The myth of “Demeter” has transitions of mood similar to the transitions of the seasons. The myth of Demeter starts when Demeter's daughter, Persephone is captured by Hades into the Underworld because he fell in love with her. Demeter withheld harvest until Zeus returned her daughter and the world suffered. Eventually, Zeus returns Persephone from the Underworld, but since Persephone had eaten 6 pomegranate seeds in the underworld, Zeus determined that she would spend 6 months with her mother and 6 months with Hades. This is how seasons came to be. The shift from joy and delight to darkness and despair helps to illustrate the change in Demeter’s mood and how her emotions affect nature as a result.
The birth of Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, exemplifies the growth of nature in Spring and the joy it brings. In the beginning of the story, Persephone is born as lovely as a flower representing new growth in nature,“To Demeter, the grain goddess, was born as a daughter more fairer than any flower that grew.” Persephone represents the start of fair growth in spring and the beauty of it. The birth of Persephone brought significant joy to her mom, Demeter because she adored the beauty she brought to the garden. Demeter began to love Persephone more
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Persephone is allowed to be with her mother for 6 months of the year so, “Back to the flowery island of Sicily her mother brought her, and the peach trees and the almonds blossomed as she passed.” Even though Persephone wasn’t on earth for a long time, her mother still loved her as if she never left. The last sentence of the myth says, “Seedtime and harvest have never failed, and the cold, sleeping world always awakens and rejoices upon the return of the lovely Persephone.” Because Persephone returns to Sicily, Demeter knows that the one she loves will always return in
When Demeter allows her grief to overcome her after her daughter’s kidnapping, she indeed proves that she is a hindrance to men; however, at the same time, the state of toil the world is thrust into when she hides the seeds demonstrates the pivotal role a woman plays in man’s survival. The seeds withheld in the hymn prevent a harvest, but could the seed not also represent the fertility of a womb? The same concept is reflected in Pandora’s preservation of hope after opening the jar and releasing all the world’s strife. Granted, there wouldn’t have been a need for reproduction if Pandora hadn’t opened the jar to begin with, but the moment all of the sickness, labor, and misery was unleashed, Pandora made womankind a necessity to men. Through Demeter’s symbolic power over crops, and Pandora’s preservation of Hope, the two characters come even closer together in
Demeter the daughter of Cronus and Rhea was the goddess of harvest and fertility. The poet, Edith Hamilton, reveals the sorrow of a mother who has lost a child in the mythical "Demeter." The speaker laments on the consequences the natural cycles will receive due to this suffering Demeter is experiencing. Edith uses imagery of dry land and loss to express the agony a mother endures when losing a child. Furthermore, the speaker uses allusion to explain the consequences the society is suffering.
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Demeter’s grief is demonstrated through the concepts of divinity and humanity being symbolically contrasted with a woman’s purpose and social status as a mother or daughter. While “terrible” is a word we would expect to describe grief, “brutal” is interesting due to its violent connotations (Hymn to Demeter, 90). As a “brutal grief that seized the heart” it lends itself to a comparison with the violent seizing of Persephone, echoed here in Demeter’s emotions about her daughters’ capture, and perhaps denoting that the nature of what causes grief may be reflected in how it is felt (Hymn to Demeter, 90). The words “brutal” and “seized” also portrays grief itself as uncontrollable and forceful, even to the non-human Being described as “like four goddesses” while Demeter herself is divine and yet, unrecognisable as such seems to hark back to their youth and beauty as a divine gift, while Demeter, in her grief, appears to lose divine status (Hymn to Demeter,108, 94-95, 108).
‘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)
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,
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.
For as long as humans have roamed the Earth, misogyny has been an everyday part of life. Some countries have handled it better than others, but misogyny faces every community. In Euripides tragedy Medea, the main character Medea struggles with the misogynistic views constantly facing the society in which she resides. Euripides uses Medea to convey misogyny.
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.
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
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.
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 ...
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.
According to “Persephone, Demeter, and Hades” It starts off with “Persephone who is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture (farming). Hades who is her uncle, abducts Persephone while she was picking flowers with her companions in a meadow.” According to “Classical Mythology” it states “Hades had other plans for Persephone: he would steal her innocence and virginity and turn her into the dreaded goddess of the Underworld.” It also states how “Persephone was gathering flowers one day on a plain in Sicily. Hades appeared, thundering across the plain in his four-horse chariot. The god then jumped down upon Persephone, and scooped her up with one arm. After abducting her, he carries her off to the Underworld. Demeter who is Persephone’s mother soon came to retrieve her daughter, but was unable to find a trace of Persephone. She traveled to the corners of the earth, searching for nine full days and nights without ever stopping to eat, drink, bathe, or rest. Demeter was in a fury so in retaliation she destroyed lands, crops, and livestock as she complained to the loss of her daughter. She threatened to make the earth unproductive forever and thus destroy all of humankind if she did not find her
In this assignment, I will be considering the character of the goddess Demeter as she appears in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Demeter is motherly and nurturing, reasonable and respectful, and she can also be incredibly vengeful when angered. Firstly, The goddess of Demeter embodies the role of a mother, not only to her daughter Persephone, but to everyone. She is responsible for the growing of grain and provides food for mortals, providing nourishment for them as a mother would to her baby.
Two Sisters of Persephone, by Sylvia Plath, is a poem about Persephone, the Greek daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and how she feels about a deplorable deal with Hades, the god of the underworld. One side of Persephone is seen as miserable and irritable while the other side is seen as joyful and continually expresses her happiness. These emotions are a result of her agreement with Hades to become his wife and stay with him for half of a year. Plath is likely trying to inform readers about Persephone’s life in an expressive way. Plath is also attempting to make us feel sympathy for Persephone, believe that Persephone loathes this agreement, and understand Persephone’s story.