Demeter and Persephone
The Earth Mother,
The Bride of Death, and
The Eleusinian Mysteries
Demeter of Cnidus
Demeter was the goddess of
agricultural fertility,
especially grains.
She was the daughter of
Cronus and Rhea, sister of
Zeus.
She was unmarried but
sexual – if only in that she
had a daughter, Persephone,
whose father was either
Poseidon or Zeus.
Her worship was extremely
popular all over the Greek
and Roman world.
Roman name – Ceres.
Ancient Fertility Goddesses
Demeter’s name means “earth
mother” (da/ga = earth, meter =
mother)
Abundant female
figurines give evidence
for widespread worship
of female deities in the
prehistoric
Mediterranean
Demeter, whose worship and
mythology are concerned with both
crop fertility and the afterlife, may have
evolved from such deities
This Boiotian plate shows an early
Classical representation of Demeter
Attributes:
•throne
•torch
•crown
•vegetation
(flowers and
grain)
•landscape
•bird
Sources: The Homeric
Hymn to Demeter
•By “Homer”
•7th century BCE date
•reflects strong beliefs and
commonly accepted
mythology
•is allied with the cult at
Eleusis (and elsewhere in
Greece)
•Etiological: explains the
yearly cycle and the cult at
Eleusis
4th century BCE marble of mourning
Demeter
Sources: The Homeric
Hymn to Demeter
Persephone is abducted by Hades, god of the dead, to be his
wife – with Zeus’s permission
Demeter searches for her in vain, bereft and
enraged. When she finds out what happened, she
wanders through the cities of humans, in disguise
At Eleusis, she becomes the nurse of Demophon.
She tries to make him immortal, but is stopped by
his mother, who doesn’t understand
Demeter orders the people of Eleusis to establish a
cult in her honor.
Meanwhile the earth has become barren.
Demeter insists that Persephone be restored to
her. Persephone spends part of the year with her,
part with her husband Hades
Sources: The Homeric
Hymn to Demeter
(a closer look)
Persephone is picking flowers
with her friends (a traditional
image of a marriageable
young girl)
Hades bursts out of the earth
in a four-horse chariot and
kidnaps her:
Demeter hears Persephone cry
out and looks for her in vain.
Hecate and Helius tell her that
Hades kidnapped Persephone
with Zeus’s permission.
As long as the goddess could
behold the earth, starry
heaven, the deep flowing sea
full of fish, the rays of the
sun, and still hoped to see her
dear mother and the race of
everlasting gods, hope
soothed her great heart . . .
Visual Images
“O goddess, desist from your
great lament; you should not
thus bear an unrelenting anger
to no avail. Indeed Hades, the
ruler over many, is not an
unseemly husband for your
daughter . . .”
•physical violence
•erotic (closeness, detail)
•face to face
•dedication by female
worshipper
Hades abducting Persephone; South Italian
(from Locri); Greek, 470-460 BCE
Visual Images
This Roman wall painting shows the scene in the eroticised
light we are used to in a lot of Greek-Roman mythology.
Visual Images
Visual Images
Visual Images:
Hades carries off Persephone as Hecate watches, c. 340 BCE
•calm demeanor
of all participants
•wedding-like
presentation
•Persephone
holds a scepter
and wears a
crown
•focus on
Persephone
Kore, the maiden,
appears as the
archetypal virgin girl
…
Transformed into
queen and emblem of
the world’s returning
life.
Persephone, Queen of
the Dead
Hades is the name of the
Underworld itself, and in myth,
Hades is shown as an authoritative
god.
But in cult, Persephone is just as
important if not more so.
She is usually represented in front
of Hades when both are shown in
cult images
Here she sits enthroned by herself.
Magna Graecia Cult image of Persephone as
Queen of the Underworld - ca. 460 BCE
Persephone and Hades, in
two votive plaques from
Eleusis, with attributes and
worshippers . . .
above: c. 470 BCE
right: c. 540 BCE
Sources: The Homeric
Hymn to Demeter
Enraged at the gods’ disrespect, Demeter withdraws from
them and wanders in disguise among humans.
She comes to Eleusis, where Celeus’ daughters find her at
the well and bring her home to nurse their baby brother.
“For a long time she remained seated
without a sound, grieving; she did not
acknowledge anyone, but without a
smile, not touching food or drink,
she sat wasted with longing for her
deep-bosomed daughter -“Until Iambe in her wisdom resorted to
many jokes and jests and brought the holy
lady around to smile and laugh and bear a
happy heart!”
Sources: The Homeric
Hymn to Demeter
Demeter tries to make the baby Demophon
immortal by burning him in a fire, but is
interrupted by his mother Metaneira
Demeter as kourotrophos:
•nurturing mother images are
common in the Mediterranean
•Demeter is usually shown with the
female infant Persephone
•The child in such images is usually
male if anything, though
“I could hold a newborn child in my
arms and care for him well . . .”
Now Demophon, like all
mortals, must die in the end.
Demeter reveals her identity to
the terrified Metaneira.
“Mortals are ignorant
and stupid who cannot
foresee the fate, both
good and bad, that is in
store!”
Demeter tells Metaneira to establish a cult to
her at Eleusis. (Though all men must die,
Eleusis will give them hope for the afterlife.)
Metaneira
offers wool
to Demeter
Demeter
enthroned
at Eleusis
Sources: The Homeric
Hymn to Demeter
Zeus orders Demeter to
come back to Olympus
and let the crops grow.
She refuses.
All the other gods beseech
her. She refuses.
Demeter caused human beings
a most terrible and devastating
year on the fruitful land. The
earth would not send up a
single sprout, for Demeter of
the lovely crown kept the seed
covered.
Finally Zeus tells Hades to send Persephone back.
Go, Persephone, to the side
of your dark-robed
mother. . . While you are
here with me you will rule
over all that lives and
moves . . .
Bur Hades gives Persephone
a pomegranate first, and she
eats some, thus cementing
her connection with her
husband and the
Underworld.
Sources: The Homeric
Hymn to Demeter
Persephone emerges from
the earth, and mother and
daughter ecstatically reunite.
Demeter discovers that
Persephone ate the
pomegranate; now she will
have to spend part of the
year below with Hades.
Still, Demeter makes the
earth flourish and joins the
other gods in Olympus – a
joyful homecoming.
She further establishes the
Mysteries and chooses just
kings to spread the
knowledge.
The mother-daughter
relationship of
Demeter and
Persephone represents
the life-affirming
process of yearly
cycles and crop
fertility
The Mysteries at
Eleusis ally this cycle
with the hope for
spiritual rebirth and a
joyous afterlife
Myth into Cult
Triptolemus was
chosen by Demeter
to spread the arts of
agriculture to new
lands.
He is a “double” of
Demophon, and
often appears in cult
representations of
Eleusis
Demeter gives a sprig of corn to
the boy Triptolemus, 5c BCE
The Eleusinian Mysteries
“Happy is the one of mortals
on Earth who has seen these
things. But those who are
uninitiated into the holy rites
and have no part never are
destined to a similar joy when
they are dead in the gloomy
realms below.”
The Eleusinian Mysteries
were already being celebrated
in the 7th century BCE and
continued for at least 1000
years, until forcibly
eradicated by Christian
emperors.
The Eleusinian Mysteries
Persephon
e (Kore) as
Hydranos
- purifying
a youthful
initiate;
fragment
from a
marble
stele - 1st
quarter of
the 4th
century
B.C. h.
57cm.
In “mystery religions,”
individuals go through a
ritual of initiation and join
a community of
worshippers who have
shared this experience.
Often secret knowledge is
shared, or there is the
expectation of spiritual
rewards reserved for
members.
Christianity is essentially a
mystery religion – one
which is open to all
comers, like Eleusis.
The Eleusinian Mysteries
The revelations of the
Mysteries were so
secret that no one has
ever described them in
full. But some things
we know:
There were two steps to full initiation: The “Lesser Mysteries” (in
spring) and the “Greater Mysteries” (9 days in September/
October).
A 45-day holy truce to all wars was established for the festival,
and Greek-speaking people from all over the world were invited
to come.
Festivities alternated between Eleusis and Athens; on the fifth day
there was a grand procession from Athens to Eleusis.
The Eleusinian Mysteries
Days 6 and seven
involved fasting and
preparation,
including drinking
the mysterious
kykeon.
There were three parts to the initiation:
things done (a dramatic reenactment),
things seen (a revelation of sacred
objects), and things said (??).
The initiation chamber was a
mysterious, column-filled enclosure.
The Eleusinian Mysteries
The dark enclosure of the
initiation area, the
torched carried by
participants, and perhaps
the kykeon contributed
to a spiritual, maybe even
ecstatic atmosphere.
The revelation may have
been very simple (an ear
of grain?) but initiates
were primed to
understant its spiritual
significance.
Ninion pionax—painting of Eleusinian
Mysteries; fourth century BCE
An initiation at the Eleusinian Mysteries
“Happy is the one of mortals on Earth who has seen these
things. But those who are uninitiated into the holy rites
and have no part never are destined to a similar joy when
they are dead in the gloomy realms below.”
Thesmophoria
•3-day festival in
October/November
•held a central role in state
cult
•celebrated by adult, married
citizen women (or women
who had been married)
•held on the Pnyx (where
the all-male, political
Assembly usually met) and
displaced the Assembly
•the women camped there
the whole time
Schedule of festivities
•Day 1: Anodos (way up)
– procession carrying
sacred items
•Day 2: Nesteia (fast) –
Demeter’s mourning, or
recreation of prehistoric
way of life
•Day 3: Kalligeneia
(beautiful offspring) –
celebration with sacrifices
and feasts
Thesmophoria
Before the ritual, piglets
and phallic cakes were
buried on the site. During
the festival, they were
removed (nicely rotted) to
be mixed with seed grain
and ensure fertility of
crops.
“piglet” was slang for
vagina.
Women observed chastity
just before and during the
festival, and celebrated with
obscenity and joking.
Contradictory?
Thesmophoria
Women in procession (Locri); Demeter(?) with a piglet
Thesmophoria
vs.
Eleusis
exclusive: women
only, and only married
Athenian citizen
women
open: male and female, slave
and free, local and foreign, as
long as you could speak
Greek
civic orientation: allied
with the city’s prosperity
personal: an individual’s
experience within a
community of worshippers
focused on crops and
fertility
focused on spiritual wisdom
and life after death
Sanctuaries
Demeter was a
powerful goddess
whose temples
and sanctuaries
frequently
merited the
greatest resources
of their polis.
6-5c BCE temple of
Demeter at Paestum
Sanctuary of
Demeter in
Pergamum
(Turkey), 3rd c.
BCE
Local Traditions
6-c terracotta
showing Demeter
and Persephon as
identical seated
images – “Maiden
and Mother
partners” – from
Corinth
Throughout Greece, Demeter and Kore (the Maiden) are
worshipped in almost every town of any size
Many towns have sanctuaries of “Eleusinian Demeter” and local
legends which describe how Demeter revealed the mysteries to
them, too.
Local Traditions
Phenea, in Arcadia: The myth
•Demeter received hospitality from some Pheneans,
and gave them lentils (but not beans, which are
impure), and revealed the mysteries to them.
The ritual:
•Near the sanctuary two enormous stones are fitted
together: “The Rock”
•(most people from the area swear “by the Rock”)
•Inside the fitted top is a mask of “Kidarian Demeter”
(“Demeter of the headdress” or “dance”)
•The priest wears the mask at the mystery once a year
•He flogs the statue of the god of the Underworld
Local Traditions
Mountain temenos of Black Demeter, Arcadia
•At some point Demeter took the form of a horse, and
Poseidon mated with her (against her will?)
•Some believe that Poseidon was the father of
Persephone by this mating.
•Demeter, furious with Poseidon, took refuge in a
mountain cave, dressed in black. The earth was
perishing.
•Pan, out hunting, found Demeter in the cave,
The Fates persuaded her to put aside her grief.
•The local cult statue (in the mythic cave,
surrounded by an oak grove, near a spring)looked
like a woman with a horse’s head, with serpents
sprouting from her head;in a long tunic, with a
dove in one hand and a dolphin in the other.
Local Traditions
The statue was accidentally destroyed and the cult fell into
disuse. Then a famine came.
The Pythia gave an oracle that unless the cult was revived and
a new statue made, the people of the area would revert to
being “acorn eaters,” “consume themselves” and become
“child-eaters.”
They quickly made a bronze statue and reinstituted the cult.
By the 2nd century CE, people came from all over for the cult,
though the new statue had also been destroyed.
They left sacrifices of the fruits of cultivated trees, grapes,
honeycomb, and greasy unspun wool.
A priestess and three city officials oversaw the yearly
community sacrifice
Demeter: the Great Goddess of Greece?
Demeter plays so small a role in
Greek myth that it is easy to lose
sight of her importance in the Greek
world.
Every podunk town in Greece had a
significant shrine to her, and a
significant festival, and often, a local
tradition of connection with the
mysteries.
Demeter was a small part of
storytelling but a big part of physical
and spiritual well being.
Demeter, Persephone
and Artemis
Kore (Persephone), “The Maiden,”
is sometimes associated in cult
(though not in myth) with
Artemis, the other “Maiden.”
The three women, mother, bride
and virgin, reflect life stages and
close relationship of women.
finis