Greek Myth VI: Hymns to Demeter, or Why We Have Winter

Posted byTriumvir ClioPosted inGreek Myth, The Greeks

There are two Hymns to Demeter among the Homeric Hymns (#2 & #13). Hymn #2 is my favorite. Hymn #13 is… short.

The myth told in #2 was one of the inspirations for my favorite of Bernini’s sculptures, found in the Museo Borghese in Rome. If you don’t know about Bernini, well, in this wonderful detail from that sculpture, you can see the magic he worked with marble. I don’t know how he made stone into flesh and tears, but he did.

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash
Discussion Prompts
  1. Why do you think Gaia creates the flower that tempts Kore/Persephone?
  2. What do you think about Helios’s role in this story? Why?
  3. Throughout our reading of the Iliad, I’ve stressed the importance of names. We know the names of the men who are killed, even if they only appear in the poem long enough to die. What might this tell us about Kallidike, Kleisidike, Demo, and Kallithoe?
  4. The “forbidden fruit” in this story is a pomegranate. What do you think the “forbidden fruit” in Genesis is? Why?
  5. Would you have chosen to join the Eleusinian cult? Why or why not?
  6. What are your thoughts on Demeter? Persephone? Zeus? Hades?

Published by Triumvir Clio

I have a BA in History and Classical Civilization from Loyola University Chicago and an MPH from Western Michigan University. I've been a geometry teacher, a religion teacher, a writing tutor. I'm a writer, a knitter, a dancer, a singer, an actor. And, yes, for fun I like to reread everything that was assigned while getting my classics degree.

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