Demeter, Persephone, and the Afterlife

Wu Shiyu

课外作业Croesus 是 “幸福”的还是 “幸运”的？评Solon 的幸福观及其现代意义。

Twelve Olympians

Twelve Olympians

Zeus (Jupiter) Hera (Juno)Poseidon (Neptune) Demeter （ Ceres ）Apollo Athena (Minerva)Artemis (Diana) Dionysus (Bacchus)Ares (Mars)(Hades (Pluto))Aphrodite (Venus)Hephaestus (Vulcan) Hermes (Mercury)

Words

Demeter, Persephone

Hades, Tartaros

Demeter ( 德墨忒尔 )

The goddess ofGrain and agriculture

Daughter

Zeus and Demeter mated once and produced a daughterSingle daughterPersephone

Persephone

The daughter of Zeus and the harvest goddess Demeter (P.19)

Persephone’s Abduction

Hades seizes Persephone picking flowers in a fieldHades takes her down to the Tartaros with him to be his bride.Hades seldom leaves Tartaros;With Zeus’s permission, Hades goes out of the Underworld;

Famine by Demeter

SadNot know what happened to her daughterWanders, looking forCausing famineNo grain growHumanity death (starve)

Zeus order HadesReturn Persephone permanently Persephone ate a seed of pomegranateCan’t leave Tartaros permanently

One-third of the year in HadesTwo-thirds of the year with her mother

Implications

Demeter’s search for Persephone tells us:1.Actual Greek marriage practices (contract);2. Persephone marries her own uncle;3. Marriage in Athens was “patrilocal.”4. Human experience of death and separation. Olympians can’t or don’t go to Tartaros (Hermes, Hades)(God of the sun), Demeter like a human motherZeus not pitied for man (gods’ attitude to humans).

Demeter at Eleusis

Demeter visits Eleusis, near Athens:Disguised as an old womanFour daughters of MetaneiraLate born and desired baby broDemeter, nanny the baby brotherDemophoonCherished sonGreat gifts and great honor

Demeter make him immortalAnointing, Fireplace, nightAmbrosia (burning)Metaneira observes, horrifiedCrazed old womanBurning her babyDemeter angryTosses on groundA bargain with zeus

A window into the nature of the gods:First, using Demophoon substitute (why a boy?). Second, immortalize not work. fixed. Third, “Lord of All”, “Receiver of all”, a balanceFourth, gods unconcern with human emotions

Demeter says to the mother:

“ Men are too foolish to know ahead of timethe measure of good and evil which is yet to come.You too were greatly blinded by your foolishness.The relentless water of the Styx by which gods swearBe my witness: immortal and ageless foreverwould I have made your dear son…but now it is not possible for him to escape the fate of death”

Freudian Way: A Wish-fulfillment fantasy

Could “unmarry” their daughterGets Persephone back for two-thirds of the yearAll human beings wish death could be reversed.Persephone comes back from the land of the dead (death is reversed)

The Afterlife

In surviving Greek literature, views of the afterlife are considered less pleasant.Odyssey (Homer): place of dim, shadowy existence, much less desirableGhost (eidolon): image (not a person but an image); a shadowy imageDifferent from Christian or Islamic viewPsyche (soul): breadth, visibly leaves the body at deathOdyssey : Witless, now knowing or recognizing themselves (blood)

No sense: if you were an evil person in this life, you are going to be punished in Tartaros.A few wrongdoers punished in Tartaros.The story of Tantalos.

The story of Tantalos

The story of Tantalos

The story of Tantalos

The story of Tantalos

The story of Tantalos

Tantalos: not believeInvited god to a feastCooked his own sonGod recognizedDemeter ate a shoulderPunishment in the underworldNeck (water, fruit)Eternally hungryTantalize someone

Other sinners

Titaios tried to rape LetoSisyphus (first murderer)The idea of reincarnation

A Most Famous story on Afterlife

Orpheus, greatest poet His poetry, singing, beatifulCharm animals, stone, trees

歌者俄耳浦斯（ orpheus ）祖父是 apollo ，母亲是诗神。妻子是 Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice

Eurydice died in the weddingOrpheus journeyed to UnderworldLyre, poetry, sang so beautifullyHades and Persephone agreedNot look backLooked backEurydice faded back into TartarosReally deadOrphism (Orpheus’ teaching)

Immortal and Mortal

Eos, the dawn goddessAffair with the human TithonosEnjoyed him so muchMake him immortalFailed agelessContinue to ageNothing left but a voiceComplaining voiceA back chamber

Immortal and Mortal

Attempt to gain immortalityResult in total disasterSybil, a female lover of ApolloAsked many years of life grains of sand on the shore of seaThis was grantedBut eternal youth was left outGrows older and olderWithered away into a little thing sits in cage

Greek view

Life in this world is what counts and is desirable, and life as a disincarnated spirit is seen as only as a very poor substitute for life in the world.This life is the only life worth having, but it is short, and what comes after it is less valuable than this life itself.

所有这些故事，都体现了古希腊神话的深刻。

思考问题1. 你认为 Hades 把 Persephone 绑架到 Tartaros说明了古希腊世界的一些什么风俗？2. 迄今所讲述的古希腊的相关神话，你对哪一个印象最深刻？为什么？3. 参看另一个班的古希腊神话 PPT ，阅读相关故事。

Five Ages of Man

The Golden Race; The Silver Race;The Bronze Race;Race of Heroes; The Iron Race.

“I wish I were not counted among the fifth race of men, but rather had died before, or been born after it. This is the race of iron. Neither day nor night will give them rest as they waste away with toil and pain. Growing cares will be given them by the gods, and their lot will be a blend of good and bad.”

--- Hesiod