Classics 10: Chapter 10 Myths of Fertility: Demeter and Related MythsFirst ExamMyths of FertilityFertility Myth ThemesDemeterThe Homeric Hymn to DemeterGian Lorenzo Bernini, Rape of Proserpina, 1622Slide 8Slide 9The Homeric Hymn to HermesSlide 11Interpreting the Homeric Hymn to DemeterInterpreting the Homeric Hymn to DemeterSlide 14Slide 15II. The Eleusinian MysteriesThe Eleusinian MysteriesWhat Might Have HappenedSlide 19III. Inanna and DumuziThe Price of Inanna’s ReturnInterpreting Inanna and DumuziOther Near Eastern ParallelsPhrygian Cybelê and AttisSlide 25Summary: Fertility Myth ThemesClassics 10: Chapter 10Myths of Fertility:Demeter and Related MythsI. Demeter and PersephoneII. The Eleusinian MysteriesIII. Inanna and Dumuzi (the Near Eastern Parallel)At left, The Rape of Proserpina [Persephone], Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1622First Exam•I welcome comments on the first exam via email: [email protected]•Was the exam fair? Was it as described?•Strengths and weaknesses?Myths of Fertility•Greeks saw female fertility as a continuing force of creation–Started from Gaea (“Mother” Earth)–Continued in nature’s continuous reproductive cycle•No one Greek deity responsible for all aspects of fertility (unlike other Near Eastern cultures)–Aphrodite (human sexuality)–Artemis (wild animals) –Hera (marriage, family); Hestia (hearth, family)–Demeter (agricultural fertility)Fertility Myth Themes•Fertility of the earth connected to sex and reproduction•Cycle of life, death, renewal of life•Goddess loses her companion•Necessity of sacrifice for renewalDemeter•Name = “Wheat” mother? (not likely)–Force that makes grain sprout from the seed •Demeter’s daughter is Persephonê–Also known simply as the “daughter” or the “girl” = korê (she is a virgin, parthenos), father = Zeus•“The Two Goddesses” (earth and grain) as one?•The Homeric Hymn to Demeter –Our major source for the myth, 7th C BCE–Explains foundation of the cult of Demeter at Eleusis and the Eleusinian MysteriesThe Homeric Hymn to Demeter•Persephonê is abducted by Hades–She was playing in a flowery meadow–No one heeds her cries, her father Zeus is (deliberately?) delayed elsewhere•Demeter mourns her for nine days (as if she were dead)•Helius (the Sun) tells Demeter who took her•Demeter, angry at Zeus, leaves Olympus, disguises herself among mortalsGian Lorenzo Bernini, Rape of Proserpina, 1622The Homeric Hymn to Demeter•Demeter travels to the Well of the Maiden at Eleusis (near Athens), where she is found by the daughters of the King and Queen•She is brought to the palace and made the nanny of the infant prince, Demophoön (proper xenia)–She requests to drink some kykeon (a spicy beer?)•Demeter is caught trying to make Demophoön immortal by burning him in the fire–Desire to replace her own lost child?•She reveals herself and instructs the people of Eleusis to establish her cult in their cityThe Homeric Hymn to Demeter•Demeter now withdraws her power from the land•Plague / drought; nothing grows•Survival of humankind at risk; starvation imminent•Gods become upset at the idea that no one would honor them•Zeus sends Hermes to Hades to retrieve Persephonê (i.e., her mother persuades her father to change his mind)•Hades “smiled grimly” but “did not reject the command of King Zeus”The Homeric Hymn to Hermes•Hades offers Persephone the status of being the Queen of the Underworld, then:“So he spoke, and the prudent Persephone warmed at the message. At once she leaped up with pleasure. But Hades, peering aboutTo be sure that no one was watching, casually gave her a seedletOf a luscious and sweet pomegranate to eat, thus making it certainShe could not remain forever by the side of dark-robed Demeter.”•These lines (336-340) key to plot and interpretation–Why the pleasure? Why the pomegranate?•Persephone is joyfully returned to DemeterThe Homeric Hymn to Demeter•Demeter explains that if Persephone has “tasted a morsel” with Hades, she must return to him to spend one third of the year (xenia again?)•She admits that Hades “stealthily forced me to eat, though against my will, a honey-sweet pomegranate seed”•Demeter accepts that she must share her daughter with Hades, restores growth to the crops•She then explains her ritual to the kings of Eleusis•This ritual is not to be revealed, but “Blessed the man who in life has viewed the mysteries’ ritual.”Interpreting the HomericHymn to Demeter•Generally thought to explain agricultural seasons:–8 months Persephone with Demeter = growing season–4 months she is with Hades = dormant season–Yet is winter or summer the dormant season?•Greek planting season runs from fall to spring, with summer too dry to grow–Hymn specifically says Persephone returns in spring•Does this discrepancy eliminate the traditional interpretation? (Powell seems to think so, I don’t)Interpreting the Homeric Hymn to Demeter•Myth of Persephone offers an etiology of the seasonal cycle of life and death•The fertility of the earth cannot be separated from the presence of death•Death is necessary to end one cycle, which means that the next cycle of life can begin (spring always comes after winter)•The migration of Persephone is the link between life on the earth and death below itInterpreting the Homeric Hymn to Demeter•An allegory for the coming of age of young girls?–The grieving mother who “loses” her daughter to an arranged marriage?–Wife married to older man she does not choose–The Father arranges things (does Zeus do so here?)•Symbolic of a mother’s loss of any child who dies young?–Grieving then acceptance of the inevitability of death–A girl who died unmarried was said to be a “Bride of Hades”Interpreting the Homeric Hymn to Demeter•Did Persephone lose her virginity to Hades?–She experiences pleasure and takes seed within her –Pomegranate: blood red (blood of life?) and seedy (seeds = future offspring?)–Yet Hades’ seed is the seed of death, hence Persephone will never bear a child–But having received his seed, she is his husband and so cannot simply return home to MomII. The Eleusinian Mysteries•The village (suburb?) of Eleusis absorbed by the city of Athens around 600 BCE•Agrarian festival designed to promote the growth of the grain by then already old•Held in the fall (when Persephone was to return to Hades?)•Main