Demeter, Persephone, and the Afterlife Wu Shiyu Zeus (Jupiter) Hera (Juno) Poseidon (Neptune) Demeter Ceres Apollo Athena (Minerva) Artemis (Diana) Hestia(Vesta) Ares (Mars) Aphrodite (Venus) Hephaestus (Vulcan) Hermes (Mercury) Hades The Universe Lord of the Underworld Lived apart The House of Hades (Tartaros) The gloomy land of the dead The River of Styx HermesHermes (guide), Charon (Ferryman)Charon Shadow, witless (Homeric epic) Isle of the Blessed Hades Hades seldom leaves Tartaros; Hades seizes Persephone Persephone The daughter of Zeus and the harvest goddess Demeter (P.19) Olympians: Demeter ( ) The goddess of Grain and agriculture Video Daughter Zeus and Demeter mated once and produced a daughter Persephone Persephones Abduction Hades seizes Persephone picking flowers in a field Hades takes her down to the Tartaros with him to be his bride. With Zeuss permission, Hades goes out of the Underworld; Video (Hades) Famine by Demeter Sad Not know what happened to her daughter Wanders, looking for Causing famine No grain grow Humanity death (starve) Zeus order Hades Return Persephone permanently Persephone ate a seed of pomegranate Cant leave Tartaros permanently One-third of the year in Hades Two-thirds of the year with her mother Implications Demeters 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 cant or dont go to Tartaros (Hermes, Hades) (God of the sun), Demeter like a human mother Zeus not pitied for man (gods attitude to humans). Demeter at Eleusis Demeter visits Eleusis, near Athens: Disguised as an old woman Four daughters of Metaneira Late born and desired baby bro Demeter, nanny the baby brother Demophoon Cherished son Great gifts and great honor Demeter make him immortal Anointing, Fireplace, night Ambrosia (burning) Metaneira observes, horrified Crazed old woman Burning her baby Demeter angry Tosses on ground A 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 balance Fourth, gods unconcern with human emotions Demeter says to the mother: Freudian Way: A Wish-fulfillment fantasy Could unmarry their daughter Gets Persephone back for two-thirds of the year All 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 desirable Ghost (eidolon): image (not a person but an image); a shadowy image Different from Christian or Islamic view Psyche (soul): breadth, visibly leaves the body at death Odyssey : 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 Tantalos: not believe Invited god to a feast Cooked his own son God recognized Demeter ate a shoulder Punishment in the underworld Neck (water, fruit) Eternally hungry Tantalize someone Other sinners Titaios tried to rape Leto Sisyphus (430) A Most Famous story on Afterlife Orpheus, greatest poet His poetry, singing, beatiful Charm animals, stone, trees orpheus apollo Eurydice Orpheus and Eurydice Eurydice died in the wedding Orpheus journeyed to Underworld Lyre, poetry, sang so beautifully Hades and Persephone agreed Not look back Looked back Eurydice faded back into Tartaros Really dead Orphism (Orpheus teaching) 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. 1. Hades Persephone Tartaros 2. 3. PPT Hermes (shunned) boundary A god of boundaries and of exchange Charon A formidable old man Ugly, squalid Ensure qualified Into chains Heracles Heracles, Theseus, Orpheus The World of Hades