The story of persephone, demeter, and hades is probably one of the most wellknown of greek myths and is used to explain the coming and going of the seasons. Demeter rules over a perpetual summer on earth, where crops, trees, and flowers grow in abundance. High school lesson in literature demeter persephone part i. This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the united states. Persephone is the daughter of zeus and the harvest god demeter. The gods soon discovered the outrage, giving him life again and joining his. Demeter and persephone myth by jennifer hong on prezi. And each fall when she leaves again for the underworld below, her mother mourns and winter comes, while she waits for her return. Demeter and persephone by julianah oguntala on prezi. In the homeric epics, no link is established between the two goddesses demeter and persephone, to whom later sources attribute a close mythical and ritual relationship, insofar as they are mother and daughter.
Dec 26, 2009 the myth demeter and persephone teamawesomeish. Finally, the myth of hades abduction may also reference the greek practice of girls marrying in their early teens, a loss to their mothers as persephone was to demeter. From this perspective, the story of persephones separation from her mother in the myth of demeter and persephone can be understood as the psychological development from adolescence to womanhood. When zeus refused, demeter withheld the harvest from man until zeus relented. Hades and persephone 1 hades and persephone cast demeter goddess of the harvest persephone goddess of springtime hades lord of the underworld hermes messenger god helios god of the sun narrator. When persephone returns to earth, the land once again bursts with life. The worship of demeter was formally merged with that of ceres around 205 bc, along. However, there is a tragic story about the relationship between mother and daughter with no happy ending. Part 2 the myth of demeter and persephone 81 no chapter in the history of human imagination is more curious than the myth of demeter, and kore or persephone. She was the sort of person who spread light and happiness wherever she went and so, naturally, she was loved by everyone but most especially by her mother. Check out all my greek products demeter and persephone loss of persephone persephone is the goddess of the underworld in greek mythology. Aspects of the demeterpersephone myth in modern fiction core. Persephone was the daughter of demeter, the goddess of nature. The myth of persephone, hades, and demeter goalbook.
Hades, lord of the underworld, was smitten with persephone and asked zeus for her hand. Jung, myths provided not only an explanation for the events of nature, but also a. Hades, god of the underworld, abducted her daughter persephone. These poets create alternative versions of the myth of persephone. The official position taken by the wikimedia foundation is that faithful reproductions of twodimensional public domain works of art are public domain. Aspects of the demeterpersephone myth in modern fiction.
How to be productive at home from a remote work veteran. Ask them to paraphrase the text to demonstrate their understanding. Like her mother, she was kind and caring, with a happy nature and the most dazzling smile. The myth of persephone as interpreted by alicia farnsworth according to greek myth persephone is the daughter of head god, zeus and demeter mother earth, persephone is goddess of spring and helps demeter tend plants.
She saw man and woman, god and goddess dancing to her tune. Demeter, whose nurse was eirene 1 peace, is the goddess of fertility, and the. Demeter and the abduction of persephone the rape of. Persephone was gathering flowers in a meadow one day when a huge crack opened up in the earth and hades, king of the dead, emerged from the underworld. Discuss the adventures of demeter and persephone by starting with this engaging play for the entire class. The story of the mother and daughter goddesses demeter and persephone has seized the imagination of people in every age, from ancient times to the present. As we discuss the myth, lets paraphrase, or tell in our own words, what happens to demeter and persephone in these pages. Critical reading identify the letter of the choice that best answers the question. Considered today by many to be the archetypal myth for women, it touches on timeless themes in every life, such as the malefemale relationship, love between women, initiations into puberty. Persephone was the only daughter of demeter, the goddess of grain, agriculture and fertility unfortunately for her, hades,the ruler of the underworld, had dreadful plans for her.
What is the moral lesson of the myth about persephone. Demeter asked zeus, a brother of hades, to return persephone. Every autumn demeter cries, the leaves fall and the crops are at an end, as her daughter returns, willingly, as queen of the underworld to hades, her husband. Persephone was the daughter of demeter who is said to be one of the seven wives of zeus before he married hera. Whatever the exact significance, the association between persephone and agriculture is firmly established in rituals, literature, and ancient art. Bridges and wharton also show an attempt to close the gender gap and combine issues raised by the victorians. The link with the cult of demeter and persephone is found in the notion of fire. Demeter is furious and by withholding her lifegiving powers to bring vegetation to the earth. May 27, 20 persephone is frolicking through a field of flowers and hades takes her to the nether. However, during the barren months, when persephone is with hades, demeter mourns her daughters absence, and the earth lies bare and lifeless. A more extensive account, from the seventh century b.
The cause of demeters suffering was the kidnapping of her daughter, persephone, by the dreaded lord of the underworld, hades. The myths and legends of ancient greece and rome by e. Persephone, young and beautiful, unknowingly attracts the attention of the lonely god of the underworld, hades. Persephone, a vegetation goddess, and the daughter of the harvest goddess demeter, was kidnapped and ravished by hades, the king of the underworld, and taken to live in his realm.
G len wickens hardy and the aesthetic mythographers. Persephone grew up happy, playing with artemis and athena, the other children of zeus, but one day her uncle, hades, fell desperately in love with her. Demeters tragic story is her search for persephone kore, demeters only child from her union with zeus, the king of the olympians. Pluto takes demeters daughter persephone to his home in the underworld. Demeter and persephone donna rosenberg demeter, the great goddess, bringer of seasons and giver of lifesustaining gifts, was the olympian who most loved mortals and the earth that fed them, and. One of the oldest literary documents that narrates the myth of demeter and persephone is the homeric remember, this is a myth about demeter, persephone, and hades. He would steal her innocence and virginity and turn her into his dreaded queen. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Josephine donovan a continuation of josephine donovans exploration of american womens literary traditions, begun with new england local color literature. Aphrodite, goddess of love, looked out across creation. This extremely ancient and widely revered sacred story of mother and daughter long predates the judeochristian deification of father and son. The earliest written record of the demeter and persephone myth in the greek language comes from the eighth century b. How does the myth of demeter and persephone help toexplain the seasons. Plan your 60minute lesson in english language arts or greek mythology with helpful tips from sara hesemann.
Demeter and persephone 1 aphrodite, goddess of love, looked out across creation. This extremely ancient and widely revered sacred story of mother and daughter long predates the. In ancient greek religion and mythology, demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture. As we discuss the myth, lets paraphrase, or tell in our own words, what happens to. Ask students what reasons there are for creating and remembering myths in a society. Griefstricken, demeter ceases caring for earth, which falls into a long, wintry desolation. Then, when persephone leftthe underworld to return to her mother, the earthbecame fertile again, and spring returned. I should warn you that this is a feminst perspective on the myth that uses outside references such as the bible and other selfhelp books to interpret the myth and give it meaning to modern day readers. In this lesson, students will read the greek myth of persephone and demeter and complete a story map on the myth. The earth rotates at a tilt, so when a part of the earth is tipped toward the sun, it has summer.
For example, the myth and ritual of demeter and persephone in greece comprised a popular mystery religion celebrating the birth, sacred marriage, death, and rebirth of all life. This week joyce tye will introduce a discussion of the myth of demeter and persephone, offering a jungian interpretation. He wanted to marry her and make her the queen of the underworld. In the classic mythological story, she is following along with her mother demeter one day and is abducted by hades, the god of the underworld. Laird reveals that many of hardys references to classical mythology are present in the urtext of the novel, including. Hades fell in love with persephone and decided to kidnap her. For most of the year, the earth is alive and covered with growing plants. The abduction of persephone persephone was the daughter of demeter and zeus. He scoops persephone up, and the lord of the dead not the devil or satan mind you plunges back down into the underworld. Demeter as the sister of zeus and the mother of persephone.
She is the daughter of zeus and demeter, goddess of the harvest. Because zeus betrayed her by his involvement in the rape of persephone, demeter left mt. Thenshereturnedtoearth,disguisedasanoldwoman,andbegan wandering. Persephone myth encyclopedia mythology, greek, god. When that part is tilted away from the sun, it has winter. The myth of the divine mother and daughter, demeter and persephone, is told in the homeric hymn to demeter. He stole the young maiden and brought her to his domain to be his wife. Demeter, the middle daughter of cronus and rhea, was the ancient greek goddess of grain and agriculture, one of the original twelve olympians. Demeter had a beautiful daughter with god zeus, persephone. Pdf you may need to log in to jstor to access the linked references. Persephone was picking flowers one day when hades saw her.
The myth of hades and persephone is one more myth of love and abduction in the greek mythology. Hence, although a throne on olympus was her birthright, demeter is sometimes not counted among the olympians. In the myth, when did persephone get to return to earth. This is why for a part of each year the plants and crops stop growing. Many years ago the seasons were not as they are today. Persephone proserpina in latin was the beautiful daughter of zeus and the goddess of grain, demeter. At the beginning of demeter and persephone, what causes the earth to shake. The underworld holds the deepest secrets and is a prime concern of the soul. Demeter and persephone, unquestionably the most important myth of. Louiss booklength study of the myth of persephone in victorian and early modernist. Tell them that we will read the myth of demeter and persephone in comic book version today and tomorrow.
Assign roles and readthrough as a group, or break larger classrooms into small groups and reconvene for a discussion. Demeter, goddess of the harvest an d fertility searched for her daughter when persephone went missing. European and one preindoeuropean, must have merged. The demeterpersephone myth in wharton, cather, and glasgow. So, each spring persephone comes back with the flowers that pave her way, to tell the story of rebirth, hope and harmony. Demeter was delighted that her daughter had returned to her. The myth of demeter and persephone in tess of the durbervilles in his study of the seven different versions of tess of the durbervilles 1891, j. This book is a very interesting look at the myth of demeter, persephone, hades and all the people associated with their myth. The eleusinian mysteries were the greatest of all ancient greek religious. As persephone smiled up at her mother, demeters heart swelled with happiness, and the crops grew high and healthy. The hymn recalls the abduction of persephone by hades though it carefully avoids any mention of rape, and demeters anguished search for her daughter. Jung, myths provided not only an explanation for the events of nature, but also a way of making sense of the inner world. Her grief over her daughter persephone who has to spend onethird of the year with her husband hades in the underworld is the reason why there is winter. A womens tradition, which treats the nineteenthcentury realists, this work analyzes the writing of major women writers of the early twentieth centuryedith.
He was so captivated by her beauty that he took her by force to the underworld. This is just one of many hymns about the gods which were not actually written by homer at all but were written close to the same time period. The story of demeter and persephone the wit continuum. She was her beloved daughter to whom demeter was attached her whole life. Oh, it was true that zeus was the king of all the gods and goddesses, but she controlled the hearts of everything. The figures of demeter and persephone are closely related, and certain aspects of persephonefor example, as a goddess of the underworld are also associated with demeter in different versions of the same myth. Describes the greek goddess persephone and explores the myth of how she was taken by hades to the underworld. Every spring demeter makes sure flowers blossom on the meadows and the mountains bloom to welcome home her loving daughter persephone. They played together in the fields almost every day. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content g. Demeter and persephone bibliography plot graph rising action climax as a result, we now have different seasons. However every time persephone had to return to hades, demeter mourned terribly again. Persephone grew up on olympus and her gay laughter rang through the brilliant halls. Demeter was the greek goddess of grain, the harvest, and possibly the grape and hence wine.
The third of the year, when persephone is down in the underworld with hades, we have winter and no growth of crops, as demeter is unhappy and gloomy. Text only version of demeter and her daughter persephone. What do we know of the prehistory of the myth ical character persephone. Demeter and persephone is an illustrated edition of the second of the homeric hymns, a 495line hymn to the greek goddess demeter, as translated by penelope proddow. She was the daughter of demeter, goddess of the harvest, and her mother loved her so dearly she could not bear to have her out of her sight. Theres a lot of truth for psychotherapy in the greek myth of persephone and its all tied up with the yearly renewal of the seasons.
Pdf persephone, the threshing maiden rudolf wachter. Spring held hostage a greek myth graphic myths and legends at. Literature test 3 persephone and demeter multiple choice identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. Demeter, goddess of the earth and grain, was sister to zeus, as well as poseidon and hades. The story of persephone was used to explain the cycle of the seasons. Lets take a look at the myth of demeter and persephone next. Jun 03, 2010 the maiden, persephone, daughter of the earth goddess, demeter, is out picking flowers in a meadow when the earth opens up and out charges hades, god of the underworld. She did not let anything grow onearth, and winter set in. Taking persephone and her narcissus as psychological archetypes, and the story of.
Persephone was such a beautiful young woman that everyone loved her, even hades wanted her f. The maiden, persephone, daughter of the earth goddess, demeter, is out picking flowers in a meadow when the earth opens up and out charges hades, god of the underworld. Demeter and persephone, including explicit meaning and inferences they can make and support with details from the text. You probably noticed that the myth of persephone, demeter, and hades is an origin story its used to explain the origin of the seasons, and why food crops dont grow in the winter. Hades is barely mentioned here, and his kidnapping seems like an afterthought in the overall story. Persephone and demeter merge together to create a complete self. Zeus, realizing that something must be done, arranges for. Each year, when persephone went to the underworld, demeter grew sad. This graphic novel tells the story of demeter, the greek goddess of the harvest, and her daughter, persephone. Demeter and persephone anne terry white summary the myth demeter and persephone explains earths seasons.
Start studying mrags 6th demeter and persephone short story. Greek goddess demeter and the abduction of persephone. Persephone and demeter day 5 key idea persephone, daughter of the goddess demeter, is kidnapped by hades, god of the underworld, to be his bride. When persephone is in the underworld with hades, demeter refuses to let any plants grow. Project muse hardy and the aesthetic mythographers. The myth about demeter and persephone is featured in the book entitled the story of demeter and persephone is featured in the book entitled a handbook of greek and roman mythology. As time passed, persephone grew into a lovely goddess. In honor of that luscious fruit, and the changing season, todays myth is the story of persephone.
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