myth lecture

1. Demeter, Persephone and the Conquest
of Death
The myth of Demeter, Persephone, and
Hades is recounted in one of the richest
works of classical antiquity, the Homeric
Hymn to Demeter.
This myth lends itself to a variety of
interpretations and viewpoints, because it
deals with questions of gender roles,
sexuality, marriage customs, the relative
poer of deities, and human mortality.

2. This myth is one of the few that
has a clear connection with a
specific ritual, the Eleusinian
Mysteries, held at Eleusis, near
Athens.
It also is one of the most
transparently etiological of
surviving myths, because it
provides an explanation for the
existence of the seasons.

3. The basic story of the
abduction of Persephone
by Hades is fairly simple.
Demeter, goddess of
grain and agriculture, had
a daughter, Persephone.
Persephone’s father was
Zeus.

4. With Zeus’s permission, Hades seized
Persephone one day as she was
gathering flowers and took her to the
Underworld to be his wife.
Demeter wandered the world looking for
her daughter. During her wanderings, she
visited the town of Eleusis, near Athens.
Eventually, Demeter caused a famine by
refusing to let grain grow. Zeus ordered
Hades to return to Persephone so that
humankind would not starve to death.

5. However, Persephone had eaten a
pomegranate seed while she was in
Tartaros, which meant that she
could not leave Hades permanently.
This apparently reflects the idea
that eating in the Underworld mean
one ad to sta there.
Under Zeus’s mediation, Demeter
agreed to a compromise whereby
Persephone spends one-third of the
year in Hades and two-thirds with
her mother on Olympus.

6. Demeter’s search for her missing daughter and its aftermath give us a
window onto many aspects of ancient Greek life.
First, the story reflects marriage practices.
A marriage in Athens was a contract between the groom and the bride’s
father. Zeus gave Hades permission to take Persephone.
Marriage of an only daughter with no brothers to her uncle was perfectly
acceptable. Such a girl was called an epikleros.
Human marraige were patrilocal.
Human mothers and daughters woud have greatly restricted contact after
marriage. Thus, sorrow was a natural raction to such an arrangement.

7. The story reflects the human
experience of death and separation.
Olympians can’t or don’t go to
Tartaros. Hades and Hermes are
exception to this rule.
Demeter’s anguish is very close to what
a human feels at a loved one’s death.
This is the only time a god or goddess
feels this sort of mourning for another
deity.
A symbolic connection between death
and marriage is common in Greek
literature, in part a reflection of high
rates of maternal mortality.

8. The story paints a picture of the
gods’ attitude toward and
relationship with humans.
Humans are useful to the gods but
are not object of affection.
Zeus does not persuade Demeter to
life the famine because he loves
humans, or because human are
innocent, or for any other such
compassionate reason.
He want the famine lifted because
without humans, there will be no one
to give the gods sacrifices.

9. Along with the account of Persephone’s abduction, the Homeric Hymn to
Demeter also contains the story of Demeter’s visit to Metaneira, the Queen
of Eleusis.
Demeter wandered to Eleusis, where she met the daughters of Queen
Metaneira. Demeter was disguised as an old woman and was pitied. She
offered her services to the queen’s daughters as a nanny for their baby
brother, Demophoon.
.
Demophoon is described as a late-born
and much desire son; in a male-centered
culture, such a baby would
be doubly precious
Infant mortality was high; an old
woman who had many years of
experience in caring for infants and
children would be a logical choice as
a nanny.

10. Demeter sets out to make Demophoon immortal by anointing him with
ambrosia and laying him in the fire each night.
When Metaneira observes what Demeter is doing, she is horrified and
cries out in anguish.
Demeter becomes angry and throws the child to the ground, declaring that
she will no longer make him immortal.

11. Like the story of Persephone, the Demophoon
story offers a window into the nature of the
gods it describes and the society that created
them.
Demeter seems to be using Demophoon as a
Persephone-substitute. It is noteworthy that
she picks a male child.
Demeter is following the same pattern as Gaia
and Rheia before her, trying to enlist the help of
an infant male sone against an oppressive adult
father.
A male child will not be taken away from her
through marriage.

12. Demeter’s attempt does not
work. This is consistent with
the picture given by Hesiod
that the order of the universe
under Zeus is fixed. Where
Gaia and Rheia could
succeed, Demeter fails.
By trying to immortalize a
human child, Demeter is not
only providing a substitute
child for herself; she is also
redressing the balance
against Hades.

13. Finally, we again see the gods’ unconcern
with human emotion and their tendency to
see humans as useful, rather than as
object of affection.
Demeter does not seem to realize that if
she succeeds, she will inflict the same
anguish on Metaneira as Zeus inflicted
on her.
After Metaneira’s interference, Demeter
has no further interest in Demophoon.
Demeter apparently cannot simply start
again; once the immortalization process
has been interrupted, it is over.