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The Homeric Hymn To Demeter

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On a reading of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter which regards Persephone, Demeter's daughter, as being representative of spring, the myth of Persephone's kidnapping by Hades can be interpreted as allegorical of the changing of the seasons. In particular, Persephone can be considered as a metaphor for the planting of seeds. While she is kept underground in the realm of Hades during the winter, no crops are grown and the land is barren. However, as the winter transitions into the spring Persephone emerges from the underworld, much like a budding plant, and reunites with her mother and the other Olympian gods and goddesses above ground. When Persephone is relegated to live with Hades she falls into a depression and becomes, figuratively speaking, …show more content…

Seeds are already associated with the concept of birth, and characters are regularly mentioned as having come from their father's “seed” (HH 84-85). Like Persephone, Keleos's daughters are described in naturalistic language, their youth being linked to flowers and other symbols of springtime as well. (HH 108, 175-76). In a different context, seeds are also representative of death and the loss of life that happens when the seasons change to winter. When Hades feeds Persephone pomegranate seeds before she is allowed to visit Demeter above ground, she seals her fate to be confined to the underworld until springtime returns, like a seed waiting through winter until it can be harvested again (HH 371-74). Finally, if the hymn is understood as an allegory for the seasons it serves the purpose of providing an explanation for why spring is a time of celebration. When Demeter is joined each year by Persephone, plants and crops awaken from their dormancy and both mortals and immortals are satisfied, the former for receiving sustenance and the latter for receiving sacrifices. The “gloom” of winter is cast aside and the world begins to come back to life in preparation for the return of the goddess to her mother and her ascension from the realm of the dead to that of the living (HH

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Spring is universally symbolic for rebirth. Yet Edna St. Vincent Millay, takes a very different perspective in her view in her poem “Spring”. Millay finds the season redundant and agitating. By using negative diction and imagery her message that the beauty of nature can't compensate for the existence of death is extremely clear.

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Though he was ignorant of it, Hades was experiencing joy for the first time in thousands of years. He ran, resembling a thrilled infant, toward the Olympian gardens, utterly ignoring his chariot and its horses. After a quarter of an hour, the gods of the underworld and the sky arrived at the gardens, hiding behind a shrub. There, Hades’ love was rolling around in the fields with her companions. Hades fixated your eyes her, so childlike and gorgeous.

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Hades was not well liked by the people of Greece, so much so that he did not get his own stories. He is most well known from the story of how Persephone, his wife, was kidnapped. A main reason for him being disliked is that he was seen as being extremely bitter at the fact that he was forced to rule the underworld. This bitterness was conveyed explicitly in how he ruled, as he was viewed as being cruel, ruthless, and violent (Cotterell 161). However, as Cotterell explains, the underworld was not only a place of punishment.

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No one seemed to care about how Demeter felt about the situation until she withheld fertility to the earth resulting in the the mortals becoming unable to give sacrifice to the immortals. This bothered Zeus, so he commanded Hermes to bring Persephone to Demeter. When Demeter was finally reunited with Persephone, she found out that Persephone had eaten food from the underworld which meant that Persephone was only able to spend 8 months on Olympus and 4 months in the underworld. Traditionally women would not have been able to do this, but Demeter was a powerful god and able to use her power to achieve her goal. Even so, Demeter being able to get Persephone back even for only 8 months out of the year was very uncharacteristic of how arranged marriage worked in Greece as women were rarely given power in that situation.

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Iphigenia was tricked by her father by thinking she was going to marry Achilles and ultimately sacrificed her; her gullibility lead to her death.   Another example of this in goddesses is the kidnapping of Persephone which Hades tricked her to eat 6 pomegranate seeds which caused her to remain in the underworld for 6 months. Moreover, when Metis was tricked by Zeus into entering her stomach which ultimately she was trapped inside there. Women’s foolishness is seen throughout Greek mythology, their foolishness ultimately leads them to their

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The myth of Ceres and Proserpina makes me question if the meanings of Spring (love, hope, youth and growth) and Summer (freedom and growth for people as they search for love, self-acceptance and their identities) represents how Proserpina lives within the terrestrial world whereas the meaning of Fall (ripeness, change, maturity, beauty, sadness or preparing for an end or decline) and Winter (death, old age, pain, loneliness, despair or an end) represent how Proserpina lives within the underworld because she is in the terrestrial world during Spring and Summer and in the under world during Fall and Winter. Come to think of it, maybe the meanings of the seasons are flipped around in certain ways to fit this myth of Ceres and Proserpina being in the terrestrial world for six months and the underworld for six months. While Proserpina is in the terrestrial world during Spring and Summer she lives within the words of youth, growth, and freedom. During Spring and Summer, she begins to grow again because she was dead in the underworld, making her become somewhat of a youth again within her Mother’s eyes. She is a youth again within her Mother’s eyes because people believe that when you die in the past world, you reincarnate into a baby (or something similar) and begin your life again.

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He felt he needed a companion down there, so he took Persephone as his wife. He fed her six pomegranate seeds and her mom got angry. The mom prevented anything from growing for six months of the year before she could take Persephone back. Zeus also liked her. They came to the compromise to have Zeus take her for ⅓ of the year, her mom take her for ⅓ of the year, and Hades take

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Perseus' experience brought forth many lessons as well nature's control of life and an act of

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She ate the pomegranate seeds and had to remain there for six months a year and then she would get to go back home. The seasons were developed off of this myth. Fall was because Persephone was getting ready to back to the Underworld, winter was Persephone being in the Underworld, and spring came because Persephone was starting to come back to Earth. Summer was the warmest time because Persephone was back on Earth with her mother. The process would just

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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.

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They adapted to their religious beliefs the 12 gods of Olympus tough they changed their original names Aphrodite became Venus. Apollo remained Apollo Ares became Mars Artemis became Diana Athena became Minerva Demeter became Ceres Hades became Pluto Hephaistos became Vulcan Hera became Juno Hermes became Mercury Hestia became Vesta Persephone became Proserpina Poseidon became Neptune Zeus became Jupiter They adapted their architecture temples made from marble with the classical design The more common are Ionian the Corinthian and the Doric architecture styles they also adapted the Greek theatron , the theatre which is the usual half circle known as Amphitheatre . More important they adapted the Euboea variation of the Greek alphabet that

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In this tale Persephone was utterly depressed and while most woman would love to be a queen, Persephone was ruling over a kingdom she hated with everything within her. Due to Persephone being in the underworld with Hades for six months Persephone’s mother Demeter goddess of harvest punished the world with unbarring crops and what we now know as Winter. Crosland explained that, “[Hades] and Demeter agree that Persephone should spend spring and summer on earth and the other two seasons in Hades as queen” (31). This is where the seasons derive from.

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Demeter, she with the beautiful garlands in her hair, kept them (the seeds) covered underground,” (The Homeric Hymns 306).The strength and determination of Demeter and Persephone collectively demonstrate helps to overthrow the male dominance in this myth. Crafting a deal with Zeus, Demeter and Persephone achieve their goal and finally reunite. Throughout history, women have been used to gain power, please individuals, and finish trade deals- the Homeric Hymn to Demeter is absolutely no omission from this. Even though the portrayal of women in this myth are grim, it does bring light and legitimates the unfair power contrast between men and women of the

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She was mostly goddess of agriculture. The Greeks believed she was the reason behind the fertility and growth of plants and the famine. Persephone, daughter of Demeter, was kidnapped by Hades and that had caused famine. He believed he needed someone to accompany him in the underworld. As stated by the book, Greek Mythology by Simone Payment,”After the famine, Demeter and Persephone had an agreement.

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The poem describes the process of spring, so natrually the speaer notes details of spring such as the sun shining on their neck, the spikes of the crocus blooming, and the pleasant smell of the earth. However, the poem twists the archetype of spring by having this period of rebith remind the speaker of death. The speaker sees the life that springs brings as insignificant. The speaker acknowledges the beauty spring brings is not enough to quiet their thoughts on death, the speaker can only note how the ground is filled with the brains of men eaten by maggots, and how life itself is nothing. The speaker sees life as an empty cup, and they are not pacified by the life and joy springs brings as they remian unfulfilled.

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