Demeter’s Sacrifice: A Tale Of The Seasons. We frequently hear the cliche, “All is fair in love and war.” However, what good is the saying when it comes to repeatedly undermining and diminishing the consent of women? The Abduction of Persephone, an infamous Greek myth, tells the tale of heartbreak and deception amongst the gods, and how their reckless actions brought humanity to an age of darkness. As the story goes, Demeter was the ever-so-consequential goddess of harvest. Her contentment made crops flourish, while the slightest inconvenience would leave humans starved for days. Persephone, Demeter's daughter, was the one person she held near and dear. Undoubtedly the most precious item to her mother, Persephone was a charming, loving goddess in her own right. …show more content…
Her heart felt just as frigid and desolate as the chamber Hades kept her in. Ruined by anguish, Persephone refused to talk to the God of the Underworld and starved herself for days. Despite trying her best, Persephone was unable to combat her hunger. She caved in and ate four pomegranate seeds from the fruit that grew in the Underworld. Her fate was sealed. As per the Greek legend, anybody who ate food that grew in the Underworld would be forced to live there for the remainder of their lives. The goddess of harvest was distraught. After the abduction of her precious daughter, Demeter grieved and raged, refusing to attend to her duties. This brought about a dark age for humanity. Food that was once plentiful in Greece became scarce. Crops withered, the world turned to ice, and humans suffered a terrible famine. Upon seeing the state of Persephone’s mother, Zeus, king of the gods, was compelled to make a compromise between Demeter and Hades in their claims to Persephone. Zeus arranged for Persephone to spend four months with Hades as his queen, one for every pomegranate seed she ate. The other eight months, she would return to her
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.
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).
‘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)
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.
Anyone that eats or drinks in the underworld will be forced to stay there forever. Persephone eats the seeds knowing the rules and is subjected return to Hades and the underworld every year. With eating of the seeds, it is told that Persephone’s experienced her first encounter with sexuality and loss of maidenhood. The myth goes on to say, that every year when Persephone returns to Hades, Demeter makes the world dry and barren.
When she discovers Persephone’s fate from Helios, Demeter is bereaved. “But a more terrible and savage grief came into Demeter’s heart. Then, angered at the dark-clouded son of Cronos, she avoided the assembly of the gods and lofty Olympus.” (H. Dem. Demeter’s loss of Persephone and her subsequent grief directly parallel Penelope’s loss and sorrow for Odysseus.
“Demeter and Persephone” retold by Reg Harris is one of the ancient Greek mythology follows the pattern of the heroic monomyth. The story is based on Greek Mythology, Persephone was the goddess of flowers in spring, and Demeter is the goddess of the Earth, agriculture and fertility. While Hades is the God of the underworld. The hero’s journey of Persephone all begin when Hades kidnapped her to become his wife. There are three stages of a monomyth; separation, initiation, and return.
... 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).
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.
The parallels between the protagonists, Laura and Persephone, are quite evident. First and foremost, Laura’s mother, Mrs. Sheridan, stands as a counterpart for Demeter, Persephone’s mother. Mrs. Sheridan chose to pass down her black hat to Laura, the youngest of all of her children (Masfield 251). Laura and her mother share an intimate relationship that mirrors that of Persephone and Demeter. This display of affection expresses how comfortable mother and daughter are around each other. Mrs. Sheridan thinks highly of Laura, she sees her as a mature young lady. In comparison, when Persephone is whisked away to the Underworld without her consent, Demeter is overcome with grief and depression. Demeter’s life was centered on Persephone; she had the sensation that something was the matter. When he daughter vanished, Demeter lost her sense of direction. In addition, bot...
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
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.
She is considered to be one of the most peaceful Greek gods. Demeter not only was the goddess of the harvest, but she was also originally associated with the four seasons, due to her daughter Persephone. Persephone was stolen by Hades, the ruler of the underworld, because he wanted to make her his wife.
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
...caused by the grieving mother from the abduction Persephone/Proserpine. However, despite the similarities of the two literatures, Ovid incorporated and altered new elements and characters into the myth of the abduction of Persephone/Proserpine. Incorporation of Venus and Cupid greatly altered the similar story of the Greek and Roman literature, involving cupid’s arrow though Pluto’s heart, Venus not wanting another girl to remain a virgin, and her desire to extend her power. In conclusion, each argument that was discussed in the paper reinforced the invariant theme that was identified in both the Greek and Roman literature, the loss of the innocence of Persephone/Proserpine.