Demeter and Persephone Flashcards
Ambrosia
fed to Demo…
Charter Myth
Foundation of Worship of Demeter at Eleusis
Celeus and Metaneira
parents of Demo…
Demeter (Ceres)
daughter of cronus and rhea, sister of zeus, mother of Persephone by also zeus
de = wheat
meter = mother
roman name ceres
Demeter Withdraws
§ Famine comes upon the land
§ Zeus Intervenes
§ Sends deities to win her over
§ Demeter Refuses
§ Zeus Sends Hermes to Hades
§ Hades Relents
§ But Persephone eats § pomegranate seeds
Demophoön
demeter nurses him
son of Celeus and Metaneira
feeds him ambrosia and nectar and burns away mortal parts at night but gets caught and he remains mortal
Eleusis / Eleusinian Mysteries
demeter disguises herself as an old woman and takes refuge
Demeter Restores Fertility §Establishes Mystery cult
§Secret initiation
§Promise of happy afterlife
Epopteia
the beholding
Hades
abducts Persephone - rape is assumed
Zeus condoned is seen by Helius and Hecate
Demeter is sad and fasts for 9 days
Hiera
sexual intercourse, male/female genitalia
Hierophant
revealer of sacred things
Iambe / Iambic poetry
old woman cheers up Demeter and tells her jokes (iambic poetry)
Kore
daughter or girl
Kykeon
barley mint drink
Lesser/Greater Mysteries
preliminary to full initiation
Myo
to squint
Mystai
squinters, initiates
Mystery Religion
Open only to those who are initiated
Nectar
fed to Demo…
Persephone (Proserpina)
fertility of crops, with mother known as two goddesses
Phaenomena
??
Pomegranate
Persephone eats when Hades gives to her - like taking her virginity has to spend 1/3 year with him, rest with Demeter
Telesterion
hall of initiation
Triptolemus
Messenger of Demeter
§ Passes on Agricultural Wisdom § Merges with Demophoön
§ Judge of Dead in Plato’s Republic
The Two Demeters = The Two Goddesses
demeter and persephone
