Myths of Fertility and the Underworld

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Myths of Fertility and the Underworld
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Inanna and Dumuzi

• Mesopotamian goddess of fertility
• Represents sexuality and fertility of earth and
  all living things including humans
• Mother Earth / Goddess myths common in
  agricultural societies.

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Isis and Osiris

• Osiris is the giver of laws and civilization
• Isis gives life, and teaches people agriculture
  and domestic tasks
• Osiris buried away.
• Isis searches for him
• When found Osiris is torn apart and reassembled
• Osiris comes back from the dead to impregnate Isis

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Cybele and Attis

• Goddess of hunting and fertility
• Cybele - Agdestis - Attis
• All men around her end up castrated
• Her priests (Galli) were castrated
• An orgiastic cult which shocked Romans, but found
  plentiful followers

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Aphrodite and Adonis

• A primarily hellenistic myth, modelled on the
  oriental mother goddess myths.
• Handsome Adonis is killed accidentally and
  Aphrodite mourns him
• The death of Adonis celebrated by women.

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Demeter and Persephone

• A more sophisticated version of the Goddess /
  Dead Lover motif
• Persephone ends up spending time in the
  underworld as the queen of the dead
• Wife of Pluto/Hades

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Eleusis, The Telesterion