was sought after by Hades, ruler of the underworld (Persephone 1). Hades enlisted Zeus’s help to abduct his daughter with Demeter, Persephone. Those events would become known as The Abduction of Persephone. This myth would become one of the most iconic and widely known in Greek history because it would explain one of earth’s most important cycles, reinforce the idea that the gods and goddesses have control of the earth, and fostered an agrarian cult’s religious rites.
In Ovid Metamorphoses, the Roman literature described the ruthless act of Pluto of rape, to seize and carry away Proserpine without the consent of Ceres and in parallel in the Homeric Hymns of Demeter; Persephone was seized and carried away by Hades without the consent of Demeter. The invariant theme that was identified in both the Greek and Roman literature was the loss of innocence of Persephone/Proserpine. Despite the various differences the story was presented, it reinforced the innocence that was stolen from the god of the underworld, Hades or also known as Pluto. Throughout this paper, it will discuss the similar characteristics of the two myths such as the motive that led and encouraged the god of the underworld to kidnap
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.
(AGG)The greek goddess Demeter had a daughter,Persephone, who was kidnapped by Hades,she was brought to the underworld, “Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and brought down to the underworld. Demeter searched desperately everywhere for the maiden but could not find her”,Demeter’s loss of her daughter gave her a goal but she was impacted and she became sad because she did not have her daughter by her side everyday.
One day Hades and Persephone had a boy ,named Conselius. As Conselius grew up he didn't feel like he belonged in the underworld. Every six months his mother would go away to the upper world.Now Conselius always wondered where Persephone,his mother used to go for six months of the year.So one day he followed his mother to the upper world. As he stepped into the bright fields,the beauty caught his attention.The upper world also called Earth was full of with bright flowers,The sun shined upon everyone with its happy smile.There were colors he had never seen before.He saw sparkling rainbows and clean water.A beautiful apple tree caught his eye. Conselius ran to the apple tree plucking a beautiful red apple,and chomped on it. Conselius knew the upper world was where he belonged,but also knew his father was waiting for him. Conselius knew his father would let him stay in the upper world.
This passage is related to the myth of Persephone because it also involves two people who want different things. Similarly, Atticus wants his kids to have a happy independent childhood and not dictate how they should behave, but Aunt Alexandra has a different opinion for her niece and nephew. Aunt Alexandra wants her niece and nephew to be a little lady and gentleman. In the myth Persephone two gods, Demeter and Hades, both wanted Persephone to live with them. Persephone was Demeter’s daughter and Persephone was Hades’ wife.
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.