Persephone And Demeter Research Paper

Since early times Greeks have used myths to dictates and explains daily rituals of their lives. The myth of Persephone and Demeter is an example of the close, loving, unbreakable, bond between a mother and a daughter. The myth of Persephone and Demeter played important role in the lives of real women in the Greek world.

The story of Demeter (see Figure 1), goddess of the harvest and fertility, and her daughter Persephone (see Figure 2), queen of the underworld, that has inspired many myths. There are over twenty-two myths that can be accounted for telling the story of the mother and daughter duo. Thought to have been made between 650-550 BCE, the Homeric Hymns to Demeter and Persephone is one of a sequence of thirty-three Homeric Hymns, which

The fertile and prosperous earth turned into an infertile no man's waste land. The ground discharged no seed, for the brilliant Demeter kept it buried deep under the ground. She would have wrecked the entire mortal race by unleashing starvation on them. Hesitant to see the planet he shepherds and nourished wither away, Zeus begged Demeter to make the earth rich once more, so his mortal children could thrive and live in peace. In any case, she would not yield until the return of Persephone. At last, Zeus intervened on Demeter's sake and demanded Hades to return Persephone to her mother in her earthly home. Forever loyal to Zeus, Hades agreed to return her but not before he convinced Persephone into eating a pomegranate seed (see Figure 5). In (Figure 5) Hades is shown giving Persephone a seed that is assumed to be a pomegranate seed. This seed is what forged her fate in having to return to the underworld. This work of art is found on a vase. The act alone of eating in the underworld would forever tie Persephone to Hades. She would be bound to return to the underworld for those months out of the year. Every year when the time came for Persephone to return to be with her mother things would flourish and grow (see Figure 6). Things would grow because Demeter was happy to be reunited with her daughter and she would no longer be depressed. When she returned to be with Hades

Told from the point of view of the mother; it is more Demeter's story than Persephone's. In story Demeter seems to be human than divine because she expresses sadness and inconsolable at the loss of her daughter. She suffered tremendously because of the actions of different males in her life. At first Demeter is hesitate to set things right and get her daughter back. It is this feeling of defenselessness that sets off her suffering at the loss of Persephone, reflecting the anguish that probably has been felt by mortal moms who lost their young daughter to arranged marriages every day in ancient Greek culture. No wonder that many of the Greek woman felt like they could relate to the myth of Demeter and Persephone because it often reflected their own