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The Homeric Hymn to Demeter

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Central Themes in the Text:

etiology of the seasons and the agricultural cycle

conventions of marriage in the archaic Greek world

resistance to the patriarchal order by the female goddesses

mythological beginning of the festivals to Demeter and Persephone

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Persephone�Returns from Hades

Terracotta Bell-krater
ca. 440 BCE
Metropolitan Museum, NYC
Attributed to the Persephone Painter

Figures from left to right: Persephone returning from Hades, Hermes in his role as psychopomp leading Persephone, Hekate with torches, Demeter with a scepter.

Can talk about: Iconography present in the poem and in this painting - the otrches that hekate carries are present in the poem as Demeter and Hekate

Chthonic dieties - dieties associated with the earth - like Persephone, Hades, Demeter, Hekate, and Hermes
Hymn is the explanation of the etiology of the seasons
note the iconography of the pictured deities - Hekate has torches, Demeter has a staff, Persephone is crowned
the torches are a recurring object in both the HHD and the ritual practice to Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis - initiates would approach Eleusis during the celebration of the Great Mysteries in a torchlight parade. Hekate and Demeter in the HHD search for Persephone with the aid of torches.
Demeter holds a staff as an indication of her status and authority
Persephone is crowned, her crown is floral indicating her ties to her mother and the fertility of the earth. The crown could also indicate her status as queen of the underworld (Hera is often pictured as crowned as the Queen of the Olympian gods)

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Athenian Lunar Calendar

Hekatombaion Metageitnion	Summer Farmers rest – too hot	mid-July—mid-August mid-August—mid-September
Boedromion Pyanopsion	Fall Planting (seed goes into the ground) Persephone descends to underworld	mid-September— mid-October mid-October—mid-November
Maimakterion Poseideon Gamelion	Winter Rainy season	mid-November—mid-December mid-December—mid-January mid-January—mid-February
Anthesterion Elaphebolion Mounychion	Spring Seeds planted in Fall sprout Return of Persephone some harvest	mid-February—mid-March mid-March—mid-April mid-April—mid-May
Thargelion Skiraphorion	Summer harvest	mid-May—mid-June mid-June—mid-July

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Festivals to Demeter

Several festivals throughout the year
The worship of Demeter was centered around what was going on in the agricultural calendar
Female worshippers were a very important part of the rituals to Demeter – in fact several festivals to Demeter were only for women
At Eleusis there were both priests and priestesses who were in charge of the temples and the rites to Demeter, Persephone, and Hades.
The Great Mysteries at Eleusis were only part of the cycle of worship – but were the most famous and the most widely attended by people from around the Mediterranean world

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The Mysteries of Demeter at Eleusis

Worship to Demeter at Eleusis is the center of the worship to the goddess for the whole Greek world
Rites celebrated here for well over 1,000 years
Anyone could become initiated into the Mysteries provided they spoke Greek and had not committed a murder
By 600 BCE the region of Eleusis had been annex by Athens and so the rituals we see reflect the merging of the two cities and Athenian dominance in the region
Celebrations lead by priests and priestesses several from two aristocratic families Eumolpidae and the Athenian Kerykes
Three levels of initiates

Mystes (an initiate)
Epoptes (one who sees)
Mystagogos – full member in cult who could lead initiates on their journey

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Eleusis and the Telesterion

http://shelton.berkeley.edu/175c/Demeter/zEleusisPlan.jpg

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�Ninnion Tablet�

Painted tablet
ca. 4^th century BCE
Archeological Museum of Eleusis

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The Ploutonion��entrance to the underworld at Eleusis