{"id":107,"date":"2021-06-14T15:02:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T19:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/myths\/?post_type=chapter&p=107"},"modified":"2022-02-03T10:25:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T15:25:14","slug":"l10guided-hhdemtranspt2","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/chapter\/l10guided-hhdemtranspt2\/","title":{"raw":"L10 Hypothesis-Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Part 2","rendered":"L10 Hypothesis-Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Part 2"},"content":{"raw":"

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter,<\/em> Part 2<\/h1>\r\nTranslated by E. Bodner and R. Nickel\r\n\r\nAt the end of Part 1, Metaneira had interrupted Demeter\u2019s attempted apotheosis of Demophon. In anger, the goddess removed the infant from the fire, declared that he could now never be immortal. Now she doffs her mortal disguise and appears in full epiphany before a terrified Metaneira as she departs. <\/em>\r\n

The Epiphany of Demeter<\/h1>\r\nSpeaking so, the goddess changed her size and form,275<\/span>\r\nthrusting away old age. Beauty breathed all around and over her.\r\nA lovely scent spread out from her fragrant robes,\r\nand a brilliance shone far off from the immortal skin of the goddess.\r\nFlaxen locks of hair draped her shoulders,\r\nand with radiant light, the sturdy house was filled like lightning.280<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe walked out through the halls and immediately Metaneira\u2019s knees weakened.\r\nShe was speechless for a long time and did not at all\r\nremember to pick up her dear son from the floor.\r\n\r\nHer sisters heard his piteous cry\r\nand leapt down from their bed laden with tapestries.285<\/span>\r\nPicking up the child in her hands, one held him in her bosom.\r\nAnother lit up the fire and a third ran with tender feet\r\nto raise up the child\u2019s mother from her sweet-smelling bedroom.\r\n\r\nGathering together, they bathed him and as he was struggling,\r\nthey embraced him lovingly. But his heart was not soothed;290<\/span>\r\nfor inferior nurses and nannies were holding him.\r\n\r\nAll night long they were appeasing the illustrious goddess,\r\ntrembling in fear, and when Dawn appeared,\r\nto mighty Keleus they spoke truthfully,\r\nas the goddess beautiful-garlanded Demeter commanded.295<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe, summoning men from all over to an assembly,\r\nordered them to build for lovely-haired Demeter a rich temple\r\nand an altar on the jutting hill.\r\nVery quickly they heard him speaking and obeyed.\r\nThey made it, as he commanded. And it grew as though divine.300<\/span>\r\n

Demeter causes a famine<\/h1>\r\nWhen they accomplished the task, rushed with toil,\r\nthey went, each of them, to go home.\r\n
But flaxen-haired Demeter<\/div>\r\n
stayed sitting there,<\/div>\r\n
apart from all the blessed gods,<\/div>\r\n
wasting with longing for her deep-girded daughter.<\/div>\r\nSo dreadful and dog-like a year she made for mortals305<\/span>\r\non the all-nourishing Earth; for the Earth\r\ndid not sprout any seed\u2014\r\n
lovely garlanded Demeter concealed it.<\/div>\r\n
Many curved ploughs oxen dragged through the fields in vain.\r\nMuch white barley fell barren upon the Earth.<\/div>\r\nShe would have destroyed the race of speech-endowed mortals310<\/span>\r\nwith painful famine,\r\n
and deprived those who have their homes on Olympus\r\nof the splendid honour of gifts and sacrifices,<\/div>\r\n
if Zeus had not noticed and contemplated in his heart.<\/div>\r\nFirst golden-winged Iris he called forth to summon\r\nlovely-haired Demeter, beautiful in form.315<\/span>\r\nSo he spoke. And she obeyed Zeus, the dark-clouded son of Cronus.\r\nShe ran between realms with swift feet.\r\n\r\nArriving at the city of fragrant Eleusis,\r\nand found Demeter dark-robed in the temple,\r\nand speaking, addressed her with winged words:320<\/span>\r\n

\u201cDemeter, father Zeus with imperishable knowledge summons you\r\nto come join the race of everlasting gods.\r\nCome, don\u2019t let my message from Zeus be unaccomplished.\u201d<\/p>\r\nSo she spoke, entreating. But Demeter\u2019s heart was not persuaded.\r\n\r\nThen father Zeus sent out one after another325<\/span>\r\nall the blessed everlasting gods. One after another,\r\nthey summoned her and offered many beautiful gifts and\r\nhonours which she might wish to take from the immortals.\r\n\r\nBut no one could persuade her heart or her thoughts,\r\nsince she was very angry in her heart.\r\n

Firmly she rejected their words.330<\/span><\/div>\r\n
She said she would not go upon sweet-smelling Olympus\r\nor make fruit spring up from the Earth,\r\nuntil she saw with her own eyes her fair-eyed daughter.<\/div>\r\n

Hermes goes to Hades<\/h1>\r\nWhen deep-thundering, wide-seeing Zeus heard this,\r\nhe sent the Watch-dog Slayer with the golden wand into the dark Underworld335<\/span>\r\nto persuade Hades with gentle words and\r\nto lead holy Persephone out from the misty Darkness\r\ninto the light among the gods, so that her mother\r\ncould see her with her own eyes and end her anger.\r\n\r\nHermes did not disobey. Swiftly he leapt down into340<\/span>\r\nthe Earth\u2019s hiding places leaving his home on Olympus.\r\nHe found the king within his palace\r\nseated on his marriage bed beside his timid spouse,\r\nagainst her will and longing for her mother. Far away she\r\n[was devising a plan to punish the carefree gods for their actions.]345<\/span>\r\n\r\nStanding nearby the powerful Watch-dog Slayer addressed him:\r\n

\u201cDark-haired Hades, ruler of the dead,\r\nfather Zeus urges you to bring noble Persephone\r\nout from the Darkness among the upper gods so that her mother\r\nmight see her with her own eyes and cease her anger and deadly wrath350<\/span>\r\nagainst the immortals. She is plotting an enormous action,\r\nto destroy the weakened stock of Earth-born men and women\r\nhiding the seed beneath the ground, wiping out the honours\r\nof the immortals. She holds onto a deadly anger and no longer\r\nkeeps company with the gods. Far away in a fragrant temple355<\/span>\r\nshe sits, remaining in the rocky city of Eleusis.\u201d<\/p>\r\nHe finished speaking, and Aidoneus, the king of those below, smiled\r\nwith his eyebrows. He did not disobey the command of king Zeus.\r\n\r\nStraightaway he gave orders to attentive Persephone,\r\n

\u201cGo, Persephone, to your dark-robed mother.360<\/span>\r\nKeep a gentle heart and spirit in your breast\r\nand do not despair too much beyond others.<\/p>\r\n

Among the immortals I will not be an unworthy husband,\r\nbrother as I am of your father, Zeus.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

When you are here,<\/div>\r\n
you will rule over everything that lives and moves.365<\/span><\/div>\r\n

Honours will be yours, the greatest among the immortals:\r\nAgainst those who commit injustice there will be vengeance for all days,\r\nwhen they fail to appease your anger with sacrificial offerings,\r\nperforming holy rites and presenting fitting gifts.\u201d<\/p>\r\nSo he spoke, and thoughtful Persephone rejoiced.370<\/span>\r\nStraightaway she leapt up with joy. But he in secret\r\ngave her the sweet seed of a pomegranate to eat,\r\nkeeping watch all around him, so that she might not remain all her days\r\nthere beside revered Demeter of the dark robes.\r\n\r\nThen Hades, commander of many, harnessed375<\/span>\r\nimmortal horses before a golden chariot.\r\nShe mounted the chariot box; beside her the powerful Watch-dog Slayer,\r\ntaking the reins and goad in his hands,\r\nsped away from the palace. The two horses took flight.\r\nSwiftly they completed the long journey. Neither the sea380<\/span>\r\nnor river waters, grassy valleys,\r\nmountain peaks held back the immortal horses\u2019 onrush.\r\nHigh above they cut through the air as they sped along.\r\n

Persephone returns<\/h1>\r\nHermes stopped the horses and led the way to where well garlanded Demeter\r\nwaited before her fragrant temple.\r\n
Seeing her daughter,385<\/span><\/div>\r\n
she rushed forward like a maenad down a shady, wooded mountain.\r\nFor her part, Persephone, [when she saw with her own eyes],\r\njumped down, [leaving behind chariot and horses],\r\nto run to her mother [and threw her arms around her neck.]\r\nFor Demeter, [as she held her beloved child in her arms],390<\/span>\r\n[suddenly her heart suspected a trick, and she began to tremble dreadfully].<\/div>\r\nEnd[ing her embrace, straightaway she questioned her:]\r\n

\u201cChild, tell me, you did not [taste, when you were below,]\r\nany food? Speak out; [hide nothing so that we might both know].\r\nFor if you did not, you will come up [from dreadful Hades;]395<\/span>\r\nbeside me and your father, the da[rk-clouded son of Cronus],\r\nyou will live, held in honour by [all the immortals].\r\nBut if you did eat, you will go back down beneath [the Earth\u2019s hiding places]\r\nand live there for a third portion of the seasons [every year],\r\nand two portions with me and the other [immortals].400<\/span>\r\nWhenever the Earth blossoms with fragrant spring flow[ers]\r\nof every kind, then from the misty darkness\r\nyou will rise up again, a great wonder for gods and mortal women and men.\r\nAnd so, did the powerful god who receives many beguile you with a trick?\u201d<\/p>\r\nBeautiful Persephone spoke to her mother in response:405<\/span>\r\n

\u201cI will tell you everything unerringly.\r\nWhen the swift Watch-dog Slayer came\r\nfrom my father, the son of Cronus, and the other heavenly gods,\r\nto depart from the Darkness \u2014 so that, seeing me with your own eyes,\r\nyou might cease your anger and dreadful wrath against the immortals \u2014410<\/span>\r\nI leapt up in joy, but Hades secretly\r\nmade me eat the seed of a pomegranate.<\/p>\r\n

He compelled me to swallow it by force, against my will.<\/p>\r\n

How he seized me through the shrewd cunning of Cronus\u2019s son,\r\nmy father, and bore me away beneath the Earth\u2019s hiding places,415<\/span>\r\nI will tell you and recount everything you ask.<\/p>\r\n

All along a lovely meadow, all of us \u2013\r\nLeucippe, Phaino, Electra and Ianth\u00e9,\r\nMelit\u00e9, Iakh\u00e9, Rhodeia and Callirho\u00e9,\r\nMelebosis, Tukh\u00e9, and Okuro\u00e9 whose face is like a flower bud,420<\/span>\r\nChryseis, Ianeira, Akast\u00e9 and Admet\u00e9,\r\nRhodop\u00e9, Plouto, and graceful Kalypso,\r\nStyx, Ourania, and lovely Galaxaura,\r\nBattle-ready Pallas Athena and arrow-pouring Artemis \u2013\r\nwere playing and gathering lovely flowers by hand,425<\/span>\r\nall mixed together \u2013 soft crocus, irises and hyacinth,\r\nrose-buds and lilies, wonderful to see,\r\nand a narcissus which the wide Earth made grow like a crocus.<\/p>\r\n

I was plucking them out of joy, but from beneath the Earth\r\ngave way and the powerful lord who receives many leapt out.430<\/span>\r\nHe carried me off beneath the Earth in his golden chariot,\r\nby force against my will. With high-pitched screams I cried out\r\nThough this causes you pain, everything I tell you is true.\u201d<\/p>\r\nAll day long, with one mind\r\neach comforted the other\u2019s heart and spirit,435<\/span>\r\ntogether in each other\u2019s arms, and their spirits ceased grieving.\r\nEach received joy from the other, and gave it in return.\r\n\r\nHecate of the shining headdress came to them;\r\nshe too held the daughter of holy Demeter in her embrace.\r\nFrom that time forward, queenly Hecate has been her attendant and companion.440<\/span>\r\n\r\nNext deep-thundering, wide-seeing Zeus sent a messenger,\r\nfair-haired Rhea, their dark-robed mother,\r\nto bring her back to the company of the gods. He promised\r\nto give whatever honours she might choose among the immortal gods.\r\nHe agreed that her daughter remain for a third portion445<\/span>\r\nof the revolving year beneath the misty Darkness,\r\nand two portions with her mother and the other immortals.\r\nSo he spoke, nor did divine Rhea disobey Zeus\u2019s commands.\r\n\r\nSwiftly she leapt down the peaks of Mount Olympus\r\nand came to Rharion, a life-bearing, fertile land450<\/span>\r\nin time before, but at that time it produced no life; it lay\r\nat rest, without a single plant. The white barley remained\r\nconcealed through the plans of fair-ankled Demeter. But soon\r\nafterwards it would be adorned with long ears of grain\r\nwhen spring came once again, and thick rows of wheat and barley455<\/span>\r\nwould stand heavy on the plain, waiting to be tied together in bundles.\r\nThere first Rhea came down from the empty air.\r\n\r\nSo pleased were they to see one another, their hearts were filled with joy.\r\nThen Rhea of the shining headdress spoke to her daughter:\r\n

\u201cCome, child, deep-thundering, wide-seeing Zeus summons you460<\/span>\r\nto return to the company of the gods. He promises to give\r\n[whatever honours you wish] among the immortal gods.\r\n[He has agreed that your daughter] remain for a third portion\r\n[of the revolving year beneath the misty] Darkness,\r\n[and two portions at your side and with the other] immortals.465<\/span>\r\n[He said that it would be accom]plished like this; he nodded his head in assent.\r\n[Come now, my] child, obey; do not rage excessively\r\n[and without end] against the dark-clouded son of Cronus.\r\n[Quickly now,] allow the life-bearing fruit to grow for men and women.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Demeter establishes the Eleusinian Mysteries<\/h1>\r\nShe spoke, and fair-garlanded Demeter did not disobey.470<\/span>\r\nAt once she sent up the grain of the tilled fields,\r\nand all the wide Earth was weighed down with leaves and\r\nflowers. Then she went to the kings who administer laws \u2013\r\nto Triptolemus and the charioteer Diokles,\r\nto strong Eumolpus and Keleus, leader of his people. She showed them475<\/span>\r\nthe administration of her holy mysteries and revealed her sacred rites to all \u2014\r\nto Triptolemus and Polyxeinos, and in addition to them to Diokles \u2014\r\nawe-inspiring rites that must never be violated [nor asked about]\r\nnor discussed. Great reverence for the gods impedes our speech.\r\n\r\nBlessed are they among women and men on Earth who have seen these rites.480<\/span>\r\n\r\nBut those who are uninitiated in the holy mysteries and have no share in them, never\r\nhave a portion of the same blessings when they are dead beneath the chilly Darkness.\r\n\r\nWhen the shining goddess had established all her rites,\r\nthey both made their way to Olympus, to the company of the other gods.\r\n\r\nThere they dwell alongside Zeus who delights in thunder \u2013485<\/span>\r\nRevered and adored goddesses.\r\n
Greatly blessed are those whom the two goddesses<\/div>\r\n
willingly love among women and men on Earth.\r\nStraightaway they send a hearth-guest to their great homes \u2014\r\nProsperity, who grants riches to mortal men and women.<\/div>\r\nCome now, goddesses who preside over fragrant Eleusis,490<\/span>\r\nsea-girt Paros and rocky Antros,\r\nqueenly Deo, giver of splendid gifts, bringer of seasons,\r\nyou and your beautiful daughter, Persephone,\r\nwillingly in return for my song grant me a soul-pleasing livelihood.\r\n\r\nNext I will remember you and another song.495<\/span>","rendered":"

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter,<\/em> Part 2<\/h1>\n

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

At the end of Part 1, Metaneira had interrupted Demeter\u2019s attempted apotheosis of Demophon. In anger, the goddess removed the infant from the fire, declared that he could now never be immortal. Now she doffs her mortal disguise and appears in full epiphany before a terrified Metaneira as she departs. <\/em><\/p>\n

The Epiphany of Demeter<\/h1>\n

Speaking so, the goddess changed her size and form,275<\/span>
\nthrusting away old age. Beauty breathed all around and over her.
\nA lovely scent spread out from her fragrant robes,
\nand a brilliance shone far off from the immortal skin of the goddess.
\nFlaxen locks of hair draped her shoulders,
\nand with radiant light, the sturdy house was filled like lightning.280<\/span><\/p>\n

She walked out through the halls and immediately Metaneira\u2019s knees weakened.
\nShe was speechless for a long time and did not at all
\nremember to pick up her dear son from the floor.<\/p>\n

Her sisters heard his piteous cry
\nand leapt down from their bed laden with tapestries.285<\/span>
\nPicking up the child in her hands, one held him in her bosom.
\nAnother lit up the fire and a third ran with tender feet
\nto raise up the child\u2019s mother from her sweet-smelling bedroom.<\/p>\n

Gathering together, they bathed him and as he was struggling,
\nthey embraced him lovingly. But his heart was not soothed;290<\/span>
\nfor inferior nurses and nannies were holding him.<\/p>\n

All night long they were appeasing the illustrious goddess,
\ntrembling in fear, and when Dawn appeared,
\nto mighty Keleus they spoke truthfully,
\nas the goddess beautiful-garlanded Demeter commanded.295<\/span><\/p>\n

He, summoning men from all over to an assembly,
\nordered them to build for lovely-haired Demeter a rich temple
\nand an altar on the jutting hill.
\nVery quickly they heard him speaking and obeyed.
\nThey made it, as he commanded. And it grew as though divine.300<\/span><\/p>\n

Demeter causes a famine<\/h1>\n

When they accomplished the task, rushed with toil,
\nthey went, each of them, to go home.<\/p>\n

But flaxen-haired Demeter<\/div>\n
stayed sitting there,<\/div>\n
apart from all the blessed gods,<\/div>\n
wasting with longing for her deep-girded daughter.<\/div>\n

So dreadful and dog-like a year she made for mortals305<\/span>
\non the all-nourishing Earth; for the Earth
\ndid not sprout any seed\u2014<\/p>\n

lovely garlanded Demeter concealed it.<\/div>\n
Many curved ploughs oxen dragged through the fields in vain.
\nMuch white barley fell barren upon the Earth.<\/div>\n

She would have destroyed the race of speech-endowed mortals310<\/span>
\nwith painful famine,<\/p>\n

and deprived those who have their homes on Olympus
\nof the splendid honour of gifts and sacrifices,<\/div>\n
if Zeus had not noticed and contemplated in his heart.<\/div>\n

First golden-winged Iris he called forth to summon
\nlovely-haired Demeter, beautiful in form.315<\/span>
\nSo he spoke. And she obeyed Zeus, the dark-clouded son of Cronus.
\nShe ran between realms with swift feet.<\/p>\n

Arriving at the city of fragrant Eleusis,
\nand found Demeter dark-robed in the temple,
\nand speaking, addressed her with winged words:320<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDemeter, father Zeus with imperishable knowledge summons you
\nto come join the race of everlasting gods.
\nCome, don\u2019t let my message from Zeus be unaccomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

So she spoke, entreating. But Demeter\u2019s heart was not persuaded.<\/p>\n

Then father Zeus sent out one after another325<\/span>
\nall the blessed everlasting gods. One after another,
\nthey summoned her and offered many beautiful gifts and
\nhonours which she might wish to take from the immortals.<\/p>\n

But no one could persuade her heart or her thoughts,
\nsince she was very angry in her heart.<\/p>\n

Firmly she rejected their words.330<\/span><\/div>\n
She said she would not go upon sweet-smelling Olympus
\nor make fruit spring up from the Earth,
\nuntil she saw with her own eyes her fair-eyed daughter.<\/div>\n

Hermes goes to Hades<\/h1>\n

When deep-thundering, wide-seeing Zeus heard this,
\nhe sent the Watch-dog Slayer with the golden wand into the dark Underworld335<\/span>
\nto persuade Hades with gentle words and
\nto lead holy Persephone out from the misty Darkness
\ninto the light among the gods, so that her mother
\ncould see her with her own eyes and end her anger.<\/p>\n

Hermes did not disobey. Swiftly he leapt down into340<\/span>
\nthe Earth\u2019s hiding places leaving his home on Olympus.
\nHe found the king within his palace
\nseated on his marriage bed beside his timid spouse,
\nagainst her will and longing for her mother. Far away she
\n[was devising a plan to punish the carefree gods for their actions.]345<\/span><\/p>\n

Standing nearby the powerful Watch-dog Slayer addressed him:<\/p>\n

\u201cDark-haired Hades, ruler of the dead,
\nfather Zeus urges you to bring noble Persephone
\nout from the Darkness among the upper gods so that her mother
\nmight see her with her own eyes and cease her anger and deadly wrath350<\/span>
\nagainst the immortals. She is plotting an enormous action,
\nto destroy the weakened stock of Earth-born men and women
\nhiding the seed beneath the ground, wiping out the honours
\nof the immortals. She holds onto a deadly anger and no longer
\nkeeps company with the gods. Far away in a fragrant temple355<\/span>
\nshe sits, remaining in the rocky city of Eleusis.\u201d<\/p>\n

He finished speaking, and Aidoneus, the king of those below, smiled
\nwith his eyebrows. He did not disobey the command of king Zeus.<\/p>\n

Straightaway he gave orders to attentive Persephone,<\/p>\n

\u201cGo, Persephone, to your dark-robed mother.360<\/span>
\nKeep a gentle heart and spirit in your breast
\nand do not despair too much beyond others.<\/p>\n

Among the immortals I will not be an unworthy husband,
\nbrother as I am of your father, Zeus.<\/p>\n

When you are here,<\/div>\n
you will rule over everything that lives and moves.365<\/span><\/div>\n

Honours will be yours, the greatest among the immortals:
\nAgainst those who commit injustice there will be vengeance for all days,
\nwhen they fail to appease your anger with sacrificial offerings,
\nperforming holy rites and presenting fitting gifts.\u201d<\/p>\n

So he spoke, and thoughtful Persephone rejoiced.370<\/span>
\nStraightaway she leapt up with joy. But he in secret
\ngave her the sweet seed of a pomegranate to eat,
\nkeeping watch all around him, so that she might not remain all her days
\nthere beside revered Demeter of the dark robes.<\/p>\n

Then Hades, commander of many, harnessed375<\/span>
\nimmortal horses before a golden chariot.
\nShe mounted the chariot box; beside her the powerful Watch-dog Slayer,
\ntaking the reins and goad in his hands,
\nsped away from the palace. The two horses took flight.
\nSwiftly they completed the long journey. Neither the sea380<\/span>
\nnor river waters, grassy valleys,
\nmountain peaks held back the immortal horses\u2019 onrush.
\nHigh above they cut through the air as they sped along.<\/p>\n

Persephone returns<\/h1>\n

Hermes stopped the horses and led the way to where well garlanded Demeter
\nwaited before her fragrant temple.<\/p>\n

Seeing her daughter,385<\/span><\/div>\n
she rushed forward like a maenad down a shady, wooded mountain.
\nFor her part, Persephone, [when she saw with her own eyes],
\njumped down, [leaving behind chariot and horses],
\nto run to her mother [and threw her arms around her neck.]
\nFor Demeter, [as she held her beloved child in her arms],390<\/span>
\n[suddenly her heart suspected a trick, and she began to tremble dreadfully].<\/div>\n

End[ing her embrace, straightaway she questioned her:]<\/p>\n

\u201cChild, tell me, you did not [taste, when you were below,]
\nany food? Speak out; [hide nothing so that we might both know].
\nFor if you did not, you will come up [from dreadful Hades;]395<\/span>
\nbeside me and your father, the da[rk-clouded son of Cronus],
\nyou will live, held in honour by [all the immortals].
\nBut if you did eat, you will go back down beneath [the Earth\u2019s hiding places]
\nand live there for a third portion of the seasons [every year],
\nand two portions with me and the other [immortals].400<\/span>
\nWhenever the Earth blossoms with fragrant spring flow[ers]
\nof every kind, then from the misty darkness
\nyou will rise up again, a great wonder for gods and mortal women and men.
\nAnd so, did the powerful god who receives many beguile you with a trick?\u201d<\/p>\n

Beautiful Persephone spoke to her mother in response:405<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI will tell you everything unerringly.
\nWhen the swift Watch-dog Slayer came
\nfrom my father, the son of Cronus, and the other heavenly gods,
\nto depart from the Darkness \u2014 so that, seeing me with your own eyes,
\nyou might cease your anger and dreadful wrath against the immortals \u2014410<\/span>
\nI leapt up in joy, but Hades secretly
\nmade me eat the seed of a pomegranate.<\/p>\n

He compelled me to swallow it by force, against my will.<\/p>\n

How he seized me through the shrewd cunning of Cronus\u2019s son,
\nmy father, and bore me away beneath the Earth\u2019s hiding places,415<\/span>
\nI will tell you and recount everything you ask.<\/p>\n

All along a lovely meadow, all of us \u2013
\nLeucippe, Phaino, Electra and Ianth\u00e9,
\nMelit\u00e9, Iakh\u00e9, Rhodeia and Callirho\u00e9,
\nMelebosis, Tukh\u00e9, and Okuro\u00e9 whose face is like a flower bud,420<\/span>
\nChryseis, Ianeira, Akast\u00e9 and Admet\u00e9,
\nRhodop\u00e9, Plouto, and graceful Kalypso,
\nStyx, Ourania, and lovely Galaxaura,
\nBattle-ready Pallas Athena and arrow-pouring Artemis \u2013
\nwere playing and gathering lovely flowers by hand,425<\/span>
\nall mixed together \u2013 soft crocus, irises and hyacinth,
\nrose-buds and lilies, wonderful to see,
\nand a narcissus which the wide Earth made grow like a crocus.<\/p>\n

I was plucking them out of joy, but from beneath the Earth
\ngave way and the powerful lord who receives many leapt out.430<\/span>
\nHe carried me off beneath the Earth in his golden chariot,
\nby force against my will. With high-pitched screams I cried out
\nThough this causes you pain, everything I tell you is true.\u201d<\/p>\n

All day long, with one mind
\neach comforted the other\u2019s heart and spirit,435<\/span>
\ntogether in each other\u2019s arms, and their spirits ceased grieving.
\nEach received joy from the other, and gave it in return.<\/p>\n

Hecate of the shining headdress came to them;
\nshe too held the daughter of holy Demeter in her embrace.
\nFrom that time forward, queenly Hecate has been her attendant and companion.440<\/span><\/p>\n

Next deep-thundering, wide-seeing Zeus sent a messenger,
\nfair-haired Rhea, their dark-robed mother,
\nto bring her back to the company of the gods. He promised
\nto give whatever honours she might choose among the immortal gods.
\nHe agreed that her daughter remain for a third portion445<\/span>
\nof the revolving year beneath the misty Darkness,
\nand two portions with her mother and the other immortals.
\nSo he spoke, nor did divine Rhea disobey Zeus\u2019s commands.<\/p>\n

Swiftly she leapt down the peaks of Mount Olympus
\nand came to Rharion, a life-bearing, fertile land450<\/span>
\nin time before, but at that time it produced no life; it lay
\nat rest, without a single plant. The white barley remained
\nconcealed through the plans of fair-ankled Demeter. But soon
\nafterwards it would be adorned with long ears of grain
\nwhen spring came once again, and thick rows of wheat and barley455<\/span>
\nwould stand heavy on the plain, waiting to be tied together in bundles.
\nThere first Rhea came down from the empty air.<\/p>\n

So pleased were they to see one another, their hearts were filled with joy.
\nThen Rhea of the shining headdress spoke to her daughter:<\/p>\n

\u201cCome, child, deep-thundering, wide-seeing Zeus summons you460<\/span>
\nto return to the company of the gods. He promises to give
\n[whatever honours you wish] among the immortal gods.
\n[He has agreed that your daughter] remain for a third portion
\n[of the revolving year beneath the misty] Darkness,
\n[and two portions at your side and with the other] immortals.465<\/span>
\n[He said that it would be accom]plished like this; he nodded his head in assent.
\n[Come now, my] child, obey; do not rage excessively
\n[and without end] against the dark-clouded son of Cronus.
\n[Quickly now,] allow the life-bearing fruit to grow for men and women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demeter establishes the Eleusinian Mysteries<\/h1>\n

She spoke, and fair-garlanded Demeter did not disobey.470<\/span>
\nAt once she sent up the grain of the tilled fields,
\nand all the wide Earth was weighed down with leaves and
\nflowers. Then she went to the kings who administer laws \u2013
\nto Triptolemus and the charioteer Diokles,
\nto strong Eumolpus and Keleus, leader of his people. She showed them475<\/span>
\nthe administration of her holy mysteries and revealed her sacred rites to all \u2014
\nto Triptolemus and Polyxeinos, and in addition to them to Diokles \u2014
\nawe-inspiring rites that must never be violated [nor asked about]
\nnor discussed. Great reverence for the gods impedes our speech.<\/p>\n

Blessed are they among women and men on Earth who have seen these rites.480<\/span><\/p>\n

But those who are uninitiated in the holy mysteries and have no share in them, never
\nhave a portion of the same blessings when they are dead beneath the chilly Darkness.<\/p>\n

When the shining goddess had established all her rites,
\nthey both made their way to Olympus, to the company of the other gods.<\/p>\n

There they dwell alongside Zeus who delights in thunder \u2013485<\/span>
\nRevered and adored goddesses.<\/p>\n

Greatly blessed are those whom the two goddesses<\/div>\n
willingly love among women and men on Earth.
\nStraightaway they send a hearth-guest to their great homes \u2014
\nProsperity, who grants riches to mortal men and women.<\/div>\n

Come now, goddesses who preside over fragrant Eleusis,490<\/span>
\nsea-girt Paros and rocky Antros,
\nqueenly Deo, giver of splendid gifts, bringer of seasons,
\nyou and your beautiful daughter, Persephone,
\nwillingly in return for my song grant me a soul-pleasing livelihood.<\/p>\n

Next I will remember you and another song.495<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"menu_order":15,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-107","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\/107","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":8,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/107\/revisions\/257"}],"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\/107\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}