Aspects of the demeterpersephone myth in modern fiction core. Text only version of demeter and her daughter persephone. Finally, demeter learns that persephone has been kidnapped by hades and that zeus, persephones father, permitted it. Persephone proserpina in latin was the beautiful daughter of zeus and the goddess of grain, demeter. When persephone is in the underworld with hades, demeter refuses to let any plants grow. Josephine donovan a continuation of josephine donovans exploration of american womens literary traditions, begun with new england local color literature. Edith hamilton demeter had an only daughter, persephone in latin, proserpine, the maiden of the spring. What is the lesson or moral lesson behind the story the. This extremely ancient and widely revered sacred story of mother and daughter long predates the. In greek mythology, persephone also called kore is the daughter of zeus and demeter. While she wished to see her mother up above, she was torn by her desire to remain hades wife.
Aspects of the demeterpersephone myth in modern fiction. They played together in the fields almost every day. Demeter and persephone, including explicit meaning and inferences they can make and support with details from the text. Greek goddess demeter and the abduction of persephone. The classical greek myth of demeter and her daughter persephone as told in homers hymn to demeter has been used most often to explain the cycle of the seasons. How does this myth reflect the role of women in greek society. She saw man and woman, god and goddess dancing to her tune.
The question that this thesis aims to examine is how the motifs of the myth of demeter and persephone have been perpetuated in three modern works of fiction, which are treasure at the heart of the tanglewood by meredith ann pierce, chocolat by joanne harris and house of women by lynn freed. Theres a lot of truth for psychotherapy in the greek myth of persephone and its all tied up with the yearly renewal of the seasons. Persephone was so upset, i couldnt imagine shed eaten a bite the whole time she was there. Like her mother, she was kind and caring, with a happy nature and the most dazzling smile. Oh, it was true that zeus was the king of all the gods and goddesses, but she controlled the hearts of everything. Hades and persephone 1 hades and persephone cast demeter goddess of the harvest persephone goddess of springtime hades lord of the underworld hermes messenger god helios god of the sun narrator. The story of demeter and persephone was perhaps symbolic of the changing seasons and the perennial change from life to death, to life once more, or in other words, the changes from summer to winter and the return of life in spring as seen in agriculture.
A the centre of this scholarly and wellwritten work is the the void, the eternal mystery and charles stein takes us on a whirlwind dance around this unknowable heart of the eleuisian mysteries, said to be so powerful and mindaltering. Hades then abducted persephone while she was out picking out narcissus flowers. Because zeus betrayed her by his involvement in the rape of persephone, demeter left mt. Work on full stops and capital letters, also question marks, exclamation marks and commas. However, a closer examination will reveal insights on living and dying, loss and reconciliation, and suffering and healing. Greek mythology has probably always been my favorite mythology, and this might be my favorite stories of all time. Zeus asks pluto to release persephone as long as she has not eaten any food in the underworld. Demeter was the goddess of harvest and nature and changed. Demeter and persephone myth by jennifer hong on prezi. Its not a place youd want to go, the land of the dead. Differentiated worksheets used as an independent guided reading activity to compliment our greek topic. Resource to be used alongside myth targets see other resources. Persephone might become more grateful for what she has. The demeterpersephone myth in wharton, cather, and glasgow.
Aphrodite, goddess of love, looked out across creation. Persephone was the daughter of demeter, the goddess of nature. From end to end of the earth demeter sought her daughter. The cycle became one of the rituals of the sacred eleusinian mysteries. But as soon as her daughters light footsteps were heard, the whole. More importantly, this relationship is a mother daughter relationship and has ideas that greek culture. He couldnt help falling in love with her beauty and blithe. Demeter and persephone anne terry white summary the myth demeter and persephone explains earths seasons. In this lesson, students will read the greek myth of persephone and demeter and complete a story map on the myth. Its also one of the most famous love stories ever told. Pluto takes demeters daughter persephone to his home in the underworld.
His wife was persephone proserpine whom he carried away from the earth. Demeter, goddess of the earth and grain, was sister to zeus, as well as poseidon and hades. Persephones father was zeus, ruler of the gods, and her mother was demeter, goddess of the harvest and plants. This work demostrates the continued importance and relevance of the myth of demeter and. Compare and contrast this myth with the tale of venus and adonis. Persephone and demeter punctuation teaching resources. As time passed, persephone grew into a lovely goddess. Alien in some respects from the genuine traditions of greek mythology, a relic of the.
In the greek myth of persephones abduction by hades, lord of the. A book on mythology must draw from widely different sources. Hence, although a throne on olympus was her birthright, demeter is sometimes not counted among the olympians. Myth of demeter as a fertility goddess, demeter brought life to plants and crops, just as bees do. Demeter and persephone essaysdemeter and persephone. Hades lied in agreement, therefore he secretly handed persephone a sweet pomegranate seed. She stood by the river cyane, where hades had cleft6 the earth and gone down into his own dominions. The papers referred to are the legal documents that will bind. Plan your 60minute lesson in english language arts or greek mythology with helpful tips from sara hesemann. One of the oldest literary documents that narrates the myth of demeter and persephone is the homeric remember, this is a myth about demeter, persephone, and hades. Demeter and the abduction of persephone the rape of.
Persephone and hades transcript to printdownload pdf. Hades was the brother of zeus and the god of the underworld. Persephone, a vegetation goddess, and the daughter of the harvest goddess demeter, was kidnapped and ravished by hades, the king of the underworld, and taken to live in his realm. The myth of persephone, hades, and demeter recounts persephone descent and experience in the underworld. Demeter and persephone bibliography plot graph rising action climax as a result, we now have different seasons. Demeter and persephone by julianah oguntala on prezi. Persephone was collecting flowers when all of a sudden she was stolen by hades and taken into the underworld. The story according to which persephone spent one part of the year in the lower world, and another with the gods above, made her, even with the ancients, the symbol of vegetation which shoots forth in spring, and the power of which withdraws into the earth at other seasons of the year. After being charmed by ares for a century while guarding him in his cell, she betrays her people by freeing him after killing another amazon. She had adjusted well to her new position, saying she had even found her calling. However, as stories are told again and again over the course of time, they pass through many minds and memories, and can change their shapes like a. It was created to explain the seasons, especially winter. When persephone goes home, spring, summer, and fall occur.
She focuses on the inherent betrayal of a mother that a daughter must carry out to find her identity. You probably noticed that the myth of persephone, demeter, and hades is an origin story its used to explain the origin of the seasons, and why food crops dont grow in the winter. The myth of persephone, hades, and demeter goalbook. Because the myth of hades and persephone, sometimes referred to as the abduction or rape of persephone is a love story just not necessarily a happy one. This myth, the myth of persephone, explains why the seasons change.
That is the dumbeddown version of the greek myth of demeter and persephone. Her mother was rhea, the daughter of gaia, goddess of earth. The seed caused her to stay in the underworld with hades until spring, seasons. Treasure at the heart of the tanglewood 38 by meredith ann pierce. The third of the year, when persephone is down in the underworld with hades, we have winter and no growth of crops, as demeter is unhappy and gloomy. Persephone unveiled gives us insight into the ancients views on ontology, myth, ritual, ecstasy, and death. Persephone was her only daughter and goddess demeter loved her very much. Hades, god of the underworld had been watching persephone for a while.
As persephone smiled up at her mother, demeters heart swelled with happiness, and the crops grew high and healthy. The earliest written record of the demeter and persephone myth in the greek language comes from the eighth century b. Demeter, being the mother of persephone, was terribly sad and devastated when she could not find her daughter. Demeter wanders the earth looking for her daughter but can find her nowhere. As we discuss the myth, lets paraphrase, or tell in our own words, what happens to. Atlast, worn out and despairing, the goddess returned to sicily. The oldest and most complete extant version of the ancient demeterpersephone myth is the homeric hymn to demeter, which is believed to date from the seventh century b.
In the hymn to demeter, hades, god of the underworld, kidnaps persephone and takes her to his realm of the dead where he ravishes her and she becomes his wife. By eating a few pomegranate seeds, persephone tied herself to hadesthe pomegranate being a symbol of the indissolubility of marriage. Persephone represents spring life, hades represents winter death, demeter represents the earth. Study and discussion questions for persephone, demeter, and hades by phd students from stanford, harvard, berkeley. The underworld holds the deepest secrets and is a prime concern of the soul. Demeter might become less vengeful how does nature change as persephone moves between earth and the underworld. The myth of persephone as interpreted by alicia farnsworth according to greek myth persephone is the daughter of head god, zeus and demeter mother earth, persephone is goddess of spring and helps demeter tend plants. According to an ancient greek myth, persephone was the daughter of demeter, the. She was the sort of person who spread light and happiness wherever she went and so, naturally, she was loved by everyone but most especially by her mother. When hades takes persephone to the underworld, the earth turned cold, and winter came for the first. This week joyce tye will introduce a discussion of the myth of demeter and persephone, offering a jungian interpretation. Persephones fate inspired irish poet eavan boland to write the lovely poem, the pomegranate, which reflects on this relational aspect of the persephone myth. The myth of hades and persephone is one of the well known greek myths. Relationship between parent and child in the story of demeter and persephone we learn about the relationship between parents and their children.
A womens tradition, which treats the nineteenthcentury realists, this work analyzes the writing of major women writers of the early twentieth centuryedith. Many years ago the seasons were not as they are today. The goddess was now in charge of greeting the new arrivals and helping them adapt to their new life. Persephone, he found a radiant and striking queen of the dead. Of course if you were looking for a more symbolic answer, akannans pretty much sums it up. Ask them to paraphrase the text to demonstrate their understanding. Part 2 the myth of demeter and persephone 81 no chapter in the history of human imagination is more curious than the myth of demeter, and kore or persephone. The myth of hades and persephone is one more myth of love and abduction in the greek mythology. In honor of that luscious fruit, and the changing season, todays myth is the story of persephone. Demeter and persephone greek myth teaching resources. Hades failed to win persephone over causing zeus to send hermes to free persephone from hades. Ancient origins articles related to demeter and persephone in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends. Helios, being one of the two that saw what happened, told diameter that it was hades who had abducted. The story of the loss of her daughter persephone, and the mothers search for her, are the ancient greeks explanation of summer and winter.