DEMETER
DEMETER
Homeric Hymn to Demeter
(Note the typo on p.101: "Be gracious and pity men" should read "Be gracious and pity me.")
The Hymn underlines the power of Demeter, the goddess of grain and harvest. When faced with good evidence that her daughter has been kidnapped with the complicity of Zeus, she wields her power over harvests to threaten the earth with famine. The prospect of such a disaster brings the gods to negotiate with her for the return of her daughter, if only for occasional visits, to the upper world.
The Hymn to Demeter provides an etiology of the seasons, why the spring is a time of new life and why the fall marks the harvest and the return of Hades's consort to share rule in the Underworld.
As you read this Hymn notice how the poet seeks to show that travel from the earth to the Underworld is not difficult, but once one has descended below, return is almost impossible. For Persephone to be able to come back to the upper world notice how profoundly the natural order must be affected. Gods wanted nothing to do with the realm of Hades; exceptionally does a hero ever succeed in returning once he gone below.
Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, the brother of Hades. How does this fact shed light on Hades's actions and on the predicament of Demeter?
Hades is referred to as "Receiver of Many," in Greek Polydectes. The ancient Greeks also referred to the dead as "the majority," and compared with the number of those living at any given time, the souls of the dead are always more numerous. Hades is also called the one with "so many names." Why do you suppose among gods and goddesses who typically are addressed by different names, Hades would be recognized as the god with an exceptional number of names? How many different words and expressions can you think of for the act of dying? Why do we have so many?
What aspects of Hades's treatment of Persephone suggest that he has something in mind other than sexual gratification? What is Hades trying to achieve by taking Persephone? What is to be the position of Persephone in the underworld?
Why does Demeter leave Olympus for life among mortals?
What is the object of Demeter's treatment of the infant Demophoon? What is the infant's diet? If she had completed her care of the infant, what would have been the impact on Hades?
What does Hades do to prevent Persephone from leaving the underworld forever? Is it achieved by force? Why is so much made out of Persephone's inability to return to earth? What does her difficulty suggest about the possibilities of the rest of us on earth, who don't have the benefit of an immortal parent, or two?
How does Demeter eventually compel Zeus to press Hades to let Persephone leave the underworld?
What arrangements are made to enable Persephone to divide her time between the underworld and the world of the living?
Some scholars see elements of modern marriage rites in the abduction of Persephone by Hades. The groom obtains approval from the bride's father before proceeding. The bride is taken from her own home to the home of the bridegroom. The eating of food in the groom's home seals the bride's commitment to the new family. Of course, the pain of separation of mother and daughter/bride is great. Can you think of other elements from marriage rites that may be represented in some form in the Hymn?
And in the Renaissance . . . .
The Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini, in one of his paintings of the
Madonna and Child, portrays Christ with a pomegranate in his hand. In the
Hymn to Demeter the pomegranate represents the power that compels
Persephone to return to the world of the dead after her stay for a season
in the daylight. Some paintings of the Madonna and Child show the infant
with a small cross, another token of death.
Why is a reminder of death fitting in a portrayal of Christ as an infant?
How are the terms of Persephone's return to the Underworld like those of Christ's death?
During antiquity and the Middle Ages many Christians were sceptical of the benefits of pagan culture, and viewed the stories of Greek gods, with their violence and promiscuity, as a serious threat to spiritual values and true religion. What does Bellini's use of a pagan symbol for a Christian purpose suggest about his attitude toward the classical culture of ancient Greece and Rome?
Revised: 1 October 1997
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