Demeter and Persephone
by

Cristina Paolicchi

(Paper submitted to Images of Women in the Ancient World: Issues of Interpretation and Identity, Spring 1998)

      The goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone are among the lesser-known gods. Traditionally, Demeter has been known as one of the twelve main Olympians, but in practice she is usually ignored. This phenomenon is actually rather odd, since she and Persephone rule over the growth and death of the earth's vegetation.

      There are few myths associated with these two goddesses, but the ones that exist are quite important to the continuing flourishment of the earth. Apparently, in the beginning, there was no separation of seasons, just never ending good crops. To fully understand the greatness of the duties of these two 'minor' goddesses, it is important to learn about their history. How their lives impacted man and god alike was great. It even seemed that, for a time, the power of continuing health and happiness for man lay in the hands of Demeter.

      When her daughter was abducted and taken to the underworld, Demeter refused to nourish the earth, which in turn threatened the very existence of man. It was, in fact, "because Demeter abandoned her divine functions to look for Persephone, [that] the springs of fertility ran dry: vegetation languished, animals ceased to multiply, and the hand of death touched mankind," (see Works Cited: Note #1). It was not until after the great Zeus beseeched Demeter to return to her duties, that man was able to go on living. Before any of this happened, one must start at the beginning.

      In the beginning, there was the Great Mother Goddess Gaea. From her, sprung Uranus who became her son and mate. Together they produced Cronus, Rhea, Coeus, Phoebe, Ocean, and Tethys. Uranus was the sky god and the first ruler of the Earth until his son Cronus, who was the ruling Titan, overthrew him, through the encouragement of his mother Gaea. Cronus castrated Uranus, which either caused Uranus to die from the wound, or shamed him so much, that Uranus left the Earth forever. Cronus then united with his sister Rhea, and together they produced six children. However, according to a prophecy, Cronus would be succeeded by one of his children, so in order to keep himself in power, Cronus ate each of his children whole, right after they were born. At a certain point, Rhea, who had been very discontented about losing all of her children, decided to trick her husband. So when her youngest child, Zeus, was born, she sent him away to be raised by a mortal family, and gave Cronus rocks to eat instead.

      When Zeus reached maturity, he returned to Mount Olympus, overthrew his father and saved his brothers and sisters. These were Hestia, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, and Demeter. Zeus took Hera as his wife, but had many lovers outside of his marriage. One of these was his sister Demeter, who by him, had Kore, later known as Persephone, the dying and reviving daughter.

      Demeter inherited many of her mother, Rhea's, characteristics such as being, "an earth-mother goddess, becoming the goddess of vegetation and fruitfulness, [and] especially corn. She represented the products of soils and seasons, and the generative forces that directed their abundance," (see Works Cited: Note #2). Demeter was the goddess of the harvest and she taught man how to grow crops. Traditionally, the first loaf of bread of the season was sacrificed to her. Demeter lived in the mountainous island of Sicily and was known as the protector of the fields. Demeter was also known as, "the fair haired earth goddess who blesses all phases of the harvest. She walks the furrowed fields dressed in green and displays her moods with feast and famine," (see Works Cited: Note #3).

      Demeter had a very close bond with her daughter Persephone. So when Hades abducted Persephone, Demeter became very depressed. There exist two stories, which tell of the abduction of Persephone.

      The following are two versions, telling of the abduction of Persephone:

      After the disappearance of Persephone, Demeter began to look high and low for her. Demeter became so distraught, that she wandered the earth for nine days; denying herself all forms of food, drink, or comfort. She was seen holding a burning torch in each hand. Basically, she had renounced her divine functions as a goddess of vegetation and fruitfulness. Here again, there are more then one telling of the story:

      Even though Demeter had been informed as to whom the abductor was, she continued to mourn her lost daughter. Since, Hades was out of her reach, Demeter placed the blame on the earth. Then, the fountain Arethusa spoke to Demeter and told her not to blame to earth for its wrongdoing, for it opened unwillingly to the Underworld. At that point, Zeus decided to resolve the situation (possibly as a form of redemption) by sending his messenger Mercury to demand Persephone from Hades. Hades agreed, but only under the condition that Persephone had suffered as much as her mother, and had thus abstained from food and drink. Unfortunately, Persephone had indeed sucked the sweet juice from three pomegranate seeds and thus a compromise had to be made. It was then decided that Persephone would spend two-thirds of the year with her mother, and one-third, as the queen of Erebus; the powerful bride to the monarch of the realm of the dead.

      And so it was that Demeter got to be reunited with her daughter, Persephone for eight months out of the year. Still . . . Demeter was not a very forgiving goddess (who could blame her) and still to this day, she allows the earth to go barren during those months in which Persephone resides with her husband. Nevertheless, even thought these two goddesses have been pushed, pulled, shoved, tugged, and finally, ignored, they are still remembered whenever the seasons change.

Analysis of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter

      In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Homer speaks of the abduction and return of Persephone.

Feminist Interpretations of the Abduction of Persephone

The Eleusinian Mysteries:

      The Eleusinian Mysteries are probably some of the best kept secrets in Greek ritualistic mythology. The mysteries were founded by Demeter, who created the order as a rememberance of her lost daughter. The sacred attendants to these mysteries included:

The Mysteries are divided into two sections:

Works Cited

This page has been designed by Cristina Paolicchi for the Images of Women in Ancient Art class, taught by Professor Witcombe. This class was offered as an Honors course at Sweet Briar College during the Spring 1998 semester. If you have any questions about the Honors Program or anything having to do with this page, feel free to contact us.