Demeter and Persephone

ENG1D Name: ______Date: ______

1. Demeter withheld her gifts from the earth, which turned into a frozen desert as a result. The story reads, “The green and flowering land was icebound and lifeless because Persephone had disappeared.”

2. Persephone eats a pomegranate seed. Hades made her eat the seed, knowing that if she did so she must return to him.

3. She wandered to Eleusis, and visited with four lovely maidens, sisters, and their mother, Metaneira. At first, she does not reveal that she is a goddess; she was deeply veiled and covered by a dark robe. Demeter nursed Metaneira’s son, Demophoon, and he grew like a young god. She is revealed as a goddess when Metaneira becomes angry with her for laying her child in the fire, which was intended to free him from old age and death. Demeter then commands her hosts to build her a temple in order to win back the favour of her heart.

4. Death and the underworld are portrayed as torturous and lonely. This view permeates the myth of Demeter and Persephone because it is only when Persephone is able to escape the underworld that she can be happy.

Narcissus

1. Echo was condemned by Hera to never use her tongue again except to repeat what was said to her. “You will always have the last word,” Hera said, “but no power to speak first.”

2. The great goddess Nemesis undertook to bring this about.

3. Narcissus bent over a clear pool for a drink and saw his own reflection, and fell in love with it. He leaned forever over the pool, fixed in one long gaze. When his spirit crossed the river that encircles the world of the dead, it leaned over the boat to catch a final glimpse of itself in the water. The nymphs could not find his body to give it burial; however, where it had been there was a new and lovely flower, which they named Narcissus.

4. There are a number of possibilities, e.g. Vanity is destructive. Lack of love for others will only lead to misery.