The Homeric Hymn Of 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.

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.

Zeus’s role in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter has him being shown as someone who can be seen as thoughtless, but still highly regarded. While Zeus is being put in the spotlight for giving Persephone to his brother, Demeter is wreaking havoc on the mortal world trying to find Persephone with Hekate. Demeter is Persephone’s mother and Zeus has given her to Hades to be his wife. Zeus’s prominence is being displayed as he is shown to be an important figure in both Persephone’s rape and the Hymn itself, but he is also being showed in a light that allows the reader to see that even the almighty Zeus can make mistakes. Zeus is being shown as someone who does not think before acting, allowing him to give his own daughter to his brother as his wife without

“The Seven Ages of Man” begins as “All the world’s stage,/ And all the men and women merely players;/ They have their exits and their entrances,/ And one man in his time plays many parts,/His acts being seven ages (Shakespeare 1-5). The cycle of man beings as an infant in a nurse's arms and ends as an old decrepit person. The cycle of man is more than that, it is the cycle from birth to death for all of us. The story of “Demeter” is the cycle of her losing her daughter for four months every year and her missing her during those times. “Demeter did not refuse, poor comfort though it was that she must lost Persephone for four months every year and see her young loveliness go down to the world of the dead” (Hamilton 101-013). As Demeter’s daughter goes back to the underworld each year she stops allowing food to grow. Demeter’s cycle of seeing her daughter and losing her for the four months a year is also the cycle of the seasons, winter when Persephone is in the underworld and spring, fall and summer while she with

     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).

The Greek myth is how about how the seasons change and the poem is Demeter talking to Hades. Demeter is talking to Hades about her daughter Persephone and how he kidnapped her and cause the

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.

“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,

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

Innocence and maturation are two key aspects of the human experience. The innocent mind allows you to live with less doubt and worry but it leaves you vulnerable to manipulation and people taking advantage of you. Thomas Hart Benton’s Persephone portrays the myth of Persephone and Hades. The Rape of Persephone goes as so; Zeus gives Persephone to Hades to have as his wife. Persephone is out and about and Hades takes her to the Underworld. A heartbroken Demeter, goddess of harvest and agriculture, Persephone’s mom, refuses to grow anything until Persephone returns. Persephone is allowed back but Hades tricks her, making her unable to leave the underworld permanently. Demeter compromises that Persephone can be in the Underworld part of the year but that nothing will grow while her daughter is away, forcing Persephone’s return and creating the seasons. Taking a new turn on the ancient myth, Benton sets the painting in a rural scene and illustrates a bare Persephone lying leisurely, surrounded by greenery with Hades and his chariot lurking behind her. The juxtaposition between the foliage, Persephone’s nude figure, and the wrinkled Hades in the background creates an imbalance between maturation and sexuality with a blithe young woman caught in the middle. Overall, Benton’s Persephone accentuates the bliss of naivete coinciding with the overwhelming malevolence and sexualization present in the world.

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

In the Hymn to Demeter, the daughter of the goddess Demeter, Persephone, is kidnapped by the god of the

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.

Primarily, Plath illuminates her emphasis on contrast through the use of caesuras. The first caesura, “Two girls there are: within the house” (1), introduces the foil of Persephone’s dual personalities. This is significant as it elucidates the concept of there being two people within one character setting. In this case the two girls portrayed in the house allude to the existent impression that women are two-faced. Women are known to have two sides for they only ultimately show what is perceived as face-value, and preserve their other individual persona hidden. Similarly, Plath uses a second example of a caesura, “One sits; the other, without” (2), to clarify the erratic contrast amongst her two personalities. This is

In this essay we will be studying the Homeric Hymns, including the Hymn to Apollo, to Hermes, and to Aphrodite, with particular emphasis on the Hymn to Demeter. Although he Homeric Hymns are of unknown authorship and differ widely in date, the Hymns that we will be focused on, are generally thought to have been composed between the 7th and 5th centuries BC (citation). The Hymn to Demeter is unlike the other Homeric Hymns in that Demeter refuses to submit to Zeus, and channels her own authority through her gift of fertility; Demeter displays power as a Goddess through her motherhood, not in spite of it, and affronts the