The Greeks and Romans are two groups of people that were closely associated with each other. They both used legends of gods and mighty beings to explain the mysteries of the universe. A myth that has strong significance to both of them is the rape of Persephone or Prosperine as she was known to the Romans. The myths, while both referring to the same event, occur differently, over different periods of time and have slightly different outcomes. The key characters, Demeter (Ceres), Zeus (Jove), Persephone (Prosperine), and Hades (Pluto) are in both versions of the myth. Other characters that interact with the key characters such as Aphrodite (Venus) and Eros (Cupid) are only in one version of the myth. In both versions of the myth, Persephone is taken by Hades for different reasons and she is returned to Demeter for only parts of the year. Demeter is told who kidnapped her daughter by different people in both myths and different people explain to her why Hades is a fit husband and son-in-law. While both versions of the myth bear similarities, there are significant differences that make the myths stand apart.
There are many similarities between both versions of the rape of Persephone. In both, Hades kidnaps Persephone and makes her his queen. For ease of explanation, the Roman names of gods and the Greek names of gods will refer to separate entities. Hades kidnaps Persephone under direct orders from his brother Zeus (HHDem.36), whereas Pluto kidnaps Prosperine because his own love for her created by Cupid’s arrow (Met., p. 110). Zeus orders her kidnapping in order to expand his own domain. Cupid infatuates Pluto with Prosperine in order to expand his mother, Venus’ domain. With Hades married to Persephone, Zeus has ...
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...perine, and Hades and Persephone. Persephone and Prosperine eating the fruit are symbolic of the final feast at a wedding.
Prosperine and Persephone are both innocent characters who have their innocence stolen away by force. The thieves in question are none other than the darkest of all gods, the rulers of the underworlds. Although kidnapped through different methods, the characters that set the kidnappings in motion had similar motives, to expand their power to the third realm. This myth shows that the Greeks and Romans had a similar way of thinking but also viewed the same situations in a different light.
Works Cited
Homer. “Hymn to Demeter.” The Homeric Hymns. Trans. Susan C. Shelmerdine. Newburyport, MA: Focus, 2009. 33-38, 49-54. Print.
Ovid. “Book V.” Metamorphoses. Trans. A.D. Melville. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. 110-116. Print.
Heath, J. (1991). Diana's understanding of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Th classical Journal , 186 (3), 223-243.
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.
Nashville, TN: Broadman 1977. Ovid. Metamorphoses. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces.
In the poem Perseus the character is Medusa's victims. That is the only one that is different from the other story. The setting isn’t as different as the other story but it is the only setting it is Medusa's cave. The events are that Perseus sees Medusa's victims then Perseus wanted to kill or destroy Medusa. Finally, the conflict of the story is that Perseus has a thirst to kill, its a problem because he wants to kill innocent people.
Liveley, Genevieve. Ovid's Metamorphoses [Electronic Resource] : A Reader's Guide / Genevieve Liveley. n.p.: New York : Continuum, 2011., 2011. Mercyhurst University's Catalog. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.
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.
The main characters of each work are automatically associated with each other by their names, but they also share similar personalities and characteristics. Odysseus is a wily hero of the Trojan War who uses his deceptive...
In The Odyssey and Hymn to Demeter, both Penelope and Demeter love and miss their family members. When Demeter hears her daughter Persephone’s cry, “a sharp grief took hold of Demeter in
There are many similarities between the movie and story of the story of Perseus. One similarity is that Perseus goes to get the head of Medusa for a specific reason. Another similarity is that Perseus saves Andromeda from a monster in both versions of the story. A third similarity is that Perseus kills King Acrisius in both the movie and the Greek story. In both the movie Clash of the Titans and the original Greek story Perseus goes to obtain the head of Medusa, saves Andromeda and kills King Acrisius.
... participants did not wear crowns or eat pomegranate seeds that had touched the ground because Persephone had been stolen while gathering flowers, and because she had eaten the pomegranate seeds in the underworld (Foley, 72/Taylor 1995).
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
... those phaeacians who have helped Odysseus to return home. And for Calypso, she tried to offer Odysseus the immortal life and promising him to be his eternal wife, but Odysseus’s love for his wife Penelope pushes him to fight for his return
In a society in which social position was vital for having a successful family, the Greek and Roman families internally struggled with one another. This constant conflict stems from the father’s desire for control and the society’s high placement of power. In the Greek myth Demeter and Persephone, Zeus’s interest for his selfish gains prompts him to “ ( give ) Persephone to the Lord of Dead to become his queen “ ( Rosenberg Demeter 96). Zeus does not ask Persephone nor Demeter, his beloved wife, presenting that he does not show any opinions on their feelings. Although Zeus in reality just wanted to have a powerful family with the addition of Hades, his love for power overrode his love for his family and created a tension between the other members and him. In another Greek myth, Jason and the Golden Fleece, shows man’s love for supremacy through ...
Mandelbaum, Allen, trans. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. By Ovid. San Diego: Harcourt Brace & company, 2008.
In the movie, Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus, fights the monsters of the underworld to stop them from taking over the heavens and earth. The story according to the Greeks, Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus, goes on an adventure to recieve the head of Medusa to save his mom from marrying King Polydectes and along the way falls in love Princess Andromeda. Between the two stories there are similarities and differences in each version.