Demeter and Persephone

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Demeter and Persephone

• The Earth Mother,
• The Bride of Death, and
• The Eleusinian Mysteries

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Demeter of Cnidus
Demeter was the goddess of agricultural
fertility, especially grains. She was the
daughter of Cronus and Rhea, sister of Zeus. She
was unmarried but sexual if only in that she
had a daughter, Persephone, whose father was
either Poseidon or Zeus. Her worship was
extremely popular all over the Greek and Roman
world. Roman name Ceres.
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Ancient Fertility Goddesses
Demeters name means earth mother (da/ga
earth, meter mother)
Abundant female figurines give evidence for
widespread worship of female deities in the
prehistoric Mediterranean
Demeter, whose worship and mythology are
concerned with both crop fertility and the
afterlife, may have evolved from such deities
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This Boiotian plate shows an early Classical
representation of Demeter

• Attributes
• throne
• torch
• crown
• vegetation (flowers and grain)
• landscape
• bird

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Sources The Homeric Hymn to Demeter

• By Homer
• 7th century BCE date
• reflects strong beliefs and commonly accepted
  mythology
• is allied with the cult at Eleusis (and elsewhere
  in Greece)
• Etiological explains the yearly cycle and the
  cult at Eleusis

4th century BCE marble of mourning Demeter
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Sources The Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Persephone is abducted by Hades, god of the dead,
to be his wife with Zeuss permission
Demeter searches for her in vain, bereft and
enraged. When she finds out what happened, she
wanders through the cities of humans, in
disguise At Eleusis, she becomes the nurse of
Demophon. She tries to make him immortal, but is
stopped by his mother, who doesnt
understand Demeter orders the people of Eleusis
to establish a cult in her honor. Meanwhile the
earth has become barren. Demeter insists that
Persephone be restored to her. Persephone spends
part of the year with her, part with her husband
Hades
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Sources The Homeric Hymn to Demeter (a closer
look)
Persephone is picking flowers with her friends (a
traditional image of a marriageable young
girl) Hades bursts out of the earth in a
four-horse chariot and kidnaps her
As long as the goddess could behold the earth,
starry heaven, the deep flowing sea full of fish,
the rays of the sun, and still hoped to see her
dear mother and the race of everlasting gods,
hope soothed her great heart . . .
Demeter hears Persephone cry out and looks for
her in vain. Hecate and Helius tell her that
Hades kidnapped Persephone with Zeuss
permission.
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Visual Images
O goddess, desist from your great lament you
should not thus bear an unrelenting anger to no
avail. Indeed Hades, the ruler over many, is not
an unseemly husband for your daughter . . .

• physical violence
• erotic (closeness, detail)
• face to face
• dedication by female worshipper

Hades abducting Persephone South Italian (from
Locri) Greek, 470-460 BCE
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Visual Images
This Roman wall painting shows the scene in the
eroticised light we are used to in a lot of
Greek-Roman mythology.
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Visual Images
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Visual Images
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Visual Images
Hades carries off Persephone as Hecate watches,
c. 340 BCE

• calm demeanor of all participants
• wedding-like presentation
• Persephone holds a scepter and wears a crown
• focus on Persephone

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Kore, the maiden, appears as the archetypal
virgin girl Transformed into queen and emblem
of the worlds returning life.
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Persephone, Queen of the Dead
Hades is the name of the Underworld itself, and
in myth, Hades is shown as an authoritative
god. But in cult, Persephone is just as important
if not more so. She is usually represented in
front of Hades when both are shown in cult
images Here she sits enthroned by herself.
Magna Graecia Cult image of Persephone as Queen
of the Underworld - ca. 460 BCE
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Persephone and Hades, in two votive plaques from
Eleusis, with attributes and worshippers . . .
above c. 470 BCE right c. 540 BCE
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Sources The Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Enraged at the gods disrespect, Demeter
withdraws from them and wanders in disguise among
humans. She comes to Eleusis, where Celeus
daughters find her at the well and bring her home
to nurse their baby brother.
For a long time she remained seated without a
sound, grieving she did not acknowledge anyone,
but without a smile, not touching food or drink,
she sat wasted with longing for her deep-bosomed
daughter --
Until Iambe in her wisdom resorted to many jokes
and jests and brought the holy lady around to
smile and laugh and bear a happy heart!
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Sources The Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Demeter tries to make the baby Demophon immortal
by burning him in a fire, but is interrupted by
his mother Metaneira

• Demeter as kourotrophos
• nurturing mother images are common in the
  Mediterranean
• Demeter is usually shown with the female infant
  Persephone
• The child in such images is usually male if
  anything, though

I could hold a newborn child in my arms and care
for him well . . .
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Mortals are ignorant and stupid who cannot
foresee the fate, both good and bad, that is in
store!
Now Demophon, like all mortals, must die in the
end. Demeter reveals her identity to the
terrified Metaneira.
Demeter tells Metaneira to establish a cult to
her at Eleusis. (Though all men must die,
Eleusis will give them hope for the afterlife.)
Metaneira offers wool to Demeter
Demeter enthroned at Eleusis
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Sources The Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Demeter caused human beings a most terrible and
devastating year on the fruitful land. The earth
would not send up a single sprout, for Demeter of
the lovely crown kept the seed covered.
Zeus orders Demeter to come back to Olympus and
let the crops grow. She refuses.
All the other gods beseech her. She refuses.
Finally Zeus tells Hades to send Persephone back.

Go, Persephone, to the side of your dark-robed
mother. . . While you are here with me you will
rule over all that lives and moves . . .
Bur Hades gives Persephone a pomegranate first,
and she eats some, thus cementing her connection
with her husband and the Underworld.
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Sources The Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Persephone emerges from the earth, and mother and
daughter ecstatically reunite.
Demeter discovers that Persephone ate the
pomegranate now she will have to spend part of
the year below with Hades. Still, Demeter makes
the earth flourish and joins the other gods in
Olympus a joyful homecoming. She further
establishes the Mysteries and chooses just kings
to spread the knowledge.
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The mother-daughter relationship of Demeter and
Persephone represents the life-affirming process
of yearly cycles and crop fertility
The Mysteries at Eleusis ally this cycle with the
hope for spiritual rebirth and a joyous afterlife
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Myth into Cult
Triptolemus was chosen by Demeter to spread the
arts of agriculture to new lands. He is a
double of Demophon, and often appears in cult
representations of Eleusis
Demeter gives a sprig of corn to the boy
Triptolemus, 5c BCE
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The Eleusinian Mysteries
Happy is the one of mortals on Earth who has
seen these things. But those who are uninitiated
into the holy rites and have no part never are
destined to a similar joy when they are dead in
the gloomy realms below.
The Eleusinian Mysteries were already being
celebrated in the 7th century BCE and continued
for at least 1000 years, until forcibly
eradicated by Christian emperors.
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The Eleusinian Mysteries
In mystery religions, individuals go through a
ritual of initiation and join a community of
worshippers who have shared this
experience. Often secret knowledge is shared, or
there is the expectation of spiritual rewards
reserved for members. Christianity is essentially
a mystery religion one which is open to all
comers, like Eleusis.
Persephone (Kore) as Hydranos - purifying a
youthful initiate fragment from a marble stele -
1st quarter of the 4th century B.C. h. 57cm.
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The Eleusinian Mysteries
The revelations of the Mysteries were so secret
that no one has ever described them in full. But
some things we know
There were two steps to full initiation The
Lesser Mysteries (in spring) and the Greater
Mysteries (9 days in September/ October). A
45-day holy truce to all wars was established for
the festival, and Greek-speaking people from all
over the world were invited to come. Festivities
alternated between Eleusis and Athens on the
fifth day there was a grand procession from
Athens to Eleusis.
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The Eleusinian Mysteries
Days 6 and seven involved fasting and
preparation, including drinking the mysterious
kykeon.
There were three parts to the initiation things
done (a dramatic reenactment), things seen (a
revelation of sacred objects), and things said
(??). The initiation chamber was a mysterious,
column-filled enclosure.
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The Eleusinian Mysteries
The dark enclosure of the initiation area, the
torched carried by participants, and perhaps the
kykeon contributed to a spiritual, maybe even
ecstatic atmosphere. The revelation may have been
very simple (an ear of grain?) but initiates were
primed to understant its spiritual significance.
Ninion pionaxpainting of Eleusinian Mysteries
fourth century BCE
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An initiation at the Eleusinian Mysteries
Happy is the one of mortals on Earth who has
seen these things. But those who are uninitiated
into the holy rites and have no part never are
destined to a similar joy when they are dead in
the gloomy realms below.
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Thesmophoria

• Schedule of festivities
• Day 1 Anodos (way up) procession carrying
  sacred items
• Day 2 Nesteia (fast) Demeters mourning, or
  recreation of prehistoric way of life
• Day 3 Kalligeneia (beautiful offspring)
  celebration with sacrifices and feasts

• 3-day festival in October/November
• held a central role in state cult
• celebrated by adult, married citizen women (or
  women who had been married)
• held on the Pnyx (where the all-male, political
  Assembly usually met) and displaced the Assembly
• the women camped there the whole time

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Thesmophoria
Before the ritual, piglets and phallic cakes were
buried on the site. During the festival, they
were removed (nicely rotted) to be mixed with
seed grain and ensure fertility of
crops. piglet was slang for vagina. Women
observed chastity just before and during the
festival, and celebrated with obscenity and
joking. Contradictory?
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Thesmophoria
Women in procession (Locri) Demeter(?) with a
piglet
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Thesmophoria vs. Eleusis
open male and female, slave and free, local and
foreign, as long as you could speak Greek
exclusive women only, and only married Athenian
citizen women
personal an individuals experience within a
community of worshippers
civic orientation allied with the citys
prosperity
focused on crops and fertility
focused on spiritual wisdom and life after death
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Sanctuaries
Demeter was a powerful goddess whose temples and
sanctuaries frequently merited the greatest
resources of their polis.
6-5c BCE temple of Demeter at Paestum
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Sanctuary of Demeter in Pergamum (Turkey), 3rd c.
BCE
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Local Traditions
6-c terracotta showing Demeter and Persephon as
identical seated images Maiden and Mother
partners from Corinth
Throughout Greece, Demeter and Kore (the Maiden)
are worshipped in almost every town of any
size Many towns have sanctuaries of Eleusinian
Demeter and local legends which describe how
Demeter revealed the mysteries to them, too.
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Local Traditions

• Phenea, in Arcadia The myth
• Demeter received hospitality from some Pheneans,
  and gave them lentils (but not beans, which are
  impure), and revealed the mysteries to them.
• The ritual
• Near the sanctuary two enormous stones are fitted
  together The Rock
• (most people from the area swear by the Rock)
• Inside the fitted top is a mask of Kidarian
  Demeter (Demeter of the headdress or dance)
• The priest wears the mask at the mystery once a
  year
• He flogs the statue of the god of the Underworld

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Local Traditions

• Mountain temenos of Black Demeter, Arcadia
• At some point Demeter took the form of a horse,
  and Poseidon mated with her (against her will?)
• Some believe that Poseidon was the father of
  Persephone by this mating.

• Demeter, furious with Poseidon, took refuge in a
  mountain cave, dressed in black. The earth was
  perishing.
• Pan, out hunting, found Demeter in the cave, The
  Fates persuaded her to put aside her grief.
• The local cult statue (in the mythic cave,
  surrounded by an oak grove, near a spring)looked
  like a woman with a horses head, with serpents
  sprouting from her headin a long tunic, with a
  dove in one hand and a dolphin in the other.

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Local Traditions
The statue was accidentally destroyed and the
cult fell into disuse. Then a famine came. The
Pythia gave an oracle that unless the cult was
revived and a new statue made, the people of the
area would revert to being acorn eaters,
consume themselves and become
child-eaters. They quickly made a bronze statue
and reinstituted the cult. By the 2nd century CE,
people came from all over for the cult, though
the new statue had also been destroyed. They left
sacrifices of the fruits of cultivated trees,
grapes, honeycomb, and greasy unspun wool. A
priestess and three city officials oversaw the
yearly community sacrifice
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Demeter the Great Goddess of Greece?
Demeter plays so small a role in Greek myth that
it is easy to lose sight of her importance in the
Greek world. Every podunk town in Greece had a
significant shrine to her, and a significant
festival, and often, a local tradition of
connection with the mysteries. Demeter was a
small part of storytelling but a big part of
physical and spiritual well being.
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Demeter, Persephone and Artemis
Kore (Persephone), The Maiden, is sometimes
associated in cult (though not in myth) with
Artemis, the other Maiden. The three women,
mother, bride and virgin, reflect life stages and
close relationship of women.
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finis