The Seven Ages Of Man Retold By Edith Hamilton

(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”(Cartwright), 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 every day.

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

“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 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.

One of the most known stories of Hades is the abduction of his wife, Persephone. Everyone know the story about Persephone's abduction. What fewly know is that Zeus had order Hades to abduct her. The reason being; Zeus did not want Hades to be alone for his whole lifetime. Persephone’s mother, Demeter, was very upset when her daughter had gone missing.

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.

to spend time with her mother, Demeter goes back to growing and harvesting crops. In the end Persephone fell in love Hades over time, since she was the only person he felt the need to be kind and loving too, and she was able to spend time with her mother (“Persephone, Queen of the Underworld”).

One would normally assume that the main character in Macbeth would be the man of the same name. However, the Shakespearean play is filled with vital characters that each make their own contribution. A character that fits this mold is King Duncan, the once ruler of Scotland. Normally, an individual that dies early on and has few speaking roles isn’t valued, but Duncan plays a multitude of pivotal roles that serve to highlight his importance. He is the man that sets off the events of the story, the subject of the act that pushes Macbeth over the edge of sanity, and he embodies the depths humans take in order to make a goal a reality.

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.

In the Demeter and Persephone myth, Demeter is represented as a quite powerful goddess of nature, she possess the ability to bring down her full wrath and vengeance among mankind when she threats Zeus to get her daughter back. The Greeks recognized women’s ultimate connection to the earth and the power that arose from it however they also display significant amounts of an inferiority complex towards women. While the Greeks exemplify their fear towards the powerful Demeter they turn the tables and force their controlling views onto Persephone and she then becomes a rag doll and taken against her will. Persephone represents the beauty of nature and how the Greeks saw nature as two sided, both good and bad. Hades represented death and decay while Persephone represented vitality and life. However, they were threatened by woman’s connection nature and the power to create new life, similarly to Demeter’s connection with growing new crops both represent birth and regeneration. Even though Demeter did have control over whether or not mankind would starve it would not make a difference since Persephone still ate that pomegranate seed and was forced to go back to the underworld. This poses the idea that men had to control women as men had to control nature, similarly to the Norse Mythology. However the Greeks unlike the Norse recognized women’s power but are

     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 saying ‘the past will come back to haunt you’ has long been referenced but its reality is not always so evident. A person’s past experiences work in conjunction with time to shape one’s future thoughts and overall mindset. A past repeatedly coming up, haunting a present. Elaine Risley and Hester Prynne are no strangers to the past’s hauntings. Hawthorne and Atwood do a wonderful job of developing this contrast between what is now and what was then.

Tea With Jam And Dread is the twentieth book in the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series.

As he grows older, his style changes and he sees the real world as it really is as opposed to his fantasies he had when he was younger. A major development in the story is the actual act of becoming a man. Boys his age have a festival for many days that lead up to their circumcision, after which they become men. After this accomplishment, he still writes about his fears and his thoughts but he is much more wary to keep them to himself. And as he grows even older he moves away from home to attend Technical College for four years. These years change him very much and when he returns home he is much more of an adult and conducts himself in such a manner.

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.