{"id":105,"date":"2021-06-14T14:53:17","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T18:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/myths\/?post_type=chapter&p=105"},"modified":"2022-02-03T10:25:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T15:25:05","slug":"l9guided-hhdemtranspt1","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/chapter\/l9guided-hhdemtranspt1\/","title":{"raw":"L9 Hypothesis-Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Part 1","rendered":"L9 Hypothesis-Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Part 1"},"content":{"raw":"

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Part 1<\/h1>\r\nTranslated by E. Bodner and R. Nickel\r\n

Invocation<\/h1>\r\nDemeter, flaxen-haired, formidable goddess: with her I begin my song,\r\nand with her slender-ankled daughter whom Aidoneus\r\nabducted. Loud-thundering, wide-seeing Zeus gave his permission,\r\ndistant from Demeter of the golden-sword and glorious fruit.\r\n

The Abduction of Persephone<\/h1>\r\nThe girl was playing with Ocean\u2019s ample-breasted daughters,5<\/span>\r\ngathering flowers \u2014 roses, crocus, and lovely violets,\r\nall along the soft-meadow, irises, hyacinth, and a narcissus flower:\r\nGaia made it grow \u2014 a trap for the maiden whose face was like a flower bud \u2014\r\npart of Zeus\u2019s plan, showing her support for the All-Receiver.\r\nRadiantly it glittered, an object of wonder for all to see,10<\/span>\r\nimmortal gods and human mortals.\r\nFrom its roots a hundred blossoms grew,\r\ntheir scent, the sweetest perfume. All the wide heaven above,\r\nall the Earth, and the salty swell of the sea laughed.\r\nAmazed, she reached out with both hands15<\/span>\r\nto take the delightful toy, but the wide-wayed Earth gaped open.\r\n\r\nThere, along the Plain of Nysa, the All-Receiving son of Cronus\r\nwho has many names leapt out with his immortal horses.\r\nHe seized her against her will and on his golden chariot\r\nhe carried her away wailing. With high-pitched screams she cried out,20<\/span>\r\ncalling to her father, highest and best son of Cronos,\r\nBut no one of the immortals nor of mortal men\r\nheard her cries, not even the olive trees with their glorious fruit,\r\nexcept for the carefree daughter of Persaios,\r\nHecate of the shining diadem; from her cave she heard.25<\/span>\r\nSo did lord Helios, glorious son of Hyperion,\r\nas the girl called upon her father, the son of Cronus. But far away\r\nhe was seated apart from the gods in a temple where many come to worship\r\nreceiving rich sacrifices from mortal men.\r\nZeus set the plan in motion, and her uncle30<\/span>\r\nwho receives and commands many, Cronus\u2019 son who has many names\r\ncarried her away with his mortal horses against her will.\r\nAs long as she saw the Earth,\r\nand starry sky, the swift-flowing, fish-filled sea,\r\nand the Sun\u2019s rays, she still hoped to see35<\/span>\r\nher beloved mother and the community of the everlasting gods.\r\nHope still enchanted her great mind, even as she grieved.\r\n

Demeter\u2019s Search<\/h1>\r\nThe mountain peaks and the sea\u2019s depths echoed back\r\nher immortal voice, and her queenly mother heard.\r\nSharp grief took hold of her heart. With her hands,40<\/span>\r\nshe tore the headband around her fragrant hair,\r\nand cast the deep blue veil from her shoulders.\r\nLike a bird over land and sea she rushed\r\nin frenzied terror. But no god, no mortal\r\nwas willing to give her an accurate account,45<\/span>\r\nno bird came as a truth-bearing messenger.\r\n\r\nFor nine days and nights queenly Deo wandered\r\nover the Earth with blazing torches in her hands.\r\nIn her grief she ate no ambrosia,\r\ndrank no sweet nectar, nor washed her flesh.50<\/span>\r\n

Hekate and Helios intervene<\/h1>\r\nBut when the tenth Dawn brought her light,\r\nHekate came to her, holding a torch in her hands.\r\nShe came to tell her what she knew:\r\n

\u201cHonoured Demeter, Bringer of the Seasons, Splendid Giver of Gifts,\r\nwho of the heavenly gods or mortal men55<\/span>\r\nabducted Persephone and brought this grief to your heart?\r\nI heard her voice but did not see with my eyes\r\nwho it was. Everything I\u2019m swiftly telling you is true.\u201d<\/p>\r\nSo spoke Hekate. But the daughter of fair-haired Rhea\r\ngave no response. Swiftly she rushed away, together with Hecate,60<\/span>\r\nholding blazing torches in her hands.\r\nThey came to Helios who watches over gods and men.\r\n\r\nThey stood before his horses, and the divine goddess questioned him:\r\n

\u201cHelios, honour me \u2014 like you, I am a god \u2014 if ever I pleased\r\nyour heart and spirit with word or action.65<\/span>\r\nThe daughter I bore \u2014 sweet child, still growing, noble in beauty \u2014\r\nI heard her voice throbbing through the empty air,\r\nas though she was being attacked, but with my eyes I saw nothing.\r\nSince you look down from the sky with your rays\r\nover all the Earth and sea,70<\/span>\r\ntell me truly if you have seen my beloved child anywhere.\r\nWhat god or mortal has seized her and taken her\r\nagainst her will away from me?\u201d<\/p>\r\nSo she spoke and Hyperion\u2019s son answered her,\r\n

\u201cDaughter of flaxen-haired Rhea, noble Demeter,75<\/span>\r\nyou will know, for I respect and pity you greatly\r\nin your grief for your slender-ankled child. No one else\r\nOf the immortals is responsible other than cloud-gathering Zeus,\r\nwho gave her to Hades, your own brother, to be called\r\nhis youthful wife. He has seized her and taken her80<\/span>\r\ncrying aloud down to the misty darkness.\r\nBut, goddess, cease your loud lamentation. You must not\r\nkeep insatiable anger like this, in vain. No undignified son-in-law\r\namong the immortals is the commander of many, Hades,\r\nyour own brother, born of the same seed. As for honour85<\/span>\r\nhe received Fate\u2019s allotment when first the three-fold division occurred.\r\nHe dwells among those whom Fate assigned him to command.\u201d<\/p>\r\nOnce he finished speaking, he summoned his horses. At his call,\r\nThey lightly bore away his swift chariot, like long-winged birds.\r\nBut to her heart came a more fierce and dog-like grief.90<\/span>\r\n

Demeter comes to Eleusis<\/h1>\r\nAngry at the dark-clouded son of Cronus and\r\nabandoning the assembly of the gods and lofty Olympus,\r\nshe made her way to the cities and rich fields of men and women,\r\nconcealing her true form over a long time. No one of men\r\nand deep-girded women when they saw her, recognized her,95<\/span>\r\nuntil she came to the house of wise-minded Keleos\r\nwho was then a leader in fragrant Eleusis.\r\n\r\nShe sat by the road, grieving in her heart,\r\nnear the Maidens\u2019 Well where the citizens fetch water,\r\nin the shade which an olive bush produced from above.100<\/span>\r\nShe looked like an old woman, born long ago,\r\nExcluded from childbirth and the gifts of garland-loving Aphrodite.\r\nSuch are children\u2019s nurses and housekeepers\r\nin the echoing palaces of kings who administer laws.\r\n\r\nThe daughters of Eleusinian Keleus saw her105<\/span>\r\nwhen they came to fetch water easily drawn\r\ninto bronze pitchers to carry home to the beloved house of their father:\r\nfour of them, just like goddesses, in the flower of their youth \u2014 ,\r\nKallidike, Kleisidike, and lovely Demo,\r\nand Kallithoe, who was eldest of all.110<\/span>\r\n\r\nThey did not recognize her \u2014 gods are difficult for mortals to see.\r\nStanding near, they spoke to her with winged words:\r\n

\u201cWho are you, old woman, of people born long ago and where are you from?\r\nWhy did you go away from the city and not approach\r\nthe houses? There, throughout their shady halls, are women115<\/span>\r\nas old as you and younger ones too\r\nwho would welcome you both with kind words and gestures.\u201d<\/p>\r\nSo they spoke. And she, a queen among goddesses, answered with this story:\r\n

\u201cDear children, whoever you are of delicate women,\r\ngreetings. I will tell you. Surely it is not unseemly,120<\/span>\r\nwhen you ask me to tell the truth.\r\nI will give you my name: Doso.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

My revered mother gave it to me.<\/div>\r\n
From Crete, over the wide back of the sea,\r\nI came, unwillingly. With violent force\r\npirate men abducted me against my will.125<\/span>\r\nThey set sail for Thorikos in their swift ship, and once there, the women\r\nall in a group disembarked onto the land, and the men too.\r\nThey began to prepare dinner beside the ship\u2019s stern cables.\r\nBut my spirit desired no sweet-tasting dinner.\r\nSecretly hastening through the dark land,130<\/span>\r\nI fled my arrogant commanders, so that they would receive\r\nno benefit from the price of selling me, a captive not paid for, as a slave.\r\nSo I came wandering here.<\/div>\r\n
I don\u2019t know at all<\/div>\r\n
what land this is or what people are born here.\r\nBut may all those who have houses on Olympus135<\/span>\r\ngive you wedded husbands and, with them, children to bear,\r\nwhen your parents wish it.<\/div>\r\n
Please take pity on me, maidens.<\/div>\r\n
Give me clear and honest advice, so that I may know\r\ndear children, to whose house I should go,\r\nto the home of what man and woman, so that I may work for them,\r\neagerly, the kind of work suitable for an elderly woman?140<\/span>\r\nHolding a new-born in my arms,\r\nexpertly I would care for the child and watch over the house.\r\nI would make the master\u2019s bed in the nook of a well-built bedroom\r\nand supervise the women at their work.\u201d<\/div>\r\nSo spoke the goddess. At once the unwed maiden,145<\/span>\r\nKallidike, the most beautiful of Keleus\u2019s daughters, answered her:\r\n

\u201cSweet mother, though we grieve, we humans are forced by Necessity\r\nto bear the gifts of the gods, for they are much stronger.\r\nI will advise you clearly in these matters and name\r\nthe men who have great power and honour here,150<\/span>\r\nleaders of the community who protect the city\u2019s battlements\r\nwith their advice and straight judgments:\r\nprudent Triptolemos and Dioklos,\r\nPolyxeinos, and blameless Eumolpos,\r\nDolichos, and our own noble father.155<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The wives of all of these men preside over their houses.\r\nNone these women on first sight will exclude you\r\nfrom her house, dishonouring your appearance.\r\nThey will accept you. For you are truly godlike.<\/p>\r\n

If you are willing, wait here, that we may go160<\/span>\r\nto our father\u2019s house and tell all these things right through\r\nto our deep-girded mother, Metaneira, in the hope that she may urge you\r\nto come to our house and not seek out the house of others.<\/p>\r\n

Her only son is being raised in the well-built halls,\r\nborn late in her life, but much desired and gladly welcomed.165<\/span>\r\nIf you care for him and he reaches the measure of youth,\r\neasily anyone of delicate women, seeing you,\r\nwill be jealous. Our mother will give such great rewards for his rearing.\u201d<\/p>\r\nSo she spoke. Demeter nodded her head in assent. The maidens,\r\nfillingtheir shining pitchers, left, pleased with themselves.170<\/span>\r\n\r\nSoon they arrived at their father\u2019s great house, and quickly told\r\ntheir mother what they had seen and heard. She\r\nordered them to go quickly and summon the goddess, for an immense wage.\r\n\r\nJust as deer or calves in spring time\r\nleap through a meadow, satisfying their hearts with food,175<\/span>\r\nso they, holding up the folds of their lovely, fine robes,\r\ndarted down the hollow carriage road. Their unbound hair\r\nfloated all around each one\u2019s shoulders, like a crocus flower.\r\n\r\nThey found the illustrious goddess near the road, where earlier\r\nthey had left her. Back to their dear father\u2019s house180<\/span>\r\nthey led the way. The goddess, grieving in her heart,\r\nwalked behind them, veiling her head entirely.\r\nHer dark robe coiled all around her slender ankles.\r\n

Demeter in the home of Keleus and Metaneira<\/h1>\r\nQuickly they arrived at the house of Zeus-cherished Keleus.\r\nThey walked through the corridor where their queenly mother185<\/span>\r\nsat near a pillar of the strongly made roof,\r\nholding a child in her bosom: a newborn.\r\n\r\nThe maidens ran to her. But as the goddess crossed over the threshold,\r\nher head reached the ceiling and she filled the doorway with a divine radiance.\r\n\r\nReverence, astonished awe, and pale fear seized the lady.190<\/span>\r\nShe yielded her seat and urged the goddess to sit.\r\n\r\nBut Demeter, giver of splendid gifts, bringer of seasons,\r\ndid not wish to sit upon the radiant couch.\r\nIn silence, she waited, casting her beautiful eyes downward,\r\nuntil hard working Iambe placed195<\/span>\r\na well-built chair for her and threw over it a silver-shining fleece\r\n

Iambe and Metaneira console Demeter<\/h1>\r\nSitting down thre, Demeter held her veil in her hands.\r\nSpeechless and grieving she sat on the chair for a long time.\r\nShe did not greet anyone, neither by word nor gesture.\r\nWithout laughter, without tasting food and drink,200<\/span>\r\nshe sat, wasting away with longing for her deep-girded daughter\r\n\r\nUntil hard working Iambe, making faces at her side and\r\ntelling her many jokes, moved the holy mistress\r\nto smile and laugh and have a gracious spirit once again.\r\nFrom that time forward, Iambe always pleased the goddess\u2019s moods.205<\/span>\r\n\r\nMetaneira gave her a goblet filled with honey-sweet wine.\r\nBut Demeter refused. She said it was not right for her\r\nto drink red wine. She urged her host to give her\r\na mixture of water with barley-meal and soft pennyroyal to drink.\r\nOnce the potion was made, Metaneira offered it to her, as had she requested.210<\/span>\r\nAccepting it to show respect, the great queen Deo [drank].\r\n\r\nWith these words, well-girded Metaneira began to speak:\r\n

\u201cGreetings, Lady, since I suspect you are not from base parents,\r\nbut good ones. Reverence shines forth from your eyes,\r\nand grace too, as if from law-ministering kings.215<\/span>\r\nThough we grieve, we humans are forced by Necessity\r\nto bear the gifts of the gods. For a yoke lies upon our necks.\r\nNow, since you came here, whatever I have will be here for you.\r\nRaise this child for me, a child the gods granted\r\nlate-born and unexpected but still much desired by me.220<\/span>\r\nIf you raise him and he reaches the measure of youth \u2014\r\neasily anyone of these delicate women, seeing you,\r\nwill be envious \u2014 then I will give you immense rewards for his rearing.\u201d<\/p>\r\nAgain well-garlanded Demeter spoke to her:\r\n

\u201cYou also, Lady, many greetings. May the gods grant you fortune.225<\/span>\r\nEagerly I will take the child to raise for you, as you bid me.\r\nI will raise him and, I expect, neither a bewitching nor the undercutter\r\nwill harm him through the neglect of his nurse.\r\nFor I know an antidote much stronger than the woodcutter;\r\nI know a fine safeguard against baneful bewitchings.\u201d230<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Demeter and Demopho\u00f6n<\/h1>\r\nSpeaking so, she took him into her fragrant bosom\r\nwith immortal hands and his mother rejoiced in her heart.\r\nSo the shining son of noble Keleus,\r\nDemopho\u00f6n, whom well-girded Metaneira bore,\r\nshe nursed in the halls.\r\n
And he grew like a god.235<\/span><\/div>\r\nHe was eating no grain, nor sucking [the milk from his mother. For, by day,\r\nlovely-garlanded] Demeter anointed him with ambrosia, as if he were born of a god,\r\nwhile sweetly breathing over him and holding him in her bosom.\r\n\r\nBut by night, she buried him in the force of the fire, like a fire-brand,\r\nin secret from his dear parents; to them she brought about a great wonder240<\/span>\r\nthat he was growing so early; For he had become like the gods to look at.\r\nAnd she would have made him immortal and ageless,\r\nif not for the thoughtlessness of well-girded Metaneira,\r\nwho, watching from her fragrant bedroom one night,\r\nspied this.\r\n
She shrieked and struck both thighs in terror.245<\/span><\/div>\r\n
Fearing for her child, she was very misled by her heart,\r\nand wailing she spoke to him with winged words:<\/div>\r\n
\u201cMy child, Demopho\u00f6n, this stranger buried you in a great fire,\r\nand she causes mourning and baneful sorrow for me.\u201d<\/div>\r\nSo she spoke, lamenting.. And she, shining among goddesses, heard her.250<\/span>\r\nAngry with her, lovely-garlanded Demeter\r\nseized the dear child, whom Metaneira bore unexpected in the halls,\r\nfrom the fire with immortal hands and hurled him to the ground.\r\nWith dreadful anger in her heart,\r\nshe spoke to well-girded Metaneira.:255<\/span>\r\n

\u201cHumans are oblivious and without the sense to know\r\ntheir destiny, whether coming upon good or bad.\r\nYou were incurably misled by your own foolishness.\r\nMay the oath of the gods, the harsh Stygian water, know\r\nthat I would have made the dear child immortal and ageless260<\/span>\r\nforever and I would have granted him imperishable honour.<\/p>\r\n

Now he will not be able to flee mortality and death.\r\nStill, his honour will be ever-imperishable because on my knees\r\nhe climbed and in my arms he slept.\r\nThrough seasons and the passing years,265<\/span>\r\nthe children of th Eleusinians will wage battle and hostile strife\r\nalways with one another for all days.<\/p>\r\n

I am Demeter, honour-holder, who is the greatest\r\nbenefit and delight for immortals and mortals.\r\nCome, let all the people of the community build me a great temple270<\/span>\r\nand an altar below it, beneath the city and towering wall\r\nof Kallichoron atop the jutting hill.<\/p>\r\n

I myself will reveal my secret rites, so that when\r\nyou offer sacrifices reverently, you may appease my mind.\u201d<\/p>","rendered":"

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Part 1<\/h1>\n

Translated by E. Bodner and R. Nickel<\/p>\n

Invocation<\/h1>\n

Demeter, flaxen-haired, formidable goddess: with her I begin my song,
\nand with her slender-ankled daughter whom Aidoneus
\nabducted. Loud-thundering, wide-seeing Zeus gave his permission,
\ndistant from Demeter of the golden-sword and glorious fruit.<\/p>\n

The Abduction of Persephone<\/h1>\n

The girl was playing with Ocean\u2019s ample-breasted daughters,5<\/span>
\ngathering flowers \u2014 roses, crocus, and lovely violets,
\nall along the soft-meadow, irises, hyacinth, and a narcissus flower:
\nGaia made it grow \u2014 a trap for the maiden whose face was like a flower bud \u2014
\npart of Zeus\u2019s plan, showing her support for the All-Receiver.
\nRadiantly it glittered, an object of wonder for all to see,10<\/span>
\nimmortal gods and human mortals.
\nFrom its roots a hundred blossoms grew,
\ntheir scent, the sweetest perfume. All the wide heaven above,
\nall the Earth, and the salty swell of the sea laughed.
\nAmazed, she reached out with both hands15<\/span>
\nto take the delightful toy, but the wide-wayed Earth gaped open.<\/p>\n

There, along the Plain of Nysa, the All-Receiving son of Cronus
\nwho has many names leapt out with his immortal horses.
\nHe seized her against her will and on his golden chariot
\nhe carried her away wailing. With high-pitched screams she cried out,20<\/span>
\ncalling to her father, highest and best son of Cronos,
\nBut no one of the immortals nor of mortal men
\nheard her cries, not even the olive trees with their glorious fruit,
\nexcept for the carefree daughter of Persaios,
\nHecate of the shining diadem; from her cave she heard.25<\/span>
\nSo did lord Helios, glorious son of Hyperion,
\nas the girl called upon her father, the son of Cronus. But far away
\nhe was seated apart from the gods in a temple where many come to worship
\nreceiving rich sacrifices from mortal men.
\nZeus set the plan in motion, and her uncle30<\/span>
\nwho receives and commands many, Cronus\u2019 son who has many names
\ncarried her away with his mortal horses against her will.
\nAs long as she saw the Earth,
\nand starry sky, the swift-flowing, fish-filled sea,
\nand the Sun\u2019s rays, she still hoped to see35<\/span>
\nher beloved mother and the community of the everlasting gods.
\nHope still enchanted her great mind, even as she grieved.<\/p>\n

Demeter\u2019s Search<\/h1>\n

The mountain peaks and the sea\u2019s depths echoed back
\nher immortal voice, and her queenly mother heard.
\nSharp grief took hold of her heart. With her hands,40<\/span>
\nshe tore the headband around her fragrant hair,
\nand cast the deep blue veil from her shoulders.
\nLike a bird over land and sea she rushed
\nin frenzied terror. But no god, no mortal
\nwas willing to give her an accurate account,45<\/span>
\nno bird came as a truth-bearing messenger.<\/p>\n

For nine days and nights queenly Deo wandered
\nover the Earth with blazing torches in her hands.
\nIn her grief she ate no ambrosia,
\ndrank no sweet nectar, nor washed her flesh.50<\/span><\/p>\n

Hekate and Helios intervene<\/h1>\n

But when the tenth Dawn brought her light,
\nHekate came to her, holding a torch in her hands.
\nShe came to tell her what she knew:<\/p>\n

\u201cHonoured Demeter, Bringer of the Seasons, Splendid Giver of Gifts,
\nwho of the heavenly gods or mortal men55<\/span>
\nabducted Persephone and brought this grief to your heart?
\nI heard her voice but did not see with my eyes
\nwho it was. Everything I\u2019m swiftly telling you is true.\u201d<\/p>\n

So spoke Hekate. But the daughter of fair-haired Rhea
\ngave no response. Swiftly she rushed away, together with Hecate,60<\/span>
\nholding blazing torches in her hands.
\nThey came to Helios who watches over gods and men.<\/p>\n

They stood before his horses, and the divine goddess questioned him:<\/p>\n

\u201cHelios, honour me \u2014 like you, I am a god \u2014 if ever I pleased
\nyour heart and spirit with word or action.65<\/span>
\nThe daughter I bore \u2014 sweet child, still growing, noble in beauty \u2014
\nI heard her voice throbbing through the empty air,
\nas though she was being attacked, but with my eyes I saw nothing.
\nSince you look down from the sky with your rays
\nover all the Earth and sea,70<\/span>
\ntell me truly if you have seen my beloved child anywhere.
\nWhat god or mortal has seized her and taken her
\nagainst her will away from me?\u201d<\/p>\n

So she spoke and Hyperion\u2019s son answered her,<\/p>\n

\u201cDaughter of flaxen-haired Rhea, noble Demeter,75<\/span>
\nyou will know, for I respect and pity you greatly
\nin your grief for your slender-ankled child. No one else
\nOf the immortals is responsible other than cloud-gathering Zeus,
\nwho gave her to Hades, your own brother, to be called
\nhis youthful wife. He has seized her and taken her80<\/span>
\ncrying aloud down to the misty darkness.
\nBut, goddess, cease your loud lamentation. You must not
\nkeep insatiable anger like this, in vain. No undignified son-in-law
\namong the immortals is the commander of many, Hades,
\nyour own brother, born of the same seed. As for honour85<\/span>
\nhe received Fate\u2019s allotment when first the three-fold division occurred.
\nHe dwells among those whom Fate assigned him to command.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once he finished speaking, he summoned his horses. At his call,
\nThey lightly bore away his swift chariot, like long-winged birds.
\nBut to her heart came a more fierce and dog-like grief.90<\/span><\/p>\n

Demeter comes to Eleusis<\/h1>\n

Angry at the dark-clouded son of Cronus and
\nabandoning the assembly of the gods and lofty Olympus,
\nshe made her way to the cities and rich fields of men and women,
\nconcealing her true form over a long time. No one of men
\nand deep-girded women when they saw her, recognized her,95<\/span>
\nuntil she came to the house of wise-minded Keleos
\nwho was then a leader in fragrant Eleusis.<\/p>\n

She sat by the road, grieving in her heart,
\nnear the Maidens\u2019 Well where the citizens fetch water,
\nin the shade which an olive bush produced from above.100<\/span>
\nShe looked like an old woman, born long ago,
\nExcluded from childbirth and the gifts of garland-loving Aphrodite.
\nSuch are children\u2019s nurses and housekeepers
\nin the echoing palaces of kings who administer laws.<\/p>\n

The daughters of Eleusinian Keleus saw her105<\/span>
\nwhen they came to fetch water easily drawn
\ninto bronze pitchers to carry home to the beloved house of their father:
\nfour of them, just like goddesses, in the flower of their youth \u2014 ,
\nKallidike, Kleisidike, and lovely Demo,
\nand Kallithoe, who was eldest of all.110<\/span><\/p>\n

They did not recognize her \u2014 gods are difficult for mortals to see.
\nStanding near, they spoke to her with winged words:<\/p>\n

\u201cWho are you, old woman, of people born long ago and where are you from?
\nWhy did you go away from the city and not approach
\nthe houses? There, throughout their shady halls, are women115<\/span>
\nas old as you and younger ones too
\nwho would welcome you both with kind words and gestures.\u201d<\/p>\n

So they spoke. And she, a queen among goddesses, answered with this story:<\/p>\n

\u201cDear children, whoever you are of delicate women,
\ngreetings. I will tell you. Surely it is not unseemly,120<\/span>
\nwhen you ask me to tell the truth.
\nI will give you my name: Doso.<\/p>\n

My revered mother gave it to me.<\/div>\n
From Crete, over the wide back of the sea,
\nI came, unwillingly. With violent force
\npirate men abducted me against my will.125<\/span>
\nThey set sail for Thorikos in their swift ship, and once there, the women
\nall in a group disembarked onto the land, and the men too.
\nThey began to prepare dinner beside the ship\u2019s stern cables.
\nBut my spirit desired no sweet-tasting dinner.
\nSecretly hastening through the dark land,130<\/span>
\nI fled my arrogant commanders, so that they would receive
\nno benefit from the price of selling me, a captive not paid for, as a slave.
\nSo I came wandering here.<\/div>\n
I don\u2019t know at all<\/div>\n
what land this is or what people are born here.
\nBut may all those who have houses on Olympus135<\/span>
\ngive you wedded husbands and, with them, children to bear,
\nwhen your parents wish it.<\/div>\n
Please take pity on me, maidens.<\/div>\n
Give me clear and honest advice, so that I may know
\ndear children, to whose house I should go,
\nto the home of what man and woman, so that I may work for them,
\neagerly, the kind of work suitable for an elderly woman?140<\/span>
\nHolding a new-born in my arms,
\nexpertly I would care for the child and watch over the house.
\nI would make the master\u2019s bed in the nook of a well-built bedroom
\nand supervise the women at their work.\u201d<\/div>\n

So spoke the goddess. At once the unwed maiden,145<\/span>
\nKallidike, the most beautiful of Keleus\u2019s daughters, answered her:<\/p>\n

\u201cSweet mother, though we grieve, we humans are forced by Necessity
\nto bear the gifts of the gods, for they are much stronger.
\nI will advise you clearly in these matters and name
\nthe men who have great power and honour here,150<\/span>
\nleaders of the community who protect the city\u2019s battlements
\nwith their advice and straight judgments:
\nprudent Triptolemos and Dioklos,
\nPolyxeinos, and blameless Eumolpos,
\nDolichos, and our own noble father.155<\/span><\/p>\n

The wives of all of these men preside over their houses.
\nNone these women on first sight will exclude you
\nfrom her house, dishonouring your appearance.
\nThey will accept you. For you are truly godlike.<\/p>\n

If you are willing, wait here, that we may go160<\/span>
\nto our father\u2019s house and tell all these things right through
\nto our deep-girded mother, Metaneira, in the hope that she may urge you
\nto come to our house and not seek out the house of others.<\/p>\n

Her only son is being raised in the well-built halls,
\nborn late in her life, but much desired and gladly welcomed.165<\/span>
\nIf you care for him and he reaches the measure of youth,
\neasily anyone of delicate women, seeing you,
\nwill be jealous. Our mother will give such great rewards for his rearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

So she spoke. Demeter nodded her head in assent. The maidens,
\nfillingtheir shining pitchers, left, pleased with themselves.170<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon they arrived at their father\u2019s great house, and quickly told
\ntheir mother what they had seen and heard. She
\nordered them to go quickly and summon the goddess, for an immense wage.<\/p>\n

Just as deer or calves in spring time
\nleap through a meadow, satisfying their hearts with food,175<\/span>
\nso they, holding up the folds of their lovely, fine robes,
\ndarted down the hollow carriage road. Their unbound hair
\nfloated all around each one\u2019s shoulders, like a crocus flower.<\/p>\n

They found the illustrious goddess near the road, where earlier
\nthey had left her. Back to their dear father\u2019s house180<\/span>
\nthey led the way. The goddess, grieving in her heart,
\nwalked behind them, veiling her head entirely.
\nHer dark robe coiled all around her slender ankles.<\/p>\n

Demeter in the home of Keleus and Metaneira<\/h1>\n

Quickly they arrived at the house of Zeus-cherished Keleus.
\nThey walked through the corridor where their queenly mother185<\/span>
\nsat near a pillar of the strongly made roof,
\nholding a child in her bosom: a newborn.<\/p>\n

The maidens ran to her. But as the goddess crossed over the threshold,
\nher head reached the ceiling and she filled the doorway with a divine radiance.<\/p>\n

Reverence, astonished awe, and pale fear seized the lady.190<\/span>
\nShe yielded her seat and urged the goddess to sit.<\/p>\n

But Demeter, giver of splendid gifts, bringer of seasons,
\ndid not wish to sit upon the radiant couch.
\nIn silence, she waited, casting her beautiful eyes downward,
\nuntil hard working Iambe placed195<\/span>
\na well-built chair for her and threw over it a silver-shining fleece<\/p>\n

Iambe and Metaneira console Demeter<\/h1>\n

Sitting down thre, Demeter held her veil in her hands.
\nSpeechless and grieving she sat on the chair for a long time.
\nShe did not greet anyone, neither by word nor gesture.
\nWithout laughter, without tasting food and drink,200<\/span>
\nshe sat, wasting away with longing for her deep-girded daughter<\/p>\n

Until hard working Iambe, making faces at her side and
\ntelling her many jokes, moved the holy mistress
\nto smile and laugh and have a gracious spirit once again.
\nFrom that time forward, Iambe always pleased the goddess\u2019s moods.205<\/span><\/p>\n

Metaneira gave her a goblet filled with honey-sweet wine.
\nBut Demeter refused. She said it was not right for her
\nto drink red wine. She urged her host to give her
\na mixture of water with barley-meal and soft pennyroyal to drink.
\nOnce the potion was made, Metaneira offered it to her, as had she requested.210<\/span>
\nAccepting it to show respect, the great queen Deo [drank].<\/p>\n

With these words, well-girded Metaneira began to speak:<\/p>\n

\u201cGreetings, Lady, since I suspect you are not from base parents,
\nbut good ones. Reverence shines forth from your eyes,
\nand grace too, as if from law-ministering kings.215<\/span>
\nThough we grieve, we humans are forced by Necessity
\nto bear the gifts of the gods. For a yoke lies upon our necks.
\nNow, since you came here, whatever I have will be here for you.
\nRaise this child for me, a child the gods granted
\nlate-born and unexpected but still much desired by me.220<\/span>
\nIf you raise him and he reaches the measure of youth \u2014
\neasily anyone of these delicate women, seeing you,
\nwill be envious \u2014 then I will give you immense rewards for his rearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again well-garlanded Demeter spoke to her:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou also, Lady, many greetings. May the gods grant you fortune.225<\/span>
\nEagerly I will take the child to raise for you, as you bid me.
\nI will raise him and, I expect, neither a bewitching nor the undercutter
\nwill harm him through the neglect of his nurse.
\nFor I know an antidote much stronger than the woodcutter;
\nI know a fine safeguard against baneful bewitchings.\u201d230<\/span><\/p>\n

Demeter and Demopho\u00f6n<\/h1>\n

Speaking so, she took him into her fragrant bosom
\nwith immortal hands and his mother rejoiced in her heart.
\nSo the shining son of noble Keleus,
\nDemopho\u00f6n, whom well-girded Metaneira bore,
\nshe nursed in the halls.<\/p>\n

And he grew like a god.235<\/span><\/div>\n

He was eating no grain, nor sucking [the milk from his mother. For, by day,
\nlovely-garlanded] Demeter anointed him with ambrosia, as if he were born of a god,
\nwhile sweetly breathing over him and holding him in her bosom.<\/p>\n

But by night, she buried him in the force of the fire, like a fire-brand,
\nin secret from his dear parents; to them she brought about a great wonder240<\/span>
\nthat he was growing so early; For he had become like the gods to look at.
\nAnd she would have made him immortal and ageless,
\nif not for the thoughtlessness of well-girded Metaneira,
\nwho, watching from her fragrant bedroom one night,
\nspied this.<\/p>\n

She shrieked and struck both thighs in terror.245<\/span><\/div>\n
Fearing for her child, she was very misled by her heart,
\nand wailing she spoke to him with winged words:<\/div>\n
\u201cMy child, Demopho\u00f6n, this stranger buried you in a great fire,
\nand she causes mourning and baneful sorrow for me.\u201d<\/div>\n

So she spoke, lamenting.. And she, shining among goddesses, heard her.250<\/span>
\nAngry with her, lovely-garlanded Demeter
\nseized the dear child, whom Metaneira bore unexpected in the halls,
\nfrom the fire with immortal hands and hurled him to the ground.
\nWith dreadful anger in her heart,
\nshe spoke to well-girded Metaneira.:255<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHumans are oblivious and without the sense to know
\ntheir destiny, whether coming upon good or bad.
\nYou were incurably misled by your own foolishness.
\nMay the oath of the gods, the harsh Stygian water, know
\nthat I would have made the dear child immortal and ageless260<\/span>
\nforever and I would have granted him imperishable honour.<\/p>\n

Now he will not be able to flee mortality and death.
\nStill, his honour will be ever-imperishable because on my knees
\nhe climbed and in my arms he slept.
\nThrough seasons and the passing years,265<\/span>
\nthe children of th Eleusinians will wage battle and hostile strife
\nalways with one another for all days.<\/p>\n

I am Demeter, honour-holder, who is the greatest
\nbenefit and delight for immortals and mortals.
\nCome, let all the people of the community build me a great temple270<\/span>
\nand an altar below it, beneath the city and towering wall
\nof Kallichoron atop the jutting hill.<\/p>\n

I myself will reveal my secret rites, so that when
\nyou offer sacrifices reverently, you may appease my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"menu_order":14,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-105","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/105\/revisions\/256"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/105\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}