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The Temporal Moments in a Woman’s Life as Represented in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter

Julian M. E. Krive

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in Classical Studies under the advisement of Kate Gilhuly

May 2021

© 2021 Julian M. E. Krive 2

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………..…3

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..4 A World Not so Distant

Chapter 1…………………………………………………………………………………………..7 Abduction from Girlhood

Chapter 2…………………………………………………………………………………………29 Motherhood and its Implications at Eleusis

Chapter 3…………………………………………………………………………………………50 Reconciliation and the Transition from Girl to Married Woman

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….64 The Temporal Moments in a Woman’s Life

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..66 3

Acknowledgements

Writing a senior honors thesis has been an invaluable experience and one that I will always cherish. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to do research at Wellesley College, and complete a piece of writing that I am proud of. This thesis was successful due to the help and support of many people for whom I am grateful.

To my thesis committee: Kate Gilhuly, Bryan Burns, and Eve Zimmerman.

To my advisor, Kate Gilhuly: Thank you for your help in this process. The feedback you gave throughout this process was critical for my thesis’ growth. It was wonderful to see my thesis develop and improve under your guidance.

To Bryan Burns: Thank you for serving on my committee and for your advice on improving my thesis. Your Homeric Hymns class was instrumental in enhancing my thesis.

To Eve Zimmerman: Thank you for agreeing to serve on my thesis committee.

To the faculty and staff of the Department of Classical Studies: Thank you for your support during this thesis process.

To my fellow Classical Studies thesis students (Emily Martin, Katharine Gavitt, and Hana Sugioka): It was a pleasure to work alongside you this year and to see the exceptional theses you have completed.

To my friends at Wellesley College and beyond (Sam Cuneta, Preeti Kate, and so many more): Your friendship has meant so much to me this year.

This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Anne Krive and Susan Ellis. Your words of encouragement, support, and advice made this thesis successful. 4

Introduction: A World Not so Distant

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the stages of a woman’s life are represented through the women of the text, including Demeter and Persephone. From the peaceful childhood scene to the intrusion of violence, as male sexuality intrudes into the meadow, Persephone’s life transitions are harsh and abrupt. She is robbed of her childhood, as it is disrupted by rape, abduction, and marriage. Girlhood, motherhood, and womanhood are all themes explored in the hymn, with Persephone's relationship with her mother, Demeter, serving as an example through which one can understand the power of motherhood and the mother-daughter bond. In the

Politics of Olympus, Jenny Strauss Clay discusses how the Homeric hymns represent a temporal adjustment in the order of cosmos. Expanding upon her argument, this thesis will engage with temporality, showing how it represents a range of moments typical and atypical in a woman’s life, and in doing so examine the temporal moments and elements of the feminine experience through girlhood, marriage, motherhood, and old age. In conjunction with other ancient Greek texts, primarily with the Theogony, I explore the parent-child bond and thus explore the gender dynamics in the Hymn. The mythical past of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, as Clay writes, “is not so far distant from our own.”1 She writes about this framework in the following passage:

Each of the major Homeric Hymns, I have argued, is set within a temporal mythological framework situated somewhere between the accession to power of Zeus and the age of “men like us.” In one way or another, each hymn moves us closer to the way the world is now. The “mythical” time of the Hymn to Demeter is not too far distant from our own. The great division of the cosmos among the three sons of Cronus has already taken place, and Zeus reigns supreme. The other gods have presumably acquired their various functions and timai within the Olympian pantheon, and, most important, Demeter is already in charge of agriculture, her gift to mankind. Mortals, on the other hand, inhabit cities and work the land; they also possess temples and perform sacrifices to the gods. As the Greeks would

1 Clay 2006, 208 5

say, the narrative takes place in the post-Promethean age, one much like our own. The question naturally arises as to how the world on which the hymn opens differs from ours. And further: if the divine hierarchy and the conditions of human life are substantially the same, what changes are introduced by the action of the hymn that demarcates “that time” from ours?”

Using the commentaries and essays by Jenny Strauss Clay and Helene Foley, as well as the framework set forth in Dinshaw et al.’s "Theorizing Queer Temporalities,” I discuss the temporal moments in a woman’s life. This thesis is divided into three chapters, all of which consist of a discussion of the temporal moments in a woman’s life. I explore themes of temporality through

Demeter and Persephone, as well as the through the mortal characters, notably Metaneira and her son Demophoon.

The first chapter focuses primarily on the first ninety lines of the Hymn, examining the rape and abduction of Persephone and the plan of Zeus in arranging the marriage of Persephone, who is an archetype of the nubile young woman. Then, I explore male intrusion, the meadow and flowers, and use such examples as Nausicaa and Iphigenia to illustrate my points, and thus examine the similarities of young girlhood and other stages of a woman’s life among three different stories. Further, I look at the scene in which Demeter withholds the seed from the earth and introduce the concept of the mother-daughter bond, a topic that I expand upon in the second chapter.

In the second chapter, I look at instances of motherhood during the episode at Eleusis, where Demeter goes while grieving over her the separation from her daughter. Exploring the mother-child bond, I use the relationship of Metaneira and Demophoon as a parallel to that

Demeter and Persephone, illuminating the strength of the mother-child bond and explaining

Demeter’s choice to take Demophoon as a surrogate son. As Demeter takes on the disguise of the 6 elderly Doso, I discuss the female experience of an older woman, including an older woman’s role as a nurse and portrayal as a witch. I examine how the events at Eleusis speak to Demeter’s grief at the loss of her daughter. By exploring the mother-daughter duo of Demeter in conjunction mother-son relationship of Metaneira and Demophoon, the chapter looks at the common experiences of motherhood shared by Demeter and Metaneira and the implications that occur when the mother-child bond is disrupted.

The third chapter looks at the last 150 lines of the hymn and examines the dual accounts of Persephone’s abduction, the first told by the narrator at the beginning of the hymn and the second told by Persephone to Demeter. I look at how Persephone moves into an adult role, exhibiting the transition from girl to married woman. I explore the discrepancies that exist between Persephone’s story and the narrator’s, showing the complicated relationship between

Demeter and Persephone. Through Persephone’s narration of the events surrounding her eating of the pomegranate, the chapter discusses the dynamics of life as a married woman, both spatially and emotionally. In the end, when Rhea acts as a reconciler between Zeus and Demeter, one gets to see maternal Demeter as a daughter figure for the first time. Thus, I consider themes of female agency, motherhood, and reconciliation. 7

Chapter 1: Abduction from Girlhood

When Persephone is abducted by Hades in the opening lines of the Homeric Hymn to

Demeter, she is not just physically snatched away, but also she is taken from her girlhood. Thus the abduction serves as a transitive moment in which she moves away from girlhood to become a married woman. From this moment onward, Persephone is no longer a virgin, unmarried woman but instead must fill the role of the married woman, which offers a new female experience for her. While analyzing the abduction scene in the meadow, I will look at tropes associated with scene, as well as examine parallel abduction, rape, and marriage experiences of a young woman.

Nauscicaa and Iphigenia, among others, serve as figures of comparison to Persephone, and through which one can explore the abrupt transition from a young, unmarried girl to married woman.

Understanding the dynamics and politics behind Persephone’s marriage to Hades is crucial to understanding the parent-child bond. Following an analysis of Persephone’s abduction, this chapter will explore the political motivations and implications of her marriage to Hades, as well as Zeus’ involvement and plan in bringing the union about. The subsequent grief that the marriage causes Demeter will also be explored, as the mother-daughter bond is disrupted and damaged. Using the Theogony as a text of comparison, as it is preoccupies itself with a father- son relationship, this chapter will look at the father-son and mother-daughter bond in conjunction with one another. Thus this chapter will explore a young girl’s transition to womanhood and the consequences that result from the disruption of the mother-daughter bond. 8

Abduction in the Meadow

The scene of the meadow is initially one of beauty, contrasting with the violence that will occur there and will mark an abrupt transition to a new stage in Persephone’s life: marriage. The reader is quickly introduced to Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, through the vivid description of the scene in which Persephone plays among a group of young girls. Following

Hades’ intrusion, the scene will mark Persephone’s transition from girlhood to womanhood. In the opening lines, themes of motherhood, marriage, and the mother-daughter bond are introduced:

Δήµητρ᾽ ἠύκοµον, σεµνὴν θεόν, ἄρχοµ᾽ ἀείδειν, αὐτὴν ἠδὲ θύγατρα τανύσφυρον, ἣν Ἀιδωνεὺς ἥρπαξεν, δῶκεν δὲ βαρύκτυπος εὐρύοπα Ζεύς, νόσφιν Δήµητρος χρυσαόρου, ἀγλαοκάρπου,

I begin to sing of lovely-haired Demeter, revered goddess, and her daughter with tapered ankles, whom Hades snatched away, and all-seeing loud-thundering Zeus gave her to him, away from Demeter, with a golden sword, bearing beautiful fruit, (HH2. 1-4)2

Demeter notably is mentioned first, and then Persephone as “her daughter with tapered ankles,” but she is not referred to by name. By naming Demeter in the first line, the poet is establishing in the first four lines that the primary focus of the poem will be Demeter. The events of the poem will all be based around her actions and reactions, while Persephone will play a more passive role as a victim.3 The “giving” of Persephone is juxtaposed with her “snatching away.” That

Hades must “snatch away” Persephone, despite him having her father’s consent, makes it clear from the start that Hades’ taking of Persephone in marriage would be against Demeter’s wishes,

2 All translations are my own, unless noted otherwise. 3 Clay, 209 9 presupposing her negative reaction to the marriage.4 This marriage is a deviation from the norm and will require extraordinary measures to bring it about, as, uniquely, Zeus must aid Hades in the abduction of his own daughter. Demeter’s resistance to her daughter’s marriage shows the strong bond between the mother and daughter, as well as represents the concept that separation between mother and daughter is painful but inevitable.5 The scholar Marilyn Arthur takes a psychoanalytic and feminist approach to her interpretation of the Hymn, and states that

Demeter’s plight represents that “of all women, who must struggle to achieve self-definition in a social and psychic world which values male attributes more highly and depreciates females.”6

The Hymn presents a fully developed picture of female psychology and the intrusion of male sexuality upon the innocence of a young woman’s consciousness.7 As such, Hades represents male intrusion onto the peaceful scene of the meadow, disrupting and ending Persephone’s childhood.

Hesiod’s Theogony engages with cosmology, establishing the realms over which Zeus presides and emphasizing the political nature of Persephone’s marriage. There is also a strong connection between the work of the Hymn’s poet and Hesiod. The following passage from the

Theogony is nearly verbatim to the opening lines of the Hymn:

αὐτὰρ ὁ Δήµητρος πολυφόρβης ἐς λέχος ἦλθεν, ἣ τέκε Περσεφόνην λευκώλενον, ἣν Ἀιδωνεὺς ἥρπασε ἧς παρὰ µητρός: ἔδωκε δὲ µητίετα Ζεύς

And he came to the bed of bountiful Demeter,

4 Ibid. 5 Ibid, 210

6 Arthur 1994, 8 7 Ibid, 10 10

Who bore white-armed Persephone, stolen by Hades From her mother’s side. But wise Zeus gave her away… (Th. 912-914, trans. Lombardo)

The Hymn to Demeter has a link to the Theogony, and the two tellings of Persephone’s story appear almost identical to one another. This shows that Hesiod followed a similar written tradition, and that there is a strong connection between the two texts.8 In looking at the different spatial realms, specifically the structuring of the cosmos, reading the Hymn in conjunction with

Hesiod’s Theogony provides insight into temporality, as it lays out a foundational understanding of the structuring of the cosmos. Starting with chaos and leading up to the creation of the

Olympian gods and mortal people, the text provides an understanding of space being divided into three realms: earth, sea, and Olympus. The Theogony is preoccupied with the father-son relationship. In contrast, the Hymn to Demeter focuses on the mother-daughter bond, offering itself as a counterpoint to the dynamics described in the Theogony.

The poet opens on a setting of beauty, representing a peaceful scene in Persephone’s childhood. The Hymn describes a flowery meadow in which a group of young girls, including

Persephone, picks flowers, before Persephone is violently removed by Hades. The setting of the rape in the flowery meadow has erotic associations, and Persephone’s rape is one among several in ancient stories classified as a “heroic rape” in which a god rapes a young woman. This poem participates in one of the earliest examples of a recurring trope of young women being taken, or rather plucked, just like the flowers they are gathering. Helen, in Euripides’ Helen, is another example of this, as she is snatched away by Paris when picking flowers, and later plucked away

8 Richardson 1974, 137 11 by Paris again.9 Creusa in Euripides’ Ion is similarly gathering flowers on the Long Rocks of the

Acropolis when she is raped by Apollo. Being plucked then has the connotation of being violently uprooted from an environment and taken unwillingly somewhere else.

Persephone’s rape and abduction fit seamlessly into the tradition of women being violently taken, and also of being sexualized for an innocent act. The meadow is a common location for such rapes, because of the sensory experience of a flowery meadow, in particular the olfactory nature of the experience. The scent of the flowers is erotic, which is reminiscent of Sappho 2, where the meadow is described as having ta aphrodisia, which in some instances has been translated as “sexuality.”10 When Sappho describes Persephone, she refers to her as “a tender girl picking flowers,” (Sappho frag. 122, trans. Campbell). From the beginning of the poem, there is a focus on the earth, sea, and heavens, showing how Zeus is attempting to exert control over these realms. Consider the scene of Persephone’s rape and abduction, and the range of realms represented, including the “wide heaven above,” “all the earth,” and “the salty swell of the sea,” all of which share a part in the scene’s description:

παίζουσαν κούρῃσι σὺν Ὠκεανοῦ βαθυκόλποις ἄνθεά τ᾽ αἰνυµένην, ῥόδα καὶ κρόκον ἠδ᾽ ἴα καλὰ λειµῶν᾽ ἂµ µαλακὸν καὶ ἀγαλλίδας ἠδ᾽ ὑάκινθον νάρκισσόν θ᾽, ὃν φῦσε δόλον καλυκώπιδι κούρῃ Γαῖα Διὸς βουλῇσι χαριζοµένη Πολυδέκτῃ, θαυµαστὸν γανόωντα: σέβας τό γε πᾶσιν ἰδέσθαι ἀθανάτοις τε θεοῖς ἠδὲ θνητοῖς ἀνθρώποις: τοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ ῥίζης ἑκατὸν κάρα ἐξεπεφύκει: κὦζ᾽ ἥδιστ᾽ ὀδµή, πᾶς τ᾽ οὐρανὸς εὐρὺς ὕπερθεν γαῖά τε πᾶσ᾽ ἐγελάσσε καὶ ἁλµυρὸν οἶδµα θαλάσσης.

playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus

9 Deacy 2013, 399 10 Ibid, 398 12

and picking flowers, roses and crocuses and beautiful violets throughout a soft meadow and irises and hyacinths and the narcissus, which Earth produced as bait for the blushing girl at the will of Zeus being a favor to the All Receiver, gleaming wonderfully: it was a thing of reverential awe for all to see both for immortal gods and mortal men: and from its root a hundred blossoms grew: the odor smelled most pleasant, and all the wide heaven above and all the earth and the salty swell of the sea laughed. (HH2. 5-14)

The meadow also manifests itself as a locus amoenus, a literary topos on utopia, often with associations of Eden or Elysium, including descriptions of a place as beautiful and as a shady stretch of green or woodland. A topos going back to Homer’s time, characterized by descriptions of pastoral landscapes, the locus amoenus is clearly present throughout Greek literature. The narcissus, a common flower in the locus amoenus, is mentioned in the Hymn.11 This portrays the setting as serene and a place for children to gather peacefully. The violence that disrupts the flower picking in meadow then serves in stark contrast to the idyllic landscape. This idea of male intrusion into a peaceful scene presents itself as a theme, showing a disruption of childhood and the shattering of girlhood innocence. Within this, floral imagery provides symbolic insight into the relationship between men and women. The plucking of a flower is a violent act, as it separates the flower from the earth, and is also a sexually suggestive act that indicates

Persephone’s readiness for marriage and sex.12 In that way, Persephone and the flower parallel one another. She is brought to the land of death after her kidnapping, much like the flower that dies upon being picked. The flower then, while often having positive connotations, can be associated with death and detachment.

11 Rosenmeyer 2004, 164 12 Foley 1994, 107 13

The two cosmic realms of heaven and earth are united by the flower. When Persephone picks flowers, the heaven, earth, and sea “laughed” with joy (HH2. 13-14). In fact, “heaven, earth, and sea” is a way of saying “the whole world,” and the poet elsewhere uses the expression

“earth, sea and sun” as a means of saying “the upper world.”13 When Persephone cries out, “the mountains and depths of sea resound,” (HH2. 33). This shows the unity between different realms, further exemplified by Demeter’s search for her daughter, when she searches over land and sea (HH2. 43). Yet, even with the unity between heaven, earth, and sea, there is a lack of communication between Olympus, or heaven, and the Underworld. That is why, as stated above,

Demeter does not search the Underworld for her daughter, with her search being limited to the

“land and sea” (HH2. 43). This lack of a search is due to the fact that there is not a path to the

Underworld for the gods, and the Hymn presupposes this spatial disposition of the cosmos.14 The division of the spheres of influence, or timai, has its connection to the events of the Theogony.

Zeus acquired them after the Titanomachy, excluding the Titans from the timai, and promising them to those who sided with him. As such, the Titanomachy helped to determine the distribution of the timai among the gods.15 The disconnect between the gods and the Underworld is felt when

Persephone descends to the Underworld under Hades control:

ὄφρα µὲν οὖν γαῖάν τε καὶ οὐρανὸν ἀστερόεντα λεῦσσε θεὰ καὶ πόντον ἀγάρροον ἰχθυόεντα αὐγάς τ᾽ ἠελίου, ἔτι δ᾽ ἤλπετο µητέρα κεδνὴν ὄψεσθαι καὶ φῦλα θεῶν αἰειγενετάων, τόφρα οἱ ἐλπὶς ἔθελγε µέγαν νόον ἀχνυµένης περ: ἤχησαν δ᾽ ὀρέων κορυφαὶ καὶ βένθεα πόντου

13 Clay, 212

14 Ibid 15 Rudhart 1994, 199-200 14

φωνῇ ὑπ᾽ ἀθανάτῃ: τῆς δ᾽ ἔκλυε πότνια µήτηρ.

As long as the goddess looked at the earth and sparkling sky and the strong flowing sea full of fish and the rays of the sun, still she hoped to see her trusted mother and the race of immortal gods, meanwhile hope enchanted her great mind although being grieved: and the heights of the mountains and the depths of the sea sounded under her immortal voice: and her mistress mother heard her. (HH2. 33-39)

Notable here is the ambiguity of language, as line 35 could also translate as “she yet hoped that her mother and the gods would see her,” since going to the Underworld means Persephone becomes invisible to her mother and the Olympian gods.16 Before being snatched away through the gaping hole in the ground, being above ground is the last moment that she has the potential of being seen or heard by her mother or other gods or mortals.17

Following Persephone’s descent, there is an abrupt transition. This is odd considering how one might expect a description of her descent with Hades, but lines 33 to 36 provide the only glimpse into her descent.18 Clay believes that the text is intentionally abrupt, as, similar to

Persephone’s gaze, the poet and reader do not see anything of the Underworld. This lack of vision is similar to the gods who cannot see below to the Underworld from their position in

Olympus.19 As such, Zeus’ plan attempts to unify the timai by having his daughter married to

Hades, despite the unwillingness of Demeter and Persephone, in order to consolidate his power and increase communication among heaven, earth, and the Underworld. The idea of “Zeus’s

16 Clay, 215 17 Ibid, 216

18 Richardson, 159 19 Clay, 216 15 plan” is further solidified by being at the starting point of the poem. This is indicated in the above lines, as Zeus is described as having given Persephone to Hades. From the beginning of the Hymn and, as represented in the Theogony, Zeus’s plan includes gaining control of all the cosmos and forming a bridge between Olympus and the Underworld.

Zeus’ political goals contrast with his role as a father and protector of his daughter.15

Persephone treats the flower like “plaything,” as a child would, as she is innocent of the plot against her and her father’s role in it. The young girl calls “to her father the son of Kronos the highest and best” for help, expecting protection from her father (HH2. 20). While his daughter’s rape and abduction occur, Zeus is away from the scene at Olympus, receiving sacrifices from mortals, which shows his alliance with matters of state rather than with his fatherly duties (HH2.

27-29).20 While Zeus neglects his parental obligations, Demeter embraces them and takes great action to rescue her daughter.

While Zeus neglects his parental obligations, Demeter embraces them and takes great action to rescue her daughter. Demeter scours the earth, trespassing all the realms, except for the

Underworld, while looking for her daughter:

τῆς δ᾽ ἔκλυε πότνια µήτηρ. ὀξὺ δέ µιν κραδίην ἄχος ἔλλαβεν, ἀµφὶ δὲ χαίταις ἀµβροσίαις κρήδεµνα δαΐζετο χερσὶ φίλῃσι, κυάνεον δὲ κάλυµµα κατ᾽ ἀµφοτέρων βάλετ᾽ ὤµων, σεύατο δ᾽ ὥστ᾽ οἰωνός, ἐπὶ τραφερήν τε καὶ ὑγρὴν µαιοµένη: τῇ δ᾽ οὔτις ἐτήτυµα µυθήσασθαι ἤθελεν οὔτε θεῶν οὔτε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὔτ᾽ οἰωνῶν τις τῇ ἐτήτυµος ἄγγελος ἦλθεν.

and her mistress mother heard her. A sharp pain seized her heart, and on her divine flowing hair

20 Clay, 215 16

she cleaved the woman’s head-dress with her dear hands, and she threw down a dark veil from both shoulders and hastened just like a bird put into motion, seeking her over the dry land and sea: but to her no one of neither the gods nor mortal men was willing to tell the truth, nor any of the birds came as messenger with the truth for her. (HH2. 39-46)

Demeter hears her daughter, but cannot identify what has happened to her. She wanders as a madwoman, resembling the reaction by Hekabe and Andromache in the Iliad (Il. 22.401-470).21

Demeter’s reaction was not an unusual one but actually quite commonplace, and connects the maternal figures of Demeter and Andromache. Further, Demeter does not know yet what has happened to her daughter, remaining in the dark, introducing the theme of light and dark. She searches “over the dry land and sea,” again showing a connection between the realms, and how she is unable to search the underworld (HH2.43). Fire plays a prominent role in the realization, and notably the fire is present in the torches Demeter carries while looking for her daughter:

ἐννῆµαρ µὲν ἔπειτα κατὰ χθόνα πότνια Δηὼ στρωφᾶτ᾽ αἰθοµένας δαΐδας µετὰ χερσὶν ἔχουσα, οὐδέ ποτ᾽ ἀµβροσίης καὶ νέκταρος ἡδυπότοιο πάσσατ᾽ ἀκηχεµένη, οὐδὲ χρόα βάλλετο λουτροῖς.

Then for nine days upon the earth mistress Deo turned constantly holding burning torches with her hands, and being grieved she did not eat ambrosia and sweet nectar, nor did she dash her skin with water. (HH2. 47-50)

Scholars have long conjectured that the nine days that Demeter fasted would correspond with a ritual within the Eleusinian mysteries.22 However, as Clay points out, this period of time would

21 Richardson, 161 22 Ibid, 165 17 be too long for a person, or even a god, to fast. The torches could connect to Eleusinian ritual practice, with torchlight often being associated with the ritual, specifically in art work representing it.23 In fact, light acts as a motif in the Hymn, with Demeter searching during the day and also at night while carrying torches.24 This connection to light and darkness is further emphasized by the only two gods who witness the rape, the sun god Helios and the moon goddess Hekate. Thematically, light and darkness connect well to the idea of revelation, in which

Demeter learns what happened to her daughter. As will be discussed in depth in the next chapter, fire factors into Demeter’s stay in Eleusis, specifically when she places Demophoon in the fire, and thus the theme of lightness and darkness is present throughout the poem.

An Atypical Marriage

In this politically motivated marriage, Persephone is the vehicle to form a union between

Olympus and the Underworld, and to allow Zeus access to the Underworld.25 It is understandable why the marriage deviates from the norm, as the nuptials have the added pressure of joining the realms. As a result, Zeus must act in a deceptive manner, being secretive— something not usually required of a father— in order to bypass his wife and trick his daughter into becoming a bride. It is unusual why Hades, as a lawful husband approved by Zeus, must abduct his bride-to- be and take her by force.26 The fact that the flower has “a hundred heads” alludes to the

Hundred- Handers and the hundred-headed Typhoeus in the Theogony.27 Similar to producing a

23 Clay, 217

24 Ibid 25 Ibid, 213

26 Ibid 27 Ibid 18 flower, Gaia brings forward these creatures. In this, Gaia plays a mediating role between Zeus and Hades, while determining and protecting Zeus’ power. Gaia gives the power of the earth, including the narcissus, to Zeus.28 Imagery associated with the earth is present in the following passage, in which the earth gapes open while Persephone is picking flowers and the young girl is taken by Hades to the Underworld:

ἣ δ᾽ ἄρα θαµβήσασ᾽ ὠρέξατο χερσὶν ἅµ᾽ ἄµφω καλὸν ἄθυρµα λαβεῖν: χάνε δὲ χθὼν εὐρυάγυια Νύσιον ἂµ πεδίον, τῇ ὄρουσεν ἄναξ Πολυδέγµων ἵπποις ἀθανάτοισι, Κρόνου πολυώνυµος υἱός. ἁρπάξας δ᾽ ἀέκουσαν ἐπὶ χρυσέοισιν ὄχοισιν ἦγ᾽ ὀλοφυροµένην: ἰάχησε δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὄρθια φωνῇ, κεκλοµένη πατέρα Κρονίδην ὕπατον καὶ ἄριστον

And she marveled at it as she reached out with her hands both at the same time to seize the beautiful plaything: but the wide-pathed earth gaped on the plain of Nysa, upon her the lord Hades, the many-named son of Kronos, rushed forward with immortal horses. And having snatched her away unwilling onto a golden carriage he led her away wailing: and she cried with a high-pitched cry, calling to her father the son of Kronos the highest and best. (HH2. 15-21)

Questions arise regarding the prospect of marriage and its legitimacy in Persephone’s story.

Persephone’s marriage is strange in that she does not initially have access to her parents after the marriage, which would usually be the case after a god’s marriage.29 In terms of the ceremony itself, there is the engue, or marriage pledge, that occurred between the bride’s father and the groom, and the bride is moved by chariot to her husband’s home. However, other ancient

Athenian marriage rites did not occur, such as the cohabitation between bride and groom and the

28 Ibid 29 Foley, 111 19 bride’s mother’s involvement in the ceremony.30 There is no confirmation of cohabitation or sexual intercourse between Persephone and Hades. The fact that Persephone is “unwilling” and thinking of her mother when she first marries Hades might imply that this act did not occur, as well as the fact that she initially does not eat anything, as eating was commonly linked to sexual desire and marriage in ancient Greece (HH2. 19). Since Persephone does not eat, such cohabitation was delayed or altogether absent. Furthermore, the bride’s mother normally would carry the torches in the ceremony, but in Demeter’s case, she only carries them after the marriage has occurred, thus suggesting that the marriage is atypical and in need of intervention or readjustment.31

Hekate and Helios

Older scholarship often states that Hekate’s only reason for being in the Hymn was her association with the cult of Demeter, but this is only partially the case.32 Clay discusses how

Hekate takes on the role of intermediary in what is a gradual process of revealing to Demeter what happened to her daughter, as she asks Demeter a question instead of stating immediately what she has witnessed: τίς θεῶν οὐρανίων ἠὲ θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων/ ἥρπασε Περσεφόνην καὶ σὸν

φίλον ἤκαχε θυµόν; (“who of the heavenly gods or mortal men/ snatched away Persephone and grieved your dear heart?”/HH2. 55-56).33 Hekate provides information, through her question, that Persephone was in fact abducted, but still both goddesses are unaware of Zeus’ plan and

30 Ibid, 108 31 Ibid, 108

32 Richardson, 155-156 33 Clay, 218 20

Persephone’s marriage to Hades.34 When Hecate informs Demeter, she is showing an allegiance toward Demeter, a goddess, instead of siding with Hades and Zeus. This could indicate the closeness between the goddesses, and a desire to protect each other from men. There are also the interactions among women, specifically among Celeus’ daughters, and the ways in which they talk to each other. As stated before, being surrounded by women acts as a layer of protection.35

Helios is described as the following: θεῶν σκοπὸν ἠδὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν (“watchman of the gods and men”/HH2. 62). Helios is described as sun god and one who sees all. Since light is often associated with vision, seeing and illumination play a role in the god’s characterization.

The female goddesses Demeter, Hecate, and Persephone and the male gods Zeus, Helios, and Hades form their own separate groups, based on their gender.36 This is evident when Helios acts as an apologist for Zeus while trying to placate Demeter:

ἀλλά, θεά, κατάπαυε µέγαν γόον: οὐδέ τί σε χρὴ µὰψ αὔτως ἄπλητον ἔχειν χόλον: οὔ τοι ἀεικὴς γαµβρὸς ἐν ἀθανάτοις Πολυσηµάντωρ Ἀιδωνεύς, αὐτοκασίγνητος καὶ ὁµόσπορος: ἀµφὶ δὲ τιµὴν ἔλλαχεν ὡς τὰ πρῶτα διάτριχα δασµὸς ἐτύχθη, τοῖς µεταναιετάειν, τῶν ἔλλαχε κοίρανος εἶναι.

But, goddess, stop your great weeping: it is not necessary that you have great anger in vain in this manner: the Ruler of Many Aidoneus is not an unseemly husband among the immortals, being your own brother and from the same race: and concerning honor when he obtained a third of the spoils by lot at first, he dwells among them, those of whom he obtained by lot that he is king. (HH2. 82-87)

34 Ibid, 219

35 Foley, 104 36 Ibid, 105 21

Notable is that Helios disregards the more sinister characteristics of Hades in order to portray him in a positive light, doing so to please Zeus and Hades.37 This shows the strong connection between men that leads them to protect each other’s interests to reach a common goal, which in this case is to calm Demeter and have her accept her daughter’s marriage to Hades. Demeter resists the marriage, despite Hades being an ideal match by marital standards. For example,

Hades is described by Helios as having honors that would be admirable in a husband. For women of ancient Greece, specifically in the Homeric period, a mother would not resist handing over her daughter to a suitable husband.38 Instead, the plot of the Hymn is more similar to Greek dramas that would arise during the fifth century BCE, in which there was divine marriage whereby the gods can escape the social consequences that would often affect mortals.39

Young Women and Marriage

It was customary for young women in ancient Greece to travel in groups, only frequent public spaces, and perform specific women’s work, as doing so would help them to protect their celibacy.40 Maintaining celibacy and thus virtue was a priority for their reputations as well as their safety. The first moment we encounter Persephone, she is surrounded by a large group of girls, which we later learn numbers twenty-three. They are together doing a simple woman’s task: picking flowers. Another example includes Celeus’ daughters, whom Demeter will encounter at Eleusis later, who go to the public well together to gather water, another woman’s

37 Ibid, 40 38 Ibid, 105

39 Ibid 40 Lefkowitz 2007, 121 22 task. Young unmarried women, in addition to traveling in groups as they participate in socially acceptable tasks, would need to seek parental permission before executing most tasks. Celeus’ daughters relate how they need their mother’s permission before they can invite Demeter, disguised as an old woman, to their home. Young women have limitations placed upon them due to the threat of seduction or sexual violence. When relating the story of her abduction,

Persephone lists by name the twenty-three young women whom she was with when Hades seized her. The implication is that she thought, given that she was with so large a group of girls, she would be safe.41 The list could also be a way to show that she was acting in a socially acceptable way and was not at fault for what happened. A woman’s ability to express sexuality directly affects her safety, as a woman would typically be safe if she were surrounded by other young women.42

Identifying the nature of Persephone’s experiences with marriage at the transitional stage of her young adulthood provides insight into the relationship between marriage and family. One such way of looking at a marriage is considering whether it is an endogamous or exogamous marriage. An endogamous marriage is marriage between insiders that would result in the daughter remaining with her natal family, while an exogamous marriage occurs when the daughter is separated from her natal family after her marriage and more specifically separated from her parents.43 Marriages between gods were considered endogamous, and a mortal marriage tended to be exogamous with the married woman being sent away from her natal family to live

41 Ibid, 107

42 Ibid, 108 43 Foley, 106-107 23 with her husband. Persephone’s marriage to Hades contains elements of both an endogamous and exogamous marriage, but corresponds more closely to an exogamous marriage. While

Persephone marries her uncle, who is within her natal family, she is separated from her parents,

Demeter and Zeus, when she is taken to the underworld. This geographical separation would be more reminiscent of a mortal woman’s marriage, and as such Persephone would emblematize the marriage experience.44 Unique to Persephone’s marriage is the lack of control that her father has in the process of her marriage. Demeter’s resistance to the marriage, the ensuing famine, as well as Hades feeding Persephone fruit, all occurred without the permission or awareness of Zeus.45

Persephone and Nausicaa

Looking at Nausicaa and her episode with Odysseus in Book 6 of the Odyssey provides insight into the typical and atypical moments in Persephone’s childhood by comparing their similarities and differences. Contrasting the treatment of divine marriage and mortal marriage provides insight into the treatment of women in general. In her interactions with men,

Persephone must tread carefully. Persephone tries to avoid abduction but ultimately cannot resist the marriage. Take Nausicaa as a counter-example. As a mortal, she is careful not to break any rules of impropriety, as she knows that consequences would ensue. Specifically, she tells

Odysseus to travel into the kingdom separately, so that no one would make improper judgments about their relationship. Nausicaa’s parents, moreover, give their approval for a relationship with him, with her father going so far as to encourage the relationship. Such things as rape, incest, promiscuity would be more heavily punishable for mortal women.46 There are certain elements

44 Ibid, 107

45 Ibid, 111 46 Ibid, 105 24 to Nausicaa’s potential marriage with Odysseus, for instance having both her parents’ permission, that allow the pairing to appear more just. Persephone and Nausicaa both have their parents’ permission, but as stated before, Zeus has little control over the events that follow, and while most marriages would bring the bride’s husband and father closer together, there remains a geographical separation between both gods. The need for a man to have a legitimate heir also factors into the relationship between husband and wife, which is why sexual fidelity and inheritance are more associated with mortal marriage. This helps to explain Nausicaa’s caution when it comes to her sexual involvement with mortals.

In the Hymn, marriage is not romanticized, as the institution of marriage as a whole is challenged.47 Marriage and children were the end goal for women of ancient Greece, with immortal love always being fruitful. For example, this would certainly be considered the best outcome for Celeus’ daughters. The Hymn does not provide false beliefs for the aspirations of women. In fact, the comparison between mortal women and goddesses continues to be stark, as goddesses like Demeter do not need men to protect them against the threat of rape, and they also do not need to marry in order to procreate.48 Meaning, since goddesses lack the threat of sexuality and do not face the consequences of sexuality that a mortal woman like Nausicaa would face, marriage is not essential for them; they have a higher degree of freedom and independence. Demeter’s plight to have her daughter returned to her is, in a sense, an argument against the exogamous marriage in support of an endogamous one.49 Her fight against the mortal

47 Ibid, 109

48 Ibid 49 Ibid, 110 25 idea of exogamy could reflect a changing belief in ancient Greece, and reflect the current criticisms of the institution of marriage. The fact that an arrangement is made that allows endogamous elements, such as close geographical proximity, demonstrates a critical view of a bride’s separation from her natal family after marriage. Furthermore, Persephone ends up spending more of the year with Demeter and her natal family than with her husband.50 As such,

Hades has less power over his wife than would be typical of an Athenian marriage. He shares geographical and physical possession of her with her natal family.

Persephone and Iphigenia

By the conclusion, the Hymn establishes a ring structure with the narrative coming full circle. Persephone gains partial freedom from both her mother and husband, as well the opportunity to speak out and tell her story.51 In a sense, Demeter parallels Odysseus who is also on a quest to recover his distant family after a far geographic separation and restore honor to himself and his family. Furthermore, women are often sacrificed as part of a male quest.

Persephone is sacrificed to the advantage of Zeus and Hades, and Nausicaa is just another woman who is later cast aside on Odysseus’ quest to return home. Consider also the story of

Iphigenia. Her father Agamemnon sacrifices her so that he can complete his quest of reaching

Troy and achieve victory there. Notable also is that all three of these women are of marriageable age, with one version of Iphigenia’s story including her surviving and going on to be married.52

There is in the Hymn also an idea of Persephone’s abduction being undone, but at the same time

50 Ibid

51 Ibid, 60 52 Ibid, 104 26 she is still sacrificed.53 This is evident in the fact that Persephone can return to her mother for certain months of the year, spending more of her time in the upper world than in the underworld.

Despite all of this, she still remains a partial sacrifice to Hades and the underworld.

Looking at a comparison of Persephone and Iphigenia and the similarities they have with their mothers provides insight into the mother-daughter bond. Demeter and Clytemnestra both embark on female quests, which, similar to male quests, are motivated by the pursuit of honor and status; but, unlike the male quests, the female quest is defined by issues concerning marriage and fertility.54 Demeter’s quest is to find and obtain her daughter and Clytemnestra’s goal is to avenge her daughter’s death, both of which show a commitment to their daughters and the strength of the mother-daughter bond. The intensity of this bond is evident in the destruction that occurs as a result of Demeter’s separation from Persephone. Demeter takes extreme measures in an attempt to return her daughter to her, and causes the deaths of countless mortals in the process. As such, death and destruction are linked, as seen in the events of the Oresteia and

Hymn to Demeter:

ἀτὰρ ξανθὴ Δηµήτηρ ἔνθα καθεζοµένη µακάρων ἀπὸ νόσφιν ἁπάντων µίµνε πόθῳ µινύθουσα βαθυζώνοιο θυγατρός. αἰνότατον δ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ἐπὶ χθόνα πουλυβότειραν ποίησ᾽ ἀνθρώποις καὶ κύντατον: οὐδέ τι γαῖα σπέρµ᾽ ἀνίει, κρύπτεν γὰρ ἐυστέφανος Δηµήτηρ: πολλὰ δὲ καµπύλ᾽ ἄροτρα µάτην βόες εἷλκον ἀρούραις: πολλὸν δὲ κρῖ λευκὸν ἐτώσιον ἔµπεσε γαίῃ:

but yellow-haired Demeter sitting there away from all the blessed ones stayed diminishing with longing for her deep-girded daughter.

53 Ibid 54 Ibid, 104 27

And she brought about a most dreadful and horrible year for humans upon the much-nourishing ground: the earth didn’t make any seed spring up, for well-girdled Demeter hid it: and bulls dragged many plows on the fields in vain. (HH2. 302-309)

Zeus’ marriage plan for Persephone violently separates the daughter from her mother, disrupting

Demeter’s bond with Persephone. This shows the strength of mother-daughter bonds, for the man coming between the mother-daughter bonds acts as a type of invasion.55 This is evident in the several natural disasters that occur, as seen above when Demeter withholds the seed from the earth, showing how breaking this bond disrupts nature. Also, the mysteries that Demeter establishes in the search for her daughter further shows the power of her and her cult, which all develop when her bond with Persephone is disturbed. Further, the invasion of the male into the mother-daughter bond has disastrous consequences for the invader in question. Demeter withholds the seed of the earth, creating a famine and thus preventing the sacrifice of animals to the gods.

While the parents played a role in the events and circumstances surrounding the marriages of their daughters, the institution of marriage itself serves as a form of death in

Persephone and Iphigenia’s stories. In ancient Greece, young women who died before their wedding day would be buried in their wedding clothes and referred to as “brides of Hades.”56

“Hades” is frequently used as a metonymy for death. Persephone is literally marrying death, implying her metaphorical death. As such, Iphigenia dies before her marriage to Achilles and

Persephone actually marries Death.

55 Zeitlin 1978, 158 56 Seaford 1987, 107 28

Conclusion

When Persephone is snatched away from the meadow, she is one of several young women to be violently abducted and raped. What is unique about her story, however, is the instrumental role her father played in bringing it about. The Plan of Zeus, which was to unite the timai, separates Persephone from her mother. Demeter’s reaction to the marriage leads to destruction, highlighting the strength of the mother-daughter bond. Using Nausicaa and

Iphigenia’s stories, this chapter examined the similarities of a young, unmarried women in ancient Greek literature.

Subsequent chapters will look in greater depth at motherhood, examining the effects of

Demeter’s separation from Persephone, while continuing to look at temporality. Demeter’s use of

Demophoon as a surrogate child and her baptism of him in the fire will shed light on motherhood, further commenting the bond between mother and child. The focus will also be on older women, as Demeter dresses up as an older woman in Eleusis, which is unusual for the goddess to choose as a disguise. Overall, the next chapter will look at the episode at Eleusis with

Demeter, Metaneira, Demophoon, and discuss the Eleusinian mysteries in greater depth, thus looking at the typical and atypical moments the text depicts in a mother’s life. 29

Chapter 2: Motherhood and its Implications at Eleusis

The reason for the Eleusis episode presents itself as a pressing issue to understand, as exploring what happens there provides insight into the theme of motherhood and old womanhood in the hymn. Crucial to the events that occur at Eleusis are the central themes of motherhood and the mother-child bond. In the disguise of an old woman, Demeter travels to

Eleusis and through her portrayal and interactions with other characters, including the jocular

Iambe, the role of older women is illuminated in the Hymn. Thus in this chapter I discuss the female experience of an older woman, including an older woman’s role as a nurse and portrayal as a witch. Ultimately, the events at Eleusis speak to Demeter’s grief at the loss of her daughter.

By exploring the mother-daughter duo of Demeter in conjunction mother-son relationship of

Metaneira and Demophoon, I will explore the common experience of motherhood shared by the two main maternal figures and the implications that occur when the mother-child bond is disrupted. Much of what occurs at Eleusis, including Demeter’s placement of Demophoon in the fire, is linked to cultic practice and thus speaks to Demeter’s cult, rites, and mysteries. Thus this chapter will engage with the Eleusinian Mysteries, including its links to the female experience and motherhood.

Demeter’s Defiance and Grief

Considering the spatial world is essential in understanding the separation of the timai and also the separation of mother and daughter. When Demeter goes to Eleusis, there is a separation between Demeter and the gods at Olympus. Just as Zeus is absent from the scene of his daughter’s abduction, Demeter is absent from Olympus and lives among the mortals.57 The

57 Clay, 222 30 narrative also has a similar separation, as the events at the Eleusis have seemingly little to do with the plot of finding her daughter, and according to certain scholars, the rape of Persephone and the Eleusis story are altogether two separate stories that were pieced together.58 In fact, by taking out the episode at Eleusis, which accounts for nearly half of the poem, Demeter’s withdrawal from Olympus would continue with her withholding of the seed from the earth, making sense for the story arc of the hymn. As such, some scholars have argued that the rape of

Persephone is in no way connected to Eleusis.59 They go as far to state that while it might appear that Demeter goes to Eleusis to search for her daughter or find out who abducted her daughter, not once does she ask about Persephone’s whereabouts and by that point Helios has already told

Demeter about who abducted her daughter. It is only after Demeter has left Eleusis does her search for her daughter’s return begin.60

As Demeter’s search for her daughter’s abductor has already ended, the motivation for her trip to Eleusis is unclear. Yet the grief of losing her daughter is certainly not forgotten. When

Demeter enters Celeus’ house, she does the following:

ἔνθα καθεζοµένη προκατέσχετο χερσὶ καλύπτρην: δηρὸν δ᾽ ἄφθογγος τετιηµένη ἧστ᾽ ἐπὶ δίφρου, οὐδέ τιν᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἔπεϊ προσπτύσσετο οὔτε τι ἔργῳ,

There sitting down she held her veil in her hands: full of sorrow, she sat voiceless on the seat, and didn’t embrace anyone neither with a word nor a deed, (HH2. 197-199).

58 Ibid, 223

59 Ibid 60 Ibid 31

Demeter’s grief is evident in this moment. She has a physical response, one that Clay calls “a mute paroxysm of grief over the loss of her daughter,” as she is described as voiceless and full of sorrow.61 She refuses a drink, showing the effects the grief has on her body and spirit. Again, while others argue that she puts aside her anger at Zeus during the story at Eleusis, the opposite is true as Demeter takes Demophoon as a surrogate child, arguably as retaliation and anger over

Zeus’ role in the abduction of their daughter. The anger at Zeus is more complex than appearing originally. If wanting to find a surrogate for her daughter Persephone, it is curious then why

Demeter chooses a male child as a surrogate instead of a female one. As such, her nursing of

Demophoon serves a political purpose. Similar to the way that Zeus has utilized his daughter for political motivations, Demeter does the same. She uses Demophoon to serve her political activity, which thus links her daughter’s abduction with the events occurring at Eleusis.62 When

Hades abducts Persephone he takes a young living woman and brings her to the Underworld, keeping her away from the living world. In return, Demeter takes Demophoon and attempts to give him immortality, keeping Demophoon away from death, Hades, and the Underworld.63 As such, the goddess’ need for retaliation becomes evident, as the main motivation for her time at

Eleusis is revealed as politically motivated.

Demeter’s anger at the loss of her daughter is further illuminated with the goddess’ defiance toward a male deity, in Demeter’s case Zeus, which is a theme that is echoed through

Hesiodic and Homeric times. Similar to how Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to mortals in Hesiod’s Theogony, Demeter stole immortality from the gods to give to a mortal

61 Ibid, 225

62 Ibid 63 Ibid 32 child.64 As such, Demeter is undermining Zeus, and continuing a long tradition of defiance against a powerful deity. The Hymn also represents Demeter, similar to Prometheus, as closer to humanity. As tradition would show in the Theogony, male children have the potential to undermine Zeus’ authority. Demeter’s act of giving a male child immortality shows a defiance toward Zeus’s authority.65 Thus, connecting Demeter’s plight to that Prometheus and other figures from the Homeric tradition offer other parallels to consider.

Demeter also serves as a parallel to Hera in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. Demeter and

Hera both attempt to undermine Zeus’ authority through nursing or giving birth to a child.

Demeter nurses Demophoon as a surrogate child, while Hera gives birth to Typhon in retaliation of Zeus’ birth of Athena without her and her insecurity at having given birth to the lame god

Hephaestus. The whole story arc at Eleusis helps solidify the poem as one that is part of the theogonic and cosmogonic tradition.66 This falls into line with the tradition of a female deity defying a male deity in the pursuit of motherhood. Again, we see that there is a strong connection between the goddesses and mortals in the Homeric Hymns. This is evident when Demeter takes immortality for the mortals, leaving behind Olympus and choosing to live among the mortals in the disguise of a mortal woman. Further, the contrast and relationship between mortals and the gods is also shown. Also, as I will examine later, in the scene in which Metaneira interrupts

Demeter while she is giving her son Demophoon immortality, the ignorance of mortals, a defining characteristic in the Hymn, is illuminated as a theme in the Homeric Hymns.

64 Ibid, 226

65 Ibid 66 Ibid 33

Demeter as Doso

When Demeter first arrives at Eleusis, she chooses to don the disguise of a mortal woman, specifically an older woman. It then becomes a question why the goddess of fertility chooses the form of an older woman as her disguise at Eleusis, as the form is not godlike, with old age being strongly associated with mortals.67 Also, much emphasis is later put on the fact that

Demeter nurses Demophoon, which is clearly a common role of older women, as indicated in the quote below. In the disguise of Doso, Demeter is described as the following way:

γρηὶ παλαιγενέι ἐναλίγκιος, ἥτε τόκοιο εἴργηται δώρων τε φιλοστεφάνου Ἀφροδίτης, οἷαί τε τροφοί εἰσι θεµιστοπόλων βασιλήων παίδων καὶ ταµίαι κατὰ δώµατα ἠχήεντα.

similar to an old woman born long ago, who is shut off from childbirth and the gifts of garland-loving Aphrodite, and such as the nurses of the children of kings are at ministering law and housekeepers in the ringing homes. (HH2. 101-104)

What connects even more to the ideas of mortality and immortality within the Hymn is that old age is very much associated with mortals. When disguising themselves to interact with mortals, gods and goddesses often choose young men and women, as they do not have to deal with the sufferings associated with old age. Demeter surprisingly chooses an old woman as an identity to use while traveling about Eleusis. As a fertility goddess, choosing a barren old woman as a disguise seems to be contradictory to what she represents. She is described as an old woman

“shut off from childbirth” (102). Possible reasons for her choice include wanting to be a

67 Ibid, 227 34 combination of pitied, respected, and trusted.68 This trust would be especially necessary for her to gain the confidence of the royal family, and thus be allowed to nurse their newborn child.

While at the well, the daughters of Celeus are introduced and thus described as “like goddesses in the bloom of their youth” (108). This is in stark contrast with the presence of

Demeter as the old woman Doso. Thus there is contrast and irony introduced within the scene, with it being even more ironic that Demeter takes the role of a suppliant.69 This is in contrast to the mortals in the scene being suppliants, and the suppliants also being young girls, which is a notable role reversal in the scene. Further showing how mortals are in many ways ignorant is the way in which Celeus’ daughters are unable to recognize that they are in the presence of a goddess: “Nor did they know her; the gods are difficult for mortals to behold” (111). Throughout the whole poem, references to “mortals” and “immortals” persist and form a stark a contrast between the two.

Looking at the tale that Demeter as Doso tells highlights a connection to Odysseus. Both characters fabricate a past tale associated with Crete. Doso and Odysseus are both cunning and able to craft a long fictional personal story, and similarly the tales are fictional but resemble the truth and have a message grounded in truth. They are telling a manipulative story to achieve their own agendas.70 As such, while the superficial elements of the story are false, the message is true.71 For Doso, her story includes being abducted by pirates, mirroring the events that happen to Persephone. In both stories the women are taken against their will, and as Doso describes: “by

68 Ibid 69 Richardson, 180

70 Clay, 228 71 Arthur, 19 35 force against my will by compulsion” (HH2. 124). The most important point highlighted in

Doso’s Cretan story is that Demeter is able to escape from her abductors, standing in stark contrast with Persephone who at this point in the Hymn is unable to escape from Hades. In both stories, Persephone and Doso are treated as commodities, with both women holding value for their abductors, Persephone as a political value and Doso as a monetary value. Yet, the stories differ in that Persephone cannot escape on her own, while Doso can.72 Doso’s Cretan story also connects to the story Persephone tells at the conclusion of the hymn, both in terms of how truthful it is and in terms of being similar in content. As such, the stories comment on the level of female agency a woman has at the different temporal moments in her life. Persephone as a young woman struggles to free herself after being abducted against her will, while the older woman

Doso successfully escapes.

Demeter acting as a suppliant in this reversal of roles, with the goddess being a suppliant to young mortal women, seeks pity from Celeus’ daughters. She asks of them the following:

ἀλλ᾽ ὑµῖν µὲν πάντες Ὀλύµπια δώµατ᾽ ἔχοντες δοῖεν κουριδίους ἄνδρας, καὶ τέκνα τεκέσθαι, ὡς ἐθέλουσι τοκῆες: ἐµὲ δ᾽ αὖτ᾽ οἰκτείρατε, κοῦραι. [τοῦτο δέ µοι σαφέως ὑποθήκατε, ὄφρα πύθωµαι,] προφρονέως, φίλα τέκνα, τέων πρὸς δώµαθ᾽ ἵκωµαι ἀνέρος ἠδὲ γυναικός, ἵνα σφίσιν ἐργάζωµαι πρόφρων, οἷα γυναικὸς ἀφήλικος ἔργα τέτυκται: καὶ κεν παῖδα νεογνὸν ἐν ἀγκοίνῃσιν ἔχουσα καλὰ τιθηνοίµην καὶ δώµατα τηρήσαιµι καί κε λέχος στορέσαιµι µυχῷ θαλάµων εὐπήκτων δεσπόσυνον καί κ᾽ ἔργα διδασκήσαιµι γυναῖκας.

But would that all having Olympian homes give you wedded men, and to give birth to children,

72 Clay, 228 36

as your parents wish: and pity me, girls. [And advise this to me clearly, in order that I may learn,] with a forward mind, dear children, to the house of which man and woman may I go, in order that I may work for them with a forward mind, such works as it has been made ready for elderly women: And having a new-born child in my bent arms I could nurse it well and watch over the house and spread the bed of my master in the corner of the well- built inner rooms and teach works to women. (HH2. 135-144)

Doso’s first address to Celeus’ daughters focuses on their status as unmarried young women, as the goddess wishes that they have husbands of a godly status and that they have children. Their status as young women is therefore tied to their marriage potential and child bearing. This draws a similarity among the young unmarried women of the text, Persephone and Celeus’ daughters, showing how they have a shared experience. Despite being of different ranks, one a goddess the others mortals, they have a common shared experience nonetheless, showing the common, typical moments in a young woman’s life. As such, Persephone must adhere to her parents’ wishes, and Celeus’ daughters must do so, as well. It also highlights the fact that Demeter did not have a say in her daughter’s marriage.73 For Celeus’ daughters, the emphasis is on what their parents wish. This point is clear when Demeter says “as your parents wish” rather than “as your father wishes” showing the inclusion of the young women’s mother in the decision of whom her daughters marry (137). The inclusion of this line also shows how Demeter is not against the idea of marriage as a whole, but rather opposes the one between Persephone and Hades.74 The clear reason for her opposition to Hades exists in that Persephone marrying him would result in a physical separation between her and her daughter.

73 Ibid, 229 74 Ibid 37

Choosing the disguise of an old woman allows Demeter access to the royal household and its family. With the unassuming look of an old woman and fitting the description of a nurse,

Demeter can gain a position in Celeus’ home. Her appeal for pity is clever in that it appeals to the young girls’ sympathies and then ends with a request for a position within their home. Demeter then accomplishes her goal of gaining a position as nurse by appealing to their emotions and using her status as an old woman. The disguise also comes with a degree of respect. The most beautiful of the girls, Callidice, addresses Doso, speaking to her respectfully:

µαῖα, θεῶν µὲν δῶρα καὶ ἀχνύµενοί περ ἀνάγκῃ τέτλαµεν ἄνθρωποι: δὴ γὰρ πολὺ φέρτεροί εἰσι. ταῦτα δέ τοι σαφέως ὑποθήσοµαι ἠδ᾽ ὀνοµήνω 150ἀνέρας οἷσιν ἔπεστι µέγα κράτος ἐνθάδε τιµῆς δήµου τε προὔχουσιν ἰδὲ κρήδεµνα πόληος εἰρύαται βουλῇσι καὶ ἰθείῃσι δίκῃσιν:

Good mother, the gifts of the gods and being grieved by necessity although we humans have suffered: for they are stronger by far. But clearly I will advise you these things and name the sort of men being great from powerful honor here and holding the city first and guard the city’s walls with their will and straight judgments: (HH2. 147-152)

Speaking to the plight of mortals, Callidice, discusses gifts and offerings given by mortals, illuminating the power dynamics between the gods and mortals, as mortals are helpless against the gods and their plans. Callidice’s speech to the goddess contains elements of irony, as the young woman is ignorant of the goddesses’ true identity and addresses Doso, a name that means

“giver,” not knowing that Demeter will later attempt to give her younger brother the gift of immortality.75 In addition, as a fertility goddess, Demeter has given the gift of fertility, grain, and

75 Ibid, 230 38 agriculture to mortals, which further solidifies her status as a giver. Even when in the very presence of an immortal, Callidice is easily misled by Doso’s story and succumbs to Demeter’s wishes, failing to understand the goddess’ motivations. As such, Callidice’s ignorance throughout this conversation both of the goddess’ identity and her plans for the future highlights the ignorance of mortals.

The influence of the young women’s mother, Metaneira, is acknowledged in the scene, when Callidice says that they must get word from their mother before inviting Doso into their home. Again, there is a contrast between how the goddess Demeter is treated versus the mortal

Metaneira. Given a voice and opinion in marriage and matters of the household, Metaneira has a different kind of female agency than that of Demeter. It should be noted that while Demeter has no influence in the marriage of her daughter at the beginning, her subsequent actions of withholding the seed from the earth and preventing the sacrifices to Olympus empower her and allow her to gain influence over Zeus. In this particular example of arranging marriage, however,

Metaneira has more power in the choice of her daughters’ future husbands. Celeus’ daughter then says that Doso might have a place looking over her younger brother, Demophoon:

εἰ δ᾽ ἐθέλεις, ἐπίµεινον, ἵνα πρὸς δώµατα πατρὸς ἔλθωµεν καὶ µητρὶ βαθυζώνῳ Μετανείρῃ εἴπωµεν τάδε πάντα διαµπερές, αἴ κέ σ᾽ ἀνώγῃ ἡµέτερόνδ᾽ ἰέναι µηδ᾽ ἄλλων δώµατ᾽ ἐρευνᾶν. τηλύγετος δέ οἱ υἱὸς ἐνὶ µεγάρῳ εὐπήκτῳ ὀψίγονος τρέφεται, πολυεύχετος ἀσπάσιός τε. εἰ τόν γ᾽ ἐκθρέψαιο καὶ ἥβης µέτρον ἵκοιτο, ῥεῖά κέ τίς σε ἰδοῦσα γυναικῶν θηλυτεράων ζηλώσαι: τόσα κέν τοι ἀπὸ θρεπτήρια δοίη.

But if you wish, stay, in order that we may go to the house of my father and tell to my deep-bosomed mother Metaneira all these things through and through, that she may command you 39

to come to our house than seek the houses of others. And in our well built house she raises a late-born son, of many prayers and welcome. If you could raise him and bring him to the measure of youth, easily anyone of female women seeing you would vie with you: she would give so great things for feeding him. (HH2. 160-168)

Notable here is the emphasis that Demophoon is “late-born, of many prayers and welcome” (165). As the child is the only son and sole heir of the family, safely nursing him through childhood would be an even more precious matter.76 His status as a late-born child would require the trust of whomever nursed him, and as stated in the above passage, ensuring that he reached adulthood would be important. Further, Celeus’ daughters notes, still ignorant of

Doso’s identity, that nursing Demophoon would be a privilege and if Doso got the position as nurse, then all the women would be jealous of her.

When Doso along with Celeus’ daughters arrive at the palace, Doso offers a glimpse that she might be more than what she appears:

αἶψα δὲ δώµαθ᾽ ἵκοντο διοτρεφέος Κελεοῖο βὰν δὲ δι᾽ αἰθούσης, ἔνθα σφίσι πότνια µήτηρ ἧστο παρὰ σταθµὸν τέγεος πύκα ποιητοῖο παῖδ᾽ ὑπὸ κόλπῳ ἔχουσα, νέον θάλος: αἳ δὲ πὰρ αὐτὴν ἔδραµον: ἣ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἐπ᾽ οὐδὸν ἔβη ποσὶ καὶ ῥα µελάθρου κῦρε κάρη, πλῆσεν δὲ θύρας σέλαος θείοιο.

And quickly they came to the house of Celeus cherished by Zeus, and they went through the portico, where their mistress mother sat by the pillar of the strongly made roof holding her son, a young child, on her lap: and they ran to her: but she went on foot to the threshold and her head hit the roof, and she filled the halls with the light of a god. (HH2. 184-189).

76 Ibid, 232 40

The scene presents itself as a typical epiphany, or partial epiphany, with the goddess filling the halls with the light of a god (189). Yet, the scene differs from the norm. This particular scene contrasts with other partial epiphany scenes in which the god or goddess reveals him or herself intentionally.77 In contrast, Demeter seeks not to be recognized at this point in the story. As such, this situation is unique, as Demeter brings attention to her divinity and points toward there being a divine presence among the mortals. This compares to the instance in the Homeric Hymn to

Aphrodite, in which Aphrodite visits Anchises in the disguise of a nubile young woman

(81-110).78 Despite Anchises' suspicion that the young woman might be a goddess, she denies this and tells a detailed, fictional story of her childhood in order to convince Anchises that she is a mortal and then seduces him. Further driving the point that mortals are ignorant, even when brought face-to-face with a deity, is seen in this scene when Metaneira notices the light and finds it impressive and frightening. Even acknowledging the light, she still does not have any suspicions that Doso is a goddess in disguise.79 Establishing Metaneira as ignorant of Doso’s true identity is crucial for the scenes that follow, namely the one in which she sees the old woman putting her cherished, late-born son, Demophoon in the fire, and assumes that Doso is a witch.

When Demeter enters Celeus’ palace, she has a moment of grief, as she sits silently.

Demeter shows her grief as a mother having lost her child. Metaneira is struck by her appearance, despite not recognizing her as a goddess, and she and Iambe provide a seat:

ἔνθα καθεζοµένη προκατέσχετο χερσὶ καλύπτρην: δηρὸν δ᾽ ἄφθογγος τετιηµένη ἧστ᾽ ἐπὶ δίφρου,

77 Ibid

78 Ibid 79 Ibid 41

οὐδέ τιν᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἔπεϊ προσπτύσσετο οὔτε τι ἔργῳ,

Sitting down she held her veil in her hands: full of sorrow, she sat voiceless on the seat, and didn’t embrace anyone neither with a word nor a deed, (HH2. 197-199)

Demeter’s posture on the stool has been compared to a woman giving birth, and resembling Leto when she gives birth in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. This idea, however, is complicated by the fact that Demeter wears the disguise of an old woman, which Iambe jokes about as she remains unaware of Doso’s true identity.80 Iambe has been well-known through literature for her associations with joking, including a notable joke in which she lifts her skirt and reveals a face.81

While it is not clear what Iambe says that cheers up the goddess, one might assume that it was something sexual or something secretly related to the cult.82 The episode with Iambe could also serve as a means of concealing more sexual elements of Demeter’s powers and Mysteries at

Eleusis, as her humor could be used to conceal and maintain recording the more sexual elements, including sexual objects used in the Mysteries.83 What stands out in Demeter’s encounter with

Iambe is that instead of getting angry at the mortal woman, Demeter laughs at Iambe’s attempts to cheer her up. This shows a strong camaraderie between the two women, and a bond among them.

Another such example of camaraderie between women exists when Metaneira prepares the kykeon for Demeter. Providing food or drink for a guest has links to hospitality. Metaneira, a

80 Ibid, 235 81 Ibid, 234

82 Ibid, 234 83 Arthur, 21 42 mortal, provides her companion with a mortal drink. The kykeon symbolizes the link between gods and mortals, as it is a mortal drink and forbidden for the gods to partake in drinking.84

ἄνωγε δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἄλφι καὶ ὕδωρ δοῦναι µίξασαν πιέµεν γλήχωνι τερείνῃ. 210ἣ δὲ κυκεῶ τεύξασα θεᾷ πόρεν, ὡς ἐκέλευε: δεξαµένη δ᾽ ὁσίης ἕνεκεν πολυπότνια Δηώ

and she ordered them to mix barley-groats and water with soft mint to give it to her to drink. And she having made the mixture ordered it to the goddess, as she ordered: And having received it because of a divine law the great queen Deo …

(HH2. 208-211)

The kykeon, a drink made of barley, belongs to Demeter, as the beverage has associations with agriculture.85 The drinking of the kykeon thus links mortality and immortality. Other examples provide insight into how food and drink connect people to spaces, as the drink links Demeter to mortality. Similar to how the pomegranate links Persephone to the Underworld, the kykeon serves as a link between gods and the mortal world. Prior to departing from Olympus, Demeter had rejected the nectar and ambrosia, which is the divine food and nourishment for the gods.

Looking at these examples, it is clear that eating and drinking can bear a great significance in a god or goddess’ cult, rites, and worship. Eating and drinking serve as activities and a means of hospitality providing a link between realms, and also creating a form of kinship among women.

Demeter becomes a figure reminiscent of a witch while at Eleusis, which serves in connection with her disguise as an older woman. Witchcraft has long had strong associations with women, specifically older women. Demeter in the disguise of Doso, an older woman and

84 Clay, 236 85 Ibid 43 prospective nurse to the Eleusinian royal family, speaks of her knowledge of herbs and pharmaceuticals in order to impress Metaneira and gain her confidence. Taking care of a vulnerable late-born son, she would be under the critical eye of Metaneira and the family. In fact, her speech to Metaneira resembles that of a witch, as she discusses herbs and remedies.86

Demeter says the following about how she will raise Demophoon:

θρέψω κοὔ µιν, ἔολπα, κακοφραδίῃσι τιθήνης οὔτ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἐπηλυσίη δηλώσετε οὔθ᾽ ὑποτάµνον: οἶδα γὰρ ἀντίτοµον µέγα φέρτερον ὑλοτόµοιο, οἶδα δ᾽ ἐπηλυσίης πολυπήµονος ἐσθλὸν ἐρυσµόν.

and I will raise him, I think, by the folly of a nurse neither will a bewitching hurt him nor a poison herb: for I know a remedy much better than the herb cutter, and I know a good safeguard against baneful bewitching. (HH2. 227-30)

By speaking with the terminology associated with witchcraft, for instance by discussing the

“poison herb” and “remedy”, Demeter better disguises herself as an older woman with benign witch-like powers.87 Lines 228 to 230 also resemble a chant, sounding like an incantation through its anaphora, further drawing parallels between Demeter and witchcraft.88 Presenting this knowledge helps her to gain the trust of Metaneira and further promote her cause, as she seeks to be the nurse of her son. This knowledge of herbs would be common of an older woman and nurse of that time, as she would be expected to provide cures to a child’s ailments. While initially seen as a positive attribute, this knowledge will later arouse suspicions in Metaneira that

Demeter might be trying to harm Demophoon through witchcraft. As such, witchcraft has

86 Ibid, 237

87 Ibid, 237 88 Ibid, 48 44 positive and negative connotations, as it has associations with healing but also with bewitching and dangers. Throughout history, we have seen women praised for healing, yet punished for showing signs of power, as for a woman there is a fine line between healer and witch. Thus a woman overly exerting her power can have consequences. The description of the ὑλοτόµοιο, or herb cutter, which could also be translated as a wood cutter or under cutter, has ambiguous meaning, yet the use of cutting as a means of making potions or performing magic is evident.89

Women’s Capacity for Harm or Good

In the Hymn, women are presented as having the capacity for harm or good. One instance where this scenario is brought about is when Demeter, while mourning the loss of Persephone, acts as surrogate mother and nurses Demophoon to fill the void. Thus from this the mortal boy prospers, showing Demeter’s capacity for good. On the other hand, the famine brought about from her grieving brings mass destruction and is a clear argument for her capacity for harm.

Demophoon’s mother Metaneira shows how a mortal woman can unknowingly cause harm.

When Demeter puts Demophoon in the fire to make him immortal, she is interrupted by

Metaneira. This interruption is a prime example highlighting the ignorance of mortals and their ability to see short-term, but not long-term, events and consequences in the future.90 In fact, this is evident in the contrast between birth mother and nurse, as it shows the possibility for a mother to destroy a child’s future and a nurse’s capacity to nurture the child. This capacity for harm is presented as a human trait, as even though Metaneira had positive intentions, she ultimately

89 Ibid, 48 90 Lefkowitz, 100 45 damages her child’s long-term future. In her attempts to appease Demeter, she makes offerings of remorse and offers apologetic words, and the mortals at Eleusis react in the following way:

αἳ µὲν παννύχιαι κυδρὴν θεὸν ἱλάσκοντο δείµατι παλλόµεναι, ἅµα δ᾽ ἠοῖ φαινοµένηφιν εὐρυβίῃ Κελεῷ νηµερτέα µυθήσαντο, ὡς ἐπέτελλε θεά, καλλιστέφανος Δηµήτηρ.

They appeased the glorious goddess all night long quivering with fear, but together with dawn appearing they spoke truths to wide-ruling Celeus, as the goddess, lovely crowned Demeter, commanded them. (HH2. 292-295).

Still, this does not change anything, as she is unable to get her son the immortality he would have had if she had not interfered. This incident speaks to a wider idea that sometimes damage done to a child cannot be righted, despite attempts. In addition to showing the human capacity for evil,

Demeter as a central female character shows women’s potential to inflict damage, specifically when she withholds the seed from the earth and causes a famine.91 Thus the scene shifts from a nurturing domestic scene in which Demeter is a nurse among the women of Metaneira’s household to a new scene in which she is isolated and preventing the growth of life. This not only affects the mortals who are unable to eat, but also the gods who cease to receive sacrifices from the mortals. This exemplifies women’s immense power to disrupt the human and godly realms.

Demeter and Clytemnestra both embark upon goals related to motherhood, which, similar to male quests, are motivated by the pursuit of honor and status; but, unlike the male quests, the female goal or quest is defined by issues concerning marriage and fertility.92 Demeter’s quest is

91 Ibid, 101 46 to find and obtain her daughter and Clytemnestra’s goal is to avenge her daughter’s death, both of which show a commitment to their daughters and the strength of the mother-daughter bond.

The strength of this bond is shown in the destruction that occurs as a result of Demeter’s separation from Persephone. Demeter takes extreme measures in an attempt to return her daughter to her, and causes the deaths of countless mortals in the process. As such, death and destruction are linked, as seen in the events of the Oresteia and Hymn to Demeter:

ἀτὰρ ξανθὴ Δηµήτηρ ἔνθα καθεζοµένη µακάρων ἀπὸ νόσφιν ἁπάντων µίµνε πόθῳ µινύθουσα βαθυζώνοιο θυγατρός. αἰνότατον δ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ἐπὶ χθόνα πουλυβότειραν ποίησ᾽ ἀνθρώποις καὶ κύντατον: οὐδέ τι γαῖα σπέρµ᾽ ἀνίει, κρύπτεν γὰρ ἐυστέφανος Δηµήτηρ: πολλὰ δὲ καµπύλ᾽ ἄροτρα µάτην βόες εἷλκον ἀρούραις: πολλὸν δὲ κρῖ λευκὸν ἐτώσιον ἔµπεσε γαίῃ:

but yellow-haired Demeter sitting there away from all the blessed ones stayed diminishing with longing for her deep-girded daughter. And she brought about a most dreadful and horrible year for humans upon the much-nourishing ground: the earth didn’t make any seed spring up, for well-girdled Demeter hid it: and bulls dragged many plows on the fields in vain. (HH2. 302-309)

Zeus’ marriage plan for Persephone violently separates the daughter from her mother, disrupting

Demeter’s bond with Persephone. This shows the strength of mother-daughter bonds, for the man coming between the mother-daughter bonds acts as a type of invasion.93 This is evident in the several natural disasters that occur, as seen above when Demeter withholds the seed from the earth, showing how breaking this bond disrupts nature. Also, the mysteries that Demeter 47 establishes in the search for her daughter further show the power of the goddess and her cult, which all develop when her bond with Persephone is disrupted. Further, the invasion of the male into the mother-daughter bond has disastrous consequences for the invader in question. Demeter withholds the seed of the earth, creating a famine and thus preventing the sacrifice of animals to the gods.

What is interesting about Demeter’s character is that she embodies both female and male characteristics. She demonstrates female qualities in the sense that her quest to retrieve her daughter from the underworld is defined by marriage and fertility, two defining moments in a woman’s life, which would contrast with the male quest of war and kinship.94 Yet, through her quest, Demeter seeks honors and status, characteristics of a male quest. Ultimately, she gets the respect and honors from Zeus that she sought throughout the text:

ταῖς δὲ µέτ᾽ ἄγγελον ἧκε βαρύκτυπος εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς Ῥείην ἠύκοµον, Δηµήτερα κυανόπεπλον ἀξέµεναι µετὰ φῦλα θεῶν, ὑπέδεκτο δὲ τιµὰς δωσέµεν, ἅς κεν ἕλοιτο µετ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι: νεῦσε δέ οἱ κούρην ἔτεος περιτελλοµένοιο τὴν τριτάτην µὲν µοῖραν ὑπὸ ζόφον ἠερόεντα, τὰς δὲ δύω παρὰ µητρὶ καὶ ἄλλοις ἀθανάτοισιν.

And to them loud-thundering wide-ruling Zeus sent a messenger, lovely-haired Rhea, to bring together dark-cloaked Demeter with the tribes of the gods, and promised to give her honors, which she chose among the immortal gods: and allowed her daughter to go for a third part of the year under the cloudy darkness, but two parts of the year at the side of her mother and other immortals. (HH2. 441-447)

94 Foley, 104 48

The Hymn expresses the problems women face through the two main courses of female existence: celibacy and involvement with males and childbearing.95 When Demeter, once a lover of Zeus, isolates herself in Eleusis and causes a famine, she shows how goddesses, by withdrawing from the gods and withholding the earth’s seed, could gain power. While goddesses had this kind of power among men and gods, mortal women lacked this strength because as mortals they could grow old and die.96 Therefore, it is interesting to contrast the treatment of

Persephone, an immortal goddess, and Nausicaa, a mortal woman. Mortal women were not equal to the goddesses, as they were disposable. Despite sharing the same gender, which was at times a disadvantage for goddesses, goddesses were nonetheless more privileged than mortal women.

In addition to themes of marriage, fertility is represented in the text. Demeter,

Persephone, and fertility are inexorably linked. Demeter, by having her daughter returned to her for certain months of the year, ensures that the earth remains fertile.97 Furthermore, when

Demeter nurses Demophoon, she shows that there is power in nursing and that giving birth is not a prerequisite for the upbringing of a child. The physical separation between the world in which the gods of Olympus inhabit and that of the underworld shows that this specific marriage divides rather unites. Demeter and Persephone continue to be limited by typical mortal parameters, such as death, marriage, and seasons.98

95 Lefkowitz, 42 96 Ibid

97 Foley, 111 98 Ibid, 107 49

Conclusion

In this chapter I have explored the events and emotions at Eleusis, including Demeter’s grief over the loss of her daughter, her establishment of the mysteries, and her female quest to be reunited with her daughter. I also looked at Demeter and Persephone’s relationship in conjunction with that of the mortals, Metaneira and Demophoon, and explored the goddess’ motivations behind her taking a surrogate child, specifically one that was male, as a replacement for her daughter. The following chapter will turn finally to a consideration of the newly married woman. Looking specifically the details of Persephone’s marriage, the chapter will provide a conversation on the differences in Persephone’s account of her abduction with the narrator’s, looking at how Persephone develops her female agency as a result. Lastly, I will look at the final reconciliation scene between Demeter and Persephone and discuss the complicated nature of the mother-daughter bond. The chapter will conclude with an analysis on Demeter’s role as a daughter, as Rhea serves a reconciliatory role at the conclusion of the hymn. 50

Chapter 3: Reconciliation and the Transition from Girl to Married Woman

A woman’s voice develops over time and plays a crucial role in creating her agency.

When Persephone tells Demeter her the story of her abduction, she speaks out for the first time in the Hymn. In doing so, she moves into an adult role, exhibiting the transition from girl to married woman. Further, the discrepancies that exist between Persephone’s story and the narrator’s show the complicated relationship between Demeter and Persephone. Taking into account

Persephone’s narration of the events surrounding her eating of the pomegranate, one learns of the dynamics of life as a married woman. When Rhea acts as a reconciler between Zeus and

Demeter, one gets to see maternal Demeter as a daughter figure for the first time. Thus the events of the last 150 lines of the Hymn to Demeter express themes of female agency, motherhood, and reconciliation.

Dual Accounts of the Abduction

When Persephone provides an account of her abduction, the speech highlights her newfound agency. For the first time in the Hymn, Persephone has dialogue and thus has a voice.

This is also the only time that she has a voice. Prior to this speech, one only hears Persephone’s cry for help at the beginning of the hymn. This subjective moment demonstrates that Persephone has moved into an adult role. Unlike when she was a child, she now is able to articulate her experience for herself. She remains neither silent nor feels pressure to be silent. She has gained a form of independence both from her husband, Hades, and from her mother, Demeter, by virtue of her voice. As she remains permanently with neither of them, she has a freedom and mobility that she did not have during the beginning and middle of Hymn. The narrator’s account has a male- centered point of view, blaming Persephone for what happened, while Persephone’s account has 51 a more feminine perspective, focused on female experience.99 A more feminist reading of this hymn might conclude that the narrator’s description through a male centered-view implies that

Persephone was “asking for it” and elides her subjectivity completely, while Persephone’s own narration would deny that she was in any way at fault for what happened.100 One major caveat to this feminist reading would be if the narrator is a woman, as Suter argues.101 This would mean the possibility of looking at a female construction of desire that could be compared to and used in conjunction with Sappho and her poetry.102 However, as it can be difficult to ascertain whether the poet was truly a woman, it is more beneficial to examine the Hymn thematically. Looking at how femininity, girlhood, womanhood, and marriage are present within the text and how

Persephone’s narration provides a look at the scene of a rape, abduction, and marriage provides insight through the eyes of a woman into the feminine perspective.

Looking at the narrations of each of these events, it is evident that the narrator focuses more on the widespread reactions to her abduction, not focusing on the feminine scene and its details. For instance, the exact list of companions who were with Persephone when she is abducted remains absent. Further, Persephone’s speech fits into the structure of the hymn as a whole by forming a ring composition.103 This structure exists, with the poet’s account of her abduction occurring at the beginning of the hymn (1-32), and Persephone’s account of the same events occurring at the end of the hymn (406-433). Differing from oral epic, in which there are

99 Deacy, 404

100 Ibid, 406 101 Suter 2005

102 Deacy, 404 103 Foley, 59 52 exact repetitions, the Hymn generally avoids exact repetitions found in epic.104 The narrator’s account focuses less on what happens in the meadow, and more on the response throughout the cosmos, focusing on the narcissus’s use as a trick that allows Hades to rise through the gaping earth and abduct Persephone.105 This focus on the response throughout the cosmos includes

Helios’ and Hekate’s respective seeing and hearing, and Demeter who can hear a cry but cannot discern what happened. The transmission of the message to Demeter then takes precedence over the story’s narrative, as the delivery of the news and her response to the news becomes the main storyline of the Hymn. As such, Persephone’s reaction to her own abduction is lost, as well as the fact that details of her abduction are not explored by the narrator, and Demeter, not Persephone, becomes the central figure in the Hymn. In her speech, Persephone reclaims the narrative action and relates details relevant to her experience that have not been explored yet. While the retelling of the same events from different perspectives emphasizes the differences between the two, nevertheless it is still the case that, overall, the narrator’s account focuses less on experience and more the responses throughout the cosmos and the subsequent sharing of what happened, especially as it relates to Persephone’s abduction and the pomegranate.106

The episode with the pomegranate has symbolic meanings that speak to marriage and the transition from childhood to womanhood. Persephone tells Demeter that Hades forced her to eat the pomegranate seed, which is something that is not mentioned in the impersonal narration of the same event at 371-72, and the event itself is shrouded in a layer of secrecy.107 First it is

104 Ibid, 60 105 Deacy, 406

106 Ibid 107 Foley, 60 53 necessary to consider the narrator’s description of what happened with the pomegranate: αὐτὰρ ὅ

γ᾽ αὐτὸς/ ῥοιῆς κόκκον ἔδωκε φαγεῖν µελιηδέα λάθρῃ (“but he himself/ secretly gave her the honey-sweet seed of the pomegranate to eat,” HH2. 371-372). In her own narration, Persephone reveals what happened, pulling back the veil of secrecy and allowing her the chance to tell her story. For Persephone, the pomegranate serves as a symbol of sexual experience and has connections with marriage and sex.108 The act of eating the pomegranate serves to join

Persephone to the realm of Hades. The fruit itself symbolizes her commitment to her marriage and to the Underworld, as eating its seeds serves as the reason for her return to the Underworld.

Persephone’s eating of the pomegranate thus catalyzes her transition from girlhood to womanhood and marriage.

Persephone’s description of the pomegranate episode creates doubt as to the truth of her account, thus complicating the mother-daughter bond. The question arises whether

Persephone is embellishing, exaggerating, lying, or doing a combination of the three in her telling. The veracity of Persephone’s story comes to light when she appears to contradict herself:

αὐτὰρ ὃ λάθρῃ ἔµβαλέ µοι ῥοιῆς κόκκον, µελιηδέ᾽ ἐδωδήν, ἄκουσαν δὲ βίῃ µε προσηνάγκασσε πάσασθαι.

but he secretly put into my mouth the seed of a pomegranate, sweet food, and he compelled me unwilling by force to taste it. (HH2. 411-413)

Persephone, as does the narrator, says that she was given the pomegranate secretly, but

Persephone adds the additional detail that she was forced to eat it. If she was given it secretly, the

108 Ibid 54 question arises how she could have been forced, as well.109 Then it is necessary to consider why

Persephone adds an extra detail about being forced. It is crucial to consider her audience,

Demeter, and thus her reasons for exaggerating the events of her abduction.

In her verbose account, Persephone states that she was not willing to go with Hades, perhaps saying it more times than is believable. Notice in line 413 all words used to describe how she was forced to go: “compelled”, “unwilling”, and “by force”. An understandable motive would be that she is emphasizing this for the benefit of her mother and to please her mother.

When Persephone says that she was unwilling but does not express anger at Hades, she shows how she is complicit to the will of her father, Zeus. Having Persephone come and go from the

Underworld helps to bring about the will of Zeus, as she acts as the vehicle through which open communication can exist between the Underworld and other cosmic realms.110 This also might show an acceptance of or complicity in her marriage, one that would contradict the feelings of her mother, and raise suspicion within Demeter as to her daughter’s role in her abduction. When

Demeter initially asks Persephone to tell her story, she asks her with this leading question: εἶπε

δὲ πῶς σ᾽ ἥρπαξεν ὑπὸ ζόφον ἠερόεντα/ καὶ τίνι σ᾽ ἐξαπάτησε δόλῳ κρατερὸς Πολυδέγµων;

(“And tell me how he snatched you away under cloudy darkness/ and by what trick did the strong All-Receiver deceive you?”, HH2. 403-404). The answer to this question serves as a source of anxiety for Demeter. Despite having her daughter back and knowing from her conversations with other immortals the details of what happened to her daughter, Demeter still questions her daughter for the details of her abduction. This shows that the goddess might have

109 Clay, 257 110 Ibid, 256 55 some doubt as to whether Persephone will be completely honest with her. As such, it appears that

Persephone is telling her mother what she wants to hear, which is that she went unwillingly with

Hades and was tricked into eating the pomegranate. If this is the case, then the entirety of

Persephone’s narration comes into doubt. Rather than removing Demeter’s anxieties, Persephone instead confuses matters by adding a layer of deception, further complicating her relationship with Demeter.

Since Persephone tells the story of her abduction to her mother and after much time has elapsed, it becomes questionable whether she has ulterior motives. One such motivation would be to put her mother’s suspicions to rest that she participated willingly in her encounter with

Hades. Richardson argues that for the benefit of her mother Persephone states that she was taken unwillingly and forced to eat the pomegranate seeds.111 Or perhaps she is twisting a tale that focuses her experience on the trickery and violence that she experienced, neglecting or fabricating certain truths. This begs the question of whether the act is violent only in the eyes of

Persephone.112 In the past, Persephone has been viewed solely as a victim of rape and patriarchal oppression.113 Perhaps through Persephone’s account we can see her as a different type of figure, one who is asserting her own agency and speaking her truth, however complicated that truth may be.

Another major difference between the narrator’s and Persephone’s accounts is that

Persephone includes a list of companions and flowers, which grounds her narration in a subjective female experience. Persephone provides a catalogue of female companions and thus

111 Richardson, 413

112 Foley, 60 113 Deacy, 404 56 describes a scene grounded in female experience, girlhood, and the bond among girls.

Persephone lists the girls as follows:

ἡµεῖς µὲν µάλα πᾶσαι ἀν᾽ ἱµερτὸν λειµῶνα, Λευκίππη Φαινώ τε καὶ Ἠλέκτρη καὶ Ἰάνθη καὶ Μελίτη Ἰάχη τε Ῥόδειά τε Καλλιρόη τε Μηλόβοσίς τε Τύχη τε καὶ Ὠκυρόη καλυκῶπις Χρυσηίς τ᾽ Ἰάνειρά τ᾽ Ἀκάστη τ᾽ Ἀδµήτη τε καὶ Ῥοδόπη Πλουτώ τε καὶ ἱµερόεσσα Καλυψὼ καὶ Στὺξ Οὐρανίη τε Γαλαξαύρη τ᾽ ἐρατεινὴ Παλλάς τ᾽ ἐγρεµάχη καὶ Ἄρτεµις ἰοχέαιρα

We all were in the very longed for grassy meadow, Leucippe, Electra, Ianthe, Melita, Rhodea, Callirhoe, Melobosis, Tyche, blushing Ocyrhoe, Chryseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Adamete, Rhodope, Pluto, charming Calypso, Styx, Urania, lovely Galaxaura, Pallas rousing the fight, and Artemis delighting in arrows, (HH2. 417-424)

When Persephone lists her companions, it makes her version of the experience appear subjective.

For her, the companions are individuals, unlike in the narrator’s account when they are merely

Oceanids. Notable also is that the last two she mentions are goddesses associated with virginity,

Athena and Artemis. Within her company of women, there is a feminine alliance that is even more powerful, as they are all within the same realm. Given Demeter’s suspicions of what happened in the meadow, Persephone hints at virginity, describing how she was surrounded by young women and was an unwilling participant in her abduction. By listing the girls, Persephone emphasizes young sexuality and erotic themes. Sexual connotations of Persephone’s speech include the way that meadow is “longed for”, Calypso is “charming”, alternatively could be 57 translated as “stimulating desire” and the flowers are “lovely” but with erotic connotations.114

The scene she described is full of desire and sexual possibility. Sexual desire has associations both with Persephone’s companions and with the flowers in the meadow.

Another notable difference continues with her listing of the flowers, which contains more variety than the narrator’s brief list. Persephone provides a list of flowers in the following:

παίζοµεν ἠδ᾽ ἄνθεα δρέποµεν χείρεσσ᾽ ἐρόεντα, µίγδα κρόκον τ᾽ ἀγανὸν καὶ ἀγαλλίδας ἠδ᾽ ὑάκινθον καὶ ῥοδέας κάλυκας καὶ λείρια, θαῦµα ἰδέσθαι, νάρκισσόν θ᾽, ὃν ἔφυσ᾽ ὥς περ κρόκον εὐρεῖα χθών.

We were playing and plucking lovely flowers with our hands, soft crocus among iris, hyacinth, rose buds, lilies, a marvel to see, and narcissus, which the wide earth grew just like a crocus. (HH2. 425-428)

Similarly to her listing of companions, Persephone’s listing of the flowers grounds the scene in subjectivity, as the narcissus becomes just one of many flowers, and she does not seem aware of its pivotal role in her downfall.115 While in Persephone’s version there is more of an emphasis on the fact that the narcissus was just one of many flowers, described solely as “which the wide earth grew just like a crocus” and does not get singled out in the same way it does in the narrator’s account (HH2. 428). Continuing with the idea that young women are plucked, uprooted, and deflowered, just like the flowers that they themselves pick, the narrator’s focus in his description on the appearance of the flowers would support an idea that young women are plucked according to their appearance.In the narrator’s description of the narcissus is a “marvel to behold”, while in Persephone’s narration it is the collective group of flowers that is a

114 Ibid, 408 115 Foley, 60 58 marvel.116 As seen in how it begins and ends the list of the flowers present in the meadow, the crocus is attractive to the girls in the meadow, showing Persephone’s feminized perspective of her experience focuses on the details of the meadow.117

The opportunity to look at two different tellings of the abduction, one by the narrator and the other by Persephone, allows for a rich conversation regarding gender, temporality, and the transition from girlhood to womanhood. The differences between the two accounts provide insight into the female perspective and feminine experience. The stages of a woman’s life from girlhood to marriage are all themes that are explored in Persephone’s speech, as one sees her complicated relationship with her mother and the effects of her eating the pomegranate and its connection with marriage, Overall, through examining these two separate accounts, it is clear that by the end of the Hymn, Persephone has transitioned from an unmarried, young girl who can only cry out to a married woman capable of articulating herself in a verbose speech.

Persephone’s story, while subjective and differing in some respects to that of the narrator, shows how she has gained a degree of independence from her husband and her mother and developed her own female agency.

Mediation and Reconciliation

Following Persephone’s account to her mother, Hekate re-emerges on the scene to serve as mediator between the upper realms of Olympus and the lower realms of the Underworld.

Serving as a figure who, like Persephone, goes between the upper and lower realms, Hekate will accompany Persephone as her personal attendant when Persephone goes to and from the

116 Deacy, 407 117 Deacy, 407 59

Underworld. In fact, Hekate was portrayed in later art as the one leading Persephone to and from the underworld, speaking to her role in the hymn as an attendant figure. The description of

Hekate and her role goes as follows:

ὣς τότε µὲν πρόπαν ἦµαρ ὁµόφρονα θυµὸν ἔχουσαι πολλὰ µάλ᾽ ἀλλήλων κραδίην καὶ θυµὸν ἴαινον ἀµφαγαπαζόµεναι: ἀχέων δ᾽ ἀπεπαύετο θυµός. γηθοσύνας δ᾽ ἐδέχοντο παρ᾽ ἀλλήλων ἔδιδόν τε. τῇσιν δ᾽ ἐγγύθεν ἦλθ᾽ Ἑκάτη λιπαροκρήδεµνος: πολλὰ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἀµφαγάπησε κόρην Δηµήτερος ἁγνήν: ἐκ τοῦ οἱ πρόπολος καὶ ὀπάων ἔπλετ᾽ ἄνασσα.

So for all the day then they warmed very much having a united heart and soul greeting one another warmly: and the heart ceased from grieving. And they received joy from one another and gave it. And Hekate with the splendid headband came to them close by: and she embraced much the pure daughter of Demeter: and from this time the lady became her servant and comrade (HH2. 434-440)

The Hymn shows that the rites originate from the divine relationship between a mother and daughter.118 In fact, even the reconciliation scene is believed to connect to the mysteries, as the joy experienced by Demeter and Persephone during this crucial moment would be the climactic experience shared by mystery initiates during their performance of the rites.119 Demeter and

Persephone’s reconciliation would be used to provide a source of aspiration for initiates and ground the goddess’ rites in the bond between mother and daughter.

Following Hekate, Rhea presents herself as the reconciler in the hymn, and through her presence themes of maternity are brought about. Rhea serves as an agent of reconciliation between Zeus and Demeter, as she asks her daughter to cease her grief and allow the crops to

118 Foley, 118 119 Ibid 60 grow again. While gods and men are present and exist as critical catalysts of the events that occur, the experience of goddesses and women is at the center of the hymn.120 Rhea is yet another addition to the community of women within the hymn, which includes Persephone,

Demeter, Hekate, and Metaneira.121 In addition to reconciler, she serves as a mother figure to the central maternal character of Demeter. Demeter serves as a figure in the generation between

Rhea and Persephone. The hymn shows how grief is generational, as grief travels from mother to daughter.122 Thus the poet provides another parallel mother-daughter relationship in the Hymn: that of Demeter and her mother, Rhea.

Similar to how Persephone contributes to the ring composition of the hymn through her account of her abduction, there are other ways in which moments of the conclusion connect to the beginning. One of the ways the narrative comes full circle is through the introduction of

Rhea, Demeter and Zeus’ mother. At this point in the narrative, Demeter has left behind Eleusis and the obscure rites and practices that come with the privacy of her time there among the women of Celeus’ household. She now has entered a more public sphere at Olympus where she makes demands of Zeus as well as seeks recognition and respect from the gods and mortals.123

The reconciliation scene is described with a similar warmth, as Demeter is reunited with her daughter. Rhea enters the scene in the following passage:

ταῖς δὲ µέτ᾽ ἄγγελον ἧκε βαρύκτυπος εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς Ῥείην ἠύκοµον, Δηµήτερα κυανόπεπλον ἀξέµεναι µετὰ φῦλα θεῶν, ὑπέδεκτο δὲ τιµὰς

120 Ibid, 123 121 Ibid, 126

122 Ibid, 123 123 Ibid, 118 61

δωσέµεν, ἅς κεν ἕλοιτο µετ᾽ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι: νεῦσε δέ οἱ κούρην ἔτεος περιτελλοµένοιο τὴν τριτάτην µὲν µοῖραν ὑπὸ ζόφον ἠερόεντα, τὰς δὲ δύω παρὰ µητρὶ καὶ ἄλλοις ἀθανάτοισιν.

And to them loud-thundering wide-ruling Zeus sent a messenger, lovely-haired Rhea, to bring together dark-cloaked Demeter with the tribes of the gods, and promised to give her honors, which she chose among the immortal gods: and allowed her daughter to go for a third part of the year under the cloudy darkness, but two parts of the year at the side of her mother and other immortals. (HH2. 441-447)

The Hymn’s end is fitting, as we get to see how Demeter has gone from solely a mother figure to a daughter. It is fitting that as the maternal figure through the hymn, one finally gets to see

Demeter interact with her mother by the conclusion of the hymn. Despite gods such as Hermes or Iris usually serving as the role of messenger, at this scene in the hymn, it is Rhea who is sent to talk to her daughter.124 The fact that Rhea, the mother of Demeter and Zeus, is the one sent to talk to Demeter for reconciliation and restoring crops to the earth shows that Demeter shares a bond with her mother, despite Rhea representing Zeus’ interests in her role as reconciler.

Further, in this passage Persephone receives her timai, or honors, from Zeus, who is the one responsible for distributing the timai among the gods. Thus, this movement to and from the

Underworld connects to the beginning of the hymn, in which Persephone serves as a vehicle between Zeus’ spheres of political influence. Notable also is that in 460–466, Rhea repeats the terms of reconciliation between Zeus and Demeter for the third time, with the other two times being 443-447 and 399-403.125 The terms are that Persephone will spend a third of the year with

124 Ibid, 61 125 Ibid, 61 62

Hades in the Underworld and the other two thirds in Olympus alongside her mother, which correspond with the year’s seasons. This separation shows how Persephone’s marriage is atypical, as a married woman would usually spend the the majority of the time with her husband, while in Persephone’s case the opposite is true.

While technically acting on behalf of Zeus’ interests, which consist of returning agriculture to mortals so that Zeus can receive his mortal offerings, Rhea still shows an alliance with Demeter. When she addresses her daughter, Rhea says the following:

ἀλλ᾽ ἴθι, τέκνον ἐµόν, καὶ πείθεο, µηδέ τι λίην ἀζηχὲς µεν έαινε κελαινεφέι Κρονίωνι. αἶψα δὲ καρπὸν ἄεξε φερέσβιον ἀνθρώποισιν.

But come, my child, and obey, and don’t be very continuously angry at the dark-clouded son of Kronos. But quickly increase life-bearing fruit for men. (HH2. 467-469).

Demeter and Rhea’s relationship has links to Hesiod’s Theogony, in which we see the genesis of

Rhea and Demeter’s relationship, illuminating the relationship between mother and grief. When discussing the descendants Uranus, the following description of Rhea is made in the Theogony:

τῷ ὅ γ᾽ ἄρ᾽ οὐκ ἀλαὸς σκοπιὴν ἔχεν, ἀλλὰ δοκεύων/ παῖδας ἑοὺς κατέπινε: Ῥέην δ᾽

ἔχε πένθος ἄλαστον (“Well, Kronos wasn’t blind. He kept a sharp watch/ and swallowed his children: Rheia’s grief was unbearable,” Th. 466-467, trans. Lombardo). Similar to Demeter,

Rhea experiences grief over the loss of her child. The cycle of grief goes from mother to daughter, ending with Persephone who unusually does not have a child. The inclusion of Rhea then speaks to larger themes of womanhood, including a pattern of grief that spans generations. 63

Conclusion

This chapter explored the transition from girl to married woman, as well as looked at the strength of the mother-daughter bond and its role in the Hymn’s story. By looking at the dual tellings of Persephone’s abduction, with one account from the narrator and the other in the words of Persephone, one can see Persephone’s transition from girl to married woman. This transition is evident through the way in which she has developed a voice and develops her own female agency. Her account, however, is more complicated than it appears initially, and through the inconsistencies one can gauge her motivations, namely to please her mother and assuage her doubts. Thus the mother-daughter bond is a complicated one, and through the introduction of

Rhea as reconciler in the hymn’s conclusion the point is further made that maternal grief is intergenerational.

Contrary to the presumably male narrator, the scene as witnessed through Persephone’s eyes offers a feminine perspective. One can see by juxtaposing Persephone’s view with that of the narrator how gender differences and perspective play a role in describing the events of the scene, with temporality playing a role in affecting what was once presented as an objective description by the narrator. The traditional phases and milestones in a woman’s life — childhood, marriage, womanhood, motherhood— are all highlighted in Persephone’s account. As such, the speech considers the temporal moments of a woman’s life, and in looking at the differences between the poet’s description and Persephone’s own account of her abduction, one can see

Persephone’s growth from a girl to a woman, and her transition from an unmarried woman to a married woman. 64

Conclusion: The Temporal Moments in a Woman’s Life

This thesis looked at the temporal moments of a woman’s life, including girlhood, marriage, motherhood, and old age as they are represented in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.

Using the essays and commentaries by Jenny Strauss Clay and Helene Foley, this thesis engaged with these temporal moments within Persephone, Demeter, and Metaneira’s lives, among other female characters of ancient Greece. Looking from the start of the Hymn to its conclusion, one can see the ways in which Persephone and Demeter represent these distinct moments in time unique to a woman’s life and the impact that such moments have for women and womanhood.

The first chapter looked at Persephone’s abduction from the meadow, after male sexuality intrudes upon the peaceful setting. Then, by looking at the motivations of her father using the Theognoy, I explored the plan of Zeus its disruption to the mother-daughter bond, as well as political goals and his use of his daughter’s marriage as a means of distributing the timai.

I then compared Persephone’s story to those of other nubile women in ancient Greek literature, including Nausicaa and Iphigenia, who experience similar circumstances to Persephone when it comes to girlhood and marriage. Lastly, I discussed the atypical nature of Persephone’s marriage and the implications it has concerning her relationship with Demeter.

The second chapter looked at the events occurring at Eleusis, with a strong focus on motherhood and the consequences that occur when the mother-daughter bond is disrupted.

Through the parallel mother-child relationship of Metaneira and Demophoon, I explored the emotions and conflicts of motherhood. Through this climactic moment in which Demophoon is put into the fire, I explored Demeter’s need to take a surrogate child. Through that same episode,

I discussed the establishment of the rites and practices associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. 65

Further, I looked at Demeter’s status as an older woman serving as a nurse, and how that speaks to the experiences of womanhood and old age.

The third chapter examined the dual accounts of Persephone’s abduction, as told by

Persephone and the narrator. I looked at how Persephone transitions into an adult role, exhibiting this shift in her status from girl to married woman. I also discussed the complicated relationship between Demeter and Persephone, as evident through the discrepancies in the accounts. Through

Persephone’s narration of the events surrounding her eating of the pomegranate, the chapter also discussed the dynamics of life as a married woman, both spatially and emotionally. The chapter discussed Rhea’s role as a reconciler between Zeus and Demeter, and how the reader has the opportunity to see maternal Demeter as a daughter figure and what that means. I considered themes of female agency, motherhood, and reconciliation.

Overall, this thesis has shown the ways in which girlhood, marriage, motherhood, and the other temporal moments in a woman’s life are represented in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.

Using Demeter and Persephone as the central female figures, the thesis explored the temporal moments of womanhood and the complicated nature of such moments. Considering the Hymn’s representation of these pivotal moments in a woman’s life, it begs the question of whether women in contemporary times are so far removed from the lives of Demeter and Persephone.

The hymn shows that the common experiences shared by women— girlhood, marriage, womanhood— are not so different from the moments that mark a woman’s life today. 66

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