When Hades kidnaps Persephone, Demeter goes down to the Earth, disguised as an old woman. She is taken in by a woman named Metaneira. She decides to make Metaneira’s son immortal, in exchange for the construction of a temple. Demeter sits in a temple as the Earth freezes, threatening mankind’s extinction. Zeus sends Hermes to the Underworld and orders Hades to send Persephone back. However, Hades gives Persephone a pomegranate seed, which forces Persephone to return to Hades for four months of every year. During these four months, Demeter grieves and the Earth goes through winter.
Throughout history, many ancient cultures created stories involving great heroes and gods to explain certain aspects of their daily lives. These stories would form an important part of the culture’s religion and are referred to today as mythology. One great hero from ancient Greek mythology is Perseus. According to both ancient standards and today’s standards, Perseus would be seen as a great hero. The many actions that Perseus is said to have done in his adventures prove his heroism.
To continue, another important funeral oration is by Lysias, speech writer in Ancient Greece. The speech intends to re-count the Athenians who died in the Corinthian war. Most of these speeches were usually delivered in Athens. The Corinthian War occurred from 395 BC to 387 BC, setting Sparta against an alliance of the allied states of, Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos, who were originally supported by Persia. The cause of the war was a local fight in northwest Greece in which Thebes and Sparta to interfered. However, the real cause that led to the war was the opposition concerning Sparta triggered by that city's colonialism in central along with northern Greece. Lysias starts out by saying that he believes that people who are present at
In two amazing poems, both poets make allusions to the myth of Persephone. The myth of Persephone tells of her kidnap by Hades, the God of the Underworld. She is then fated to spend one-third of the year in the underworld as Hades’ bride because she consumed pomegranate seeds. This myth appears frequently as a metaphor not only in “The Pomegranate” and “The Bistro Styx,” but in many others as well. In both poems, the myth of Persephone is used to symbolize the mother-daughter relationships.
Hades fell in love with Demeter’s daughter, Persephone. Persephone loved to live about in the fields that her mother made. Hades wanted Persephone as his bride. Zeus, the father of Persephone, did not deny but warned that Demeter would be furious. He captured her and forced her to stay in the underworld. To capture her, he arose from the depth with a chariot of horses. He stole her from the flowery field and took her to a dungeon of darkness. Persephone gained the name “core”. This was symbolizing her loss of girlhood. Demeter went looking for her daughter. She could not find her, and she almost came to the extent of barring the whole earth of the vegetation. Zeus could not let this happen, so he sent for Persephone to be received. Persephone would not eat, but Hades would not let her leave until she ate at least one thing. Hades gave her a forbidden fruit. Any fruit that was to be eaten in the underworld, the eater of that fruit must stay in the underworld. Her eating the fruit meant she had to stay in the underworld forever. A compromise was made between Demeter and Hades. Four months of the year Persephone had to stay with Hades and be the queen of the underworld. During this time the Greeks entered a cold and barren time called winter. The other eight months, Persephone spent her year with Demeter. During this time crops and vegetation would be abundant (Peterson and Dunworth 143). These were the times of spring and summer. When it was time for Persephone to rule the underworld, she was in charge of watching the special prisoners. The prisoners were the defeated titans (Calame, 266).
The story of Medusa and Perseus is known as one of the top thriller tales in Greek Mythology. To begin, Medusa is one of three sisters, Sthenno and Euryale. However, she is the only mortal one. Originally, Medusa had golden, long, beautiful hair. She was Athena’s Priestess and swore to a celibate life. Later on, Medusa met Poseidon, fell in love with him and completely forgot about her vows to Athena. The Goddess Athena was so infuriated that she turned Medusa into a hideous looking monster. Her golden locks became venomous snakes and her face became so grotesque that any God or immortal to look into her eyes would become a statue of stone. Athena did this so Medusa would not attract any man. The same came for her sisters because Poseidon
‘Demeter’ is a poem about the story of Demeter. "Demeter was the goddess of harvest and Persephone was the goddess of springtime. Hades, the lord of the underworld, kidnapped Persephone. Hades fell in love with Persephone and asked Zeus to help him kidnap her so she could become his bride. The crops started to wilt and humans couldn't grow crops anymore. However Zeus told Hermes to bring back Persephone and to make sure she didn't eat any food from the Underworld. Hermes fetched Persephone. But before she left, Hades convinced her to eat 6 pomegranate seeds. Hermes made a compromise and said Persephone had to stay in the Underworld as Hades wife for six months. That's why there are seasons. In the fall and winter, Persephone goes down into the Underworld and Demeter mourns. In the summer and spring, she comes back and Demeter rejoices. " (1)
Demeter is the Greek goddess of corn, wheat, and the harvest, as well as marriage, fertility, and child birth. She is the daughter of the titans Cronus and Rhea. She is the mother of Persephone, whose father is Zeus. Demeter is one of the twelve major deities of the Greek pantheon, the others being Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, Hermes, and Hestia, who was later replaced by Dionysus. Demeter is the sister of Hestia, Hera, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.
In the Hymn to Demeter, the rape of Persephone starts with her picking flowers and she comes across the hundred headed narcissus which "Gaia made grow as a trick for the blushing maiden" (HHDem. 8-9). This trick is set into motion by Zeus, but since Gaia plays the role of protecting the youngest generation, this is a foreshadowing that Persephone's ordeal will be for a good cause. Hades moves in to take Persephone when the grounds gapes open and she begins to cry aloud. Demeter hears her daughters screams but she is powerless against Hades, hence the separation of distance between them. The grief stricken Demeter goes through an experience which plays out the role of a symbolic death. this is because the relationship between the mother and daughter ends at a wedding.
Ten missed phone calls from your mother. The first thoughts running through almost anyone’s mind: panic and fright. These are thoughts that many people have because mothers can be scary. Women in general can be scary; they are seen as more emotional, caring, and passionate than men. Most mothers are seen as great role models because of this. The fact that they only want their children to grow up happy and healthy is a good thing. In society, this is seen as normal female behavior and is expected. However, because of this behavior, Greek society believed that women, especially mothers, were not fit to be rulers or to have strong power because of their emotional instability, their passion, and their deceitfulness. The Hymn to Demeter and Oresteia,
Persephone, Hades’ wife, is the goddess of spring and the Queen of the underworld. She resides in the underworld for only six months of the year due to Hades kidnapping her. She was told not to eat anything for then she would have to remain in the underworld. While in the underworld, Persephone consumed six pomegranate seeds. Her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture, threw a fit. Demeter complained to her brother Zeus. To be fair, Zeus stated that Persephone would have to remain in the underworld one month per seed each year. So, Persephone now resides in the underworld six months out of every year.
A ritual is usually a ceremony that includes a series of actions that are performed according to a certain order. Most of the time rituals originate from myths. In Athens, several people participated in a group of events known as The Eleusinian Mysteries, hoping for a fulfilling and great afterlife. The Eleusinian Mysteries, a cult centered on a myth of Persephone's journey to and from the underworld, were celebrated from the eighth century B.C to the Hellenistic period. To the ancient Greeks, myths had a purpose and that was to basically explain the world around them. The myth and the mysteries itself were a symbol of life, death, and rebirth. The mysteries were created from the story and it was their way of demonstrating their honor and belief of the two goddesses. Events that occurred during the Eleusinian Mysteries symbolized a part of the myth of Demeter and Persephone, which is proof that the rituals practiced are associated with the myth.
The death of Pericles was a significant event in the course of the Peloponnesian War; however, even without Pericles' leadership the Athenian Assembly had countless opportunities to prevent their loss and chose not to take them. The fickleness and inefficiency of democracy ('the mob') allowed the Athenians to be easily influenced and therefore electing populists such as Cleon, Lysicles and Hyperbolus into dominant leadership roles. Election, via democratic means, of such populists, meant that the Athenians would take a much more aggressive approach to the war and therefore abandon the policies that Pericles had previously established. So in turn, democracy the institution for which the Athenians fought tirelessly to protect, rather than the death of Pericles, ironically became the dominant factor influencing the final outcome of this Ancient Greek civil war.
Numerous lively heroes ventured into Persephone’s clutches with the hopes of beating death, yet she explains that despite their god-like strength they too will die. Two such heroes were Theseus and Pirithous. When Theseus and Pirithous attempted to kidnap the Queen of the Underworld she enticed them to sit in the chair of forgetfulness where their flesh fused to the cushions and refused to relinquish them (Taylor 268). Persephone appears many times to offer food, drink, or rest to weary heroes in the underworld in order to trap them there forever in the same manner that Hades tricked her (Taylor, 268). Because of Persephone and Hades’ antics many people hated them as gods, but Persephone’s cruelty serves as a reminder that while death is necessary it is not always kind. In the same manner that Persephone accepted her fate, mortals must also accept their own imminent
In Ovid Metamorphoses, the Roman literature described the ruthless act of Pluto of rape, to seize and carry away Proserpine without the consent of Ceres and in parallel in the Homeric Hymns of Demeter; Persephone was seized and carried away by Hades without the consent of Demeter. The invariant theme that was identified in both the Greek and Roman literature was the loss of innocence of Persephone/Proserpine. Despite the various differences the story was presented, it reinforced the innocence that was stolen from the god of the underworld, Hades or also known as Pluto. Throughout this paper, it will discuss the similar characteristics of the two myths such as the motive that led and encouraged the god of the underworld to kidnap Persephone/Proserpine, and the aftermath caused by the grief of the mother of the abducted Persephone/Proserpine. The paper will also discuss the differences between the two literatures, such as the involvement of other gods and goddesses.