04 Demeter and Hades Flashcards
Cerberus
A many-eyed guardian whom Hera assigns to Io, in order to avoid her falling into the hands of Zeus. (p. 117)
Charon
A boatman who demanded a payment of a coin or a cake from those who have recently died and wished to reach the Underworld. (p. 157)
Demeter
A daughter of Cronus and Rhea and the mother of Persephone. (p. 154)
Demophon
The young son of King Celeus and Queen Metaneira of Eleusis, whom Demeter tries (and fails) to render immortal. (p. 165)
Eleusinian Mysteries
A week-long initiation ceremony that began in Athens and concluded in Demeter’s sanctuary in Eleusis, where initiates received secret knowledge. (p. 154)
Eleusis
A site fourteen miles from Athens that housed a significant shrine to Demeter. (p. 166)
Elysian Plain
Also called the Islands of the Blessed, a place of perpetual springtime for the souls of the virtuous and worthy dead within the Underworld. (p. 158)
Funerary rituals
These consisted of three parts: a laying out of the corpse (prosthesis), a procession to the gravesite (ecphora), and subsequent feasts at the gravesite for a brief period of time. (p. 154)
Hades
A son of Cronus and Rhea who abducted and married his niece Persephone. (p. 154)
Persephone
The “slim-ankled” daughter of Demeter and Zeus, who was kidnapped by Hades and taken to the Underworld to be his bride. (p. 169)
Tartarus
A deep and dark region within, or below, the Underworld that is the site of many gruesome eternal punishments. (p. 159)
Thanatos
Although his name is the Greek word for “death”, he seemed a gentle, rather than a rapacious, figure who was given the task of stalking humankind and gathering the dead for transport to the Underworld. (p. 155)
Thesmophoria
A three-day celebration, for women, to ensure successful marriage and childbirth. (p. 154)
Triptolemus
An adolescent boy who rides a winged chariot and to whom Demeter gives the knowledge of agriculture to share with humanity. (p. 162)
