SOME BACKGROUND AND A LITTLE BIT OF TRIVIA

Demeter, enthroned and extending 
her hand in a benediction toward the
kneeling Metaneia, who offers the 
truine wheat that is a recurring 
symbol of the mystries (Varrese
Painter, red-figure hydria 
ca. 340 BC, from Apulia)  

There are many versions of this story out there…especially modern retellings with hip jargon that manage to summarize it anywhere from a few paragraphs to a few sentences.  Here is a nice example: "It explains the origin of the seasons; the death of the plants in the winter, and their rebirth in the spring.  Hades plays the villain, Persephone is the victim, Demeter the heroine, and Zeus is something of a narrator because he oversaw all of the events related to the rape of Persephone."

 Since I assumed it came into being during oral tradition (when stories were verbally passed), I wondered if it even had an “original” written version.  If it did, that was the translation I wanted to read!  So I did a little investigating.

Book cover of the first
collection of scholarly essays of
the Homeric Hymns

As it turns out this “version” I was looking for can be found as a part of the Homeric Hymns.  The Homeric Hymns is an incredible collection of thirty-three ancient Greek hymns each dedicated to a different god or goddess and is considered to be among the oldest Greek literature (some of them believed to be written in the 7^th century)!  

Contrary to what you might assume, these Homeric Hymns were not written by Homer (the poet attributed with writing the Iliad and the Odyssey) but instead incorporate the same epic meter he used.  For those of you who would like to sound very smart, this epic meter is called dactylic hexameter (a shoe-in question for Jeopardy).  Basically, Thucydides, the “Father of Scientific History” made that connection and it stuck ever since.  Step one, become the "Father" of something, step two, confuse everyone for centuries by making erroneous connection.

Votive plaque depicting elements of the 
Eleusinian Mysteries, discovered in the 
sanctuary at Eleusis (mid-4th century BC)

The goddesses Demeter and Persephone appear in one particular modern re-telling of the annually performed Eleusinian Mysteries.  the Eleusinian Mysteries were initiation ceremonies for new members to the cult of Demeter and Persephone in Eleusis Greece which was a tradition traced back to the Mycenean period (c. 1600-1100 BC) and practiced for 2000 years.  Eleusis was a cult site near Athens, where in September every year they celebrated the greatest Greek Mysteries.  The Mysteries were open to all, free, slave, male and female.  However, the catch was, it was an event to be attended only once in your lifetime. Terence McKenna, American ethonobotanist, philosopher, psychonaut, researcher, teacher, lecturer, and writer, who is an expert on the Eleusinian Mysteries, described the significance of the event as "You had one shot at whatever this thing ("Mystery") was, and you were sworn to silence, and literally everyone who was anyone went to Eleusis to experience the Mysteries, even Plato.  It was the well spring of Greek spirituality."  We don't know what this was however.  McKenna goes on to talk about how something was drunk and something was seen.  The experience, he conjectures, may have had to do with mushrooms.

2013 poster for the modern
performances of the Eleusinian
Mysteries by the Aquarian
Tabernacle Church

If you are interested in the full story regarding the "Mystery" of the Eleusinian Mysteries check out Terence McKenna's talk about it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG2v6Mh12_c

The recreation of these "mysteries" is done every year by the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, located in Washington state.   This church is one of the first Wiccan organizations to receive full legal status as a church in the U.S., Canada and Australia.  
 
This production, in which Demeter and Persephone are the central characters, depicts the abduction of Persephone from her mother, Demeter, by Hades, the god of the underworld.  The story contains three parts: the descent (the abduction), the search and the ascent (Persephone returned).

So, besides some of them being goddesses, how were women generally viewed and treated in Ancient Greece?  For this answer I referred to Eva C. Keuls's introduction to her book, "The Reign of the Phallus."  While at points it can be passionate and bring in many personal opinions, it is a very helpful resource in understanding the role of women in Ancient Greece.  I would highly recommend it.

Eva C. Keuls book on sexual politics
in Athens--a helpful resource on
Feminism in Ancient Greece

Keuls brings up the similar positions of women and slaves.  The legal word for wife that they used was damar which meant "to subdue" or "to tame."  When a woman got married, a basket of nuts was poured over her head...a treatment also done with newly purchased slaves.  Also like a slave, a woman had no protection under the law, except when she was the property of a man...she was not considered a person in the context of the law.  Because of this, the record of Athenian women is non existent.   However, there were things that slaves were subjected to that women were not, such as routine torture, exclusive to Athens, for a testimony in court.  Both slaves and women, however were under the dominance of men when it came to habitual sexual outlets.

So now that you have a context for the mythical story of Demeter and Persephone, let us take a look at the story itself.

University of California Press--notes on the Homeric Hymns
http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520239937 

Scholarly essays of Homeric Hymns and book cover image
http://www.bookworld.com.au/book/the-homeric-hymns-interpretative-essays/15689992/

Official Aquarian Tabernacle Church Website
http://www.aquariantabernaclechurch.org/spring-mysteries-festival

Terence McKenna-Eleusinian Mysteries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG2v6Mh12_c 

Keuls, Eva C. "The Reign of the Phallus." Introduction. The Reign of the Phallus: Sexual Politics in Ancient Athens. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. N. pag. Print.