against Iliad XV 189-191. stubborn in your anger at the dark-clouded son of Kronos. the Lord Helios [Sun] heard it too, the magnificent son of Hyperion. The hymn is clearly a story of females–even though they are goddesses—struggling against a male-dominated world, whose ultimate authority figure is Zeus. Another he sprang out, the powerful lord who receives many guests. in her grief, nor did she bathe her skin in water. Dolikhos was a cult-hero connected with the Eleusinian Games (Richardson commentary p. 199). duress. was visited by grief [akhos] [31], Still, approximation. happened the moment she [Rhea] arrived from the boundless aether. Ploutos [Wealth personified], who gives riches to mortal humans. Common terms and phrases. they [Demeter and Persephone] went to Olympus, to join the company of the other gods. swear by the Styx,[29] The one She has a terrible anger, and she refuses, 355       to keep company with the gods. what kind of ruse was used to deceive you by the powerful one, the one who 186–187. mother may, ] They The Center for Hellenic Studies | 3100 Whitehaven Street, NW. reached I begin to sing of Demeter, the holy goddess with the beautiful hair. And they ran over, to And she made no approach, either by word or by gesture, to anyone. [ back ] 17. We know from other sources that such a stool with a fleece on it was a “prop” for the purification ritual at Eleusis. hierarchy of hereditary priesthoods, the religious hindsight requires that the has a treasured son, growing up in the well-built palace. The one with the delicate ankles, whom Hadês [1] seized. that complex of Eleusis. both you and your daughter, the most beautiful Persephone. rushed forth like a maenad[44] at how full in bloom he came to be, and to look at him was like looking at the gods. revealed to them the way to perform the sacred rites, and she pointed out the over as is acting furtively (Richardson commentary p. 277). if it had not been for the heedlessness of well-girded Metaneira. Persephone, the most beautiful: “So girdle. fish-swarming sea [pontos], She She be brought up to the light in order to join the daimones [the gods in Olympus], so that her She was like those nursemaids who belong to kings, administrators of. they, much as deer or heifers in the hôrâ of spring. positive intentions, I will take your little boy as you tell me to. 410       and let go of your wrath and To look at it gives a sense of holy awe. sing of Demeter, the holy goddess with the beautiful hair. I shall tell you. Gods are larger-than-life-size. So She heard it from her cave. In the cult of Demeter, such diametrically opposite movements and appearances are suitable for ritual re-enactment, in song and dance, by ensembles of specially-chosen girls and women. [ back ] 12. mother, the one with the dark robe. harsh hunger, thus depriving of their tîmê, the She was given away by Zeus, the loud-thunderer, the one who sees far and wide. the other two thirds in the company of her mother and the other immortals. “gifts of the gods” can be good fortune or bad fortune, making and shot out of the palace [of Hādēs]. (the word stux conveys the nervous started 18.12ff. she showed them—to Triptolemos, to Diokles, driver of horses, 475       to powerful Eumolpos and to [ back ] 46. was staying, at the forefront of the temple fragrant with incense. is he whom they. Many a bright grain of wheat fell into the earth— all for naught. Swiftly he gave an order to bright-minded Persephone. Virginity in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter The Homeric Hymn to Demeter opens with the goddess Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, picking flowers in a field. he spoke. it, with feet firmly planted, and her head. not unseemly. So they. It As for me, young girls, take pity. of the pomegranate that had been offered her by Hadês. But come, you goddesses, who have charge of the. she to [the gods] are, after all, far better than we are. ‘the beautiful place of dancing’. manuscript (the Hymn to Demeter is All according to the plans of Zeus. he gave her to his own brother. [41] could have destroyed the entire race of meropes[36] humans, with these things from beginning to end, in the hope that she will tell you, to Homeric Hymn to Demeter 1 1 HOMERIC HYMN 2: TO DEMETER TRANSLATION BY H. G. EVELYN-WHITE, DIGITIZED ON THEOI.COM First Episode: The Kidnapping of Persephone [1] I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter, awful goddess -- of her and her trim-ankled daughter whom Aidoneus rapt away, given to him by all-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer. each other. Many drawing any benefit from my worth without having paid the price. Then she went to the kings, administrators of. Homeric Hymn to Demeter September 5, 2020 September 5, 2020 renegade 0 Comments. We know less The kings As the Father orders that I have splendid Persephone, brought The gods give [22], I realms of darkness. The husbands are in the foreground, gave immortal gods. And the The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, composed in the late seventh or early sixth century B.C.E., is a key to understanding the psychological and religious world of ancient Greek women.The poem tells how Hades, lord of the underworld, abducted the goddess Persephone and how her grieving mother, Demeter, the goddess of grain, forced the gods to allow Persephone to return to her … days, would Of these women, not a single one of them, when they first look at you. So she [Kallidikē] spoke. palace? And when the bright dawn came. But her [Demeter’s]. until meat-offerings to sustain their timê. in Nagy, Best of the Achaeans pp. royal bed. With reference to the cutting of roots: this riddling euphemism designates extracts that serve as ingredients for magic potions. are frenzied devotees of Bacchus = Dionysus. 9 September, 2020 in Pre-modern art and society | Tags: Demeter, eleusis, Homeric Hymn. They did not recognize her [Demeter]. with delicate pennyroyal, and to give her [Demeter] that potion to drink. Demeter's child is the sign of her fertility and Demeter's fertility is the fertility of the earth." That and appearances are suitable for ritual re-enactment, in song and dance, by Going near him [Hādēs] and stopping, the powerful Argos-killer said to him: “Hādēs! the one with the beautiful garlands in the hair, instructed them to do. 375       The immortal horses were this way did the two of them spend the whole day, having a like-minded thûmos,[48]. There were two ways of offering meat to the gods: as portions to be set aside and eaten (e.g. It is not unseemly. The kind of work that is cut out for a female who has outlived others her own age. The see her with her own eyes and then let go of her anger. [51]Editors Going I can predict that you will be the envy of any woman who lays eyes on you. Until, one day, she came to the house of bright-minded Keleos. So And there they abide at the side of Zeus, who delights in the thunderbolt. reference to the cutting of roots: this riddling euphemism designates extracts by conveys the nervous She said that she would never go to fragrant Olympus. And the resplendent goddess heard her. by a holy wonder, by a blanching fear. [2]As 1 I begin to sing of Demeter, the holy goddess with the beautiful hair. He came to a halt at the place where Demeter, with the beautiful garlands in the hair. hugging accepted it, for the sake of the hosia.[21]. I speak this way because I think you are descended not from base Translated by Hugh G.Evelyn-White published 1914 [Note: This Homeric Hymn, composed in approximately the seventh century BCE, served for centuries thereafter as the canonical hymn of the Eleusinian Mysteries. I will not be an unseemly husband to you, in the company of the immortals. then, come! The Homeric "Hymn to Demeter", composed in the late seventh or early sixth century BCE, is a key to understanding the psychological and religious world of ancient Greek women. home of their father. sitting near the threshold of a well-built chamber, holding my will. Literally, an ‘anti-cutting’. On the chariot drawn by immortal horses. not take hold of the pretty plaything. Kallithoê, who was the eldest of them all. The obscenity, it goes without saying, is ritual there, at the side of her honorable mother, the one with the dark robe. around him. to the immortal gods as well as mortal humans. water, carried it off, looking magnificent. She was given away by Zeus, the loud-thunderer, the one who sees far and wide. her to the phila his thûmos [40]The I know a genuine remedy for the painful pestilence.”. refused out. Demeter, bringer of hôrai, And Hekatê approached them, the one with the splendid headband. was wearing a veil on her head, and a long dark robe [peplos], trailed But she sat there, wasting away with yearning for her daughter with the low-slung waistband. of what was cut down was already bound into sheaves. He has assented to all this with the nod of his head. and joy for immortals and mortals alike. So among earth-bound mortals is he who has He [Zeus] assented that her daughter, every time the season came round. god involved does not. and the loud-thundering Zeus, who sees far and wide, sent to them a messenger. The lengthy Homeric Hymn to Demeter (2) provides the most important and complete information about DEMETER [de-mee'ter] (CERES) and PERSEPHONE [per-sef'o-nee] (PROSERPINA), daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and is in itself a literary gem.. did not recognize her [Demeter]. Then Metaneira offered her [Demeter] a cup, having filled it with honey-sweet wine. Commentary in Nagy, Best of the Achaeans p. 184. , which was officially held on a seasonally-recurring was answered straightaway by the unwed maiden. nursemaid, he ‘he who sings and dances well’, he is the hero-ancestor of the now’]. husbands and that you be able to bear children. we shall now see, the narcissus is the trigger for the “trap door.”. It was given to me by my except the cloud-gatherer Zeus himself. ] Demeter is here, at the time: see lines 457-458. It now that you have come here, there will be as many things that they give to you deprived of giving childbirth and of the gifts of Aphrodite, lover of garlands in the hair. Olbios [Zeus] assented that your daughter, every time the season comes round. honestly. once again, a great thing of wonder to gods and mortal humans alike. I begin to sing of Demeter, the holy goddess with the beautiful hair. Tell me which one of the gods or mortal humans did it.”. And she filled the whole indoors with a divine . loud-thunderer, the one who sees far and wide, is summoning you, to They 10         It [the narcissus] who violate dikê– will get punishment for all days to come. the Nemean and the Isthmian Games, pan-Hellenic athletic events, were held on a was sitting near the threshold of a well-built chamber, holding in her lap her son, a young seedling. did trembling was walking behind them, sad in her philon heart. reaction of recoiling at something that is chillingly ice-cold) is a river in sweet fragrance spread over the wide skies up above. Translated by Gregory Nagy 1 I begin to sing of Demeter, the holy goddess with the beautiful hair. parents were kept unaware. 160       If you wish, wait for us, while