Homeric Hymn to Demeter, What

¶ … Homeric Hymn to Demeter, what is the fate of Persephone?

Persephone is married to Hades and is taken to the underworld. Her mother, Demeter, manages to force the gods to allow Persephone to return to the world above. However, Persephone has eaten a pomegranate seed, which means that she is linked to Hades. The result is that Persephone must spend part of the year in Hades, but can spend part of her year on earth with her mother, Demeter (Foley 1993, p.70). Therefore, she spends part of her life as Demeter's daughter, but must spend one-third of the year as her husband's wife, which also makes her the Queen of the Underworld. This position gives Persephone some power in her own right.

Why does Demeter go to Eleusis? Why does she want to make the child Demophon immortal? Why does she fail?

Demeter goes to Eleusis initially looking for Persephone. Then, she disguises herself as a part of a plan that is not initially revealed in the poem. "Disguised as an old woman, she is met by the daughters of king Celeus, makes a long deceptive speech to them, is courteously brought home, courteously received again by Celeus' wife Metanira, and employed by her as nurse to her young son Demophon" (Parker 1991, p.8). This is part of her plan to force the other gods to back her in her struggle with Zeus and force him to return her daughter, Persephone to her. She intends to turn the mortal child Demophon immortal for reasons that are not ever explained in the poem. Her plans are foiled when Metanira comes in and finds that Demeter has placed Demophon in the fire, although the reasons why this discovery would foil Demeter's plans is never fully explained.

3. Why does Demeter demand a ritual at Eleusis? What is the purpose of the ritual?

According to Kerenyi, Demeter demands a ritual sacrifice at Eleusis so that the initiates who were "desirous of witnessing the epopteia at Eleusis" could be worthy to take her grief upon themselves (Kerenyi 1991, p.60). This grief was her grief at losing Persephone. This ritual is explained as having its roots in Demeter's own behavior when she went to Eleusis in disguise as an old woman. However, Parker suggests that Demeter demands a ritual at Eleusis in order to recognize Demophon because she has served as his nurse. Either explanation suggests that Demeter demands ritual in order to recognize the role of the mother.

4. Explain the relevance of this myth to the development of agricultural communities and civilization.

Agricultural communities and civilization are dependent upon the cycle of death and rebirth that is characterized by the seasons. At its most basic element, this myth describes the seasons, as Demeter causes the death of the earth (winter) when her daughter is stuck in the underworld. However, it also explains death on a human level because it focuses on issues of mortality and whether humans actually want to be free from death. "A goddess had been willing to confer the supreme blessing of immortality on a human child. The child lost the gift through a mistake by his own mother; but it was a mistake that sprung out of the human mother's concern for the child, a mistake that almost any mother would necessarily have made" (Parker 1991, p.9).