Womanhood in the Homeric Hymns to Demeter

It is common in myths, especially those of the Greeks, for there to be dualities. Good and evil, god and mortal, and light and dark are just a few that may come to mind. The ways in which the authors of myths distinguish these groups can tell one a great deal about their values. Perhaps the most concrete duality for the Greeks  was that of man and woman. Classical myths, like that of Hesiod, Homer, and epics such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, most often focus on the hero and not the heroine. This should not be surprising given the predominantly patriarchal structure in Ancient Greece; men were the ones who took on overtly political roles, fought in the army, arranged marriages, etc. As such, it is interesting to see where the pattern breaks and myths lend credence to the idea that a woman can be as independent, strong-willed, and powerful as a man. Demeter is an apt and oftentimes overlooked example of this. She does not possess the practical tenacity demonstrated by figures such as the Amazons or Atalanta, but she nonetheless stands up to patriarchal standards, embodying in many ways what it means to be a capable woman and a mother. Her relationship and close parallels to the story of her mother Rhea, as well as her unbreakable bond with her daughter Persephone, additionally make Demeter a prime example of how the matrilline is alive and well in Greek mythology. It is generally thought, even, that her name derives from the Greek word “μήτηρ” meaning “mother.”[1]

The most widely-known myth of Demeter details the abduction of her daughter Persephone. Zeus, Demeter’s brother and king of the Gods, arranges unbeknownst to Demeter for their daughter Persephone to marry her uncle and Demeter’s brother, Hades. Persephone’s abduction catalyzes a series of events that take place while Demeter wanders the earth in search of her daughter. The journey and mysteries of Demeter during this time would later be consecrated in Demeter’s cult, the Eleusinian mysteries. What really stands out in Homer’s original narration of the myth is the sympathetic language with which he uses to describe Demeter’s experiences following the abduction.[2] Homer describes Demeter’s initial reaction to the event as one of “grief” and “anger at the dark-clouded son of Cronos.” [3]First, he emphasizes the emotional trauma of Demeter at the abduction of her daughter, rather than the effect of her disobedience on men as he does much later in the myth. It is this kind of language which suggests that in this original telling of the myth, Demeter is the just protagonist standing up to the unjust actions of a perceived superior power.

Not only does Homer describe the abduction of Persephone as a loss of motherhood for Demeter, but also consequently as a loss of womanhood. The following passage serves as an example. 

Original Greek

Τὴν δ᾽ ἄχος αἰνότερον καὶ κύντερον ἵκετο θυμόν: χωσαμένη δὴ ἔπειτα κελαινεφέι Κρονίωνι νοσφισθεῖσα θεῶν ἀγορὴν καὶ μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον ᾤχετ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀνθρώπων πόλιας… Τὴν δ᾽ ἄχος αἰνότερον καὶ κύντερον ἵκετο θυμόν: χωσαμένη δὴ ἔπειτα κελαινεφέι Κρονίωνι νοσφισθεῖσα θεῶν ἀγορὴν καὶ μακρὸν Ὄλυμπον ᾤχετ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀνθρώπων πόλιας.[4]

English Translation

But grief yet more terrible and savage came into the heart of Demeter, and thereafter she was so angered with the dark-clouded Son of Cronos that she avoided the gathering of the gods and high Olympus, and went to the towns and rich fields of men, disfiguring her form a long while….  And she was like an ancient woman who is cut off from childbearing and the gifts of garland-loving Aphrodite, like the nurses of kings' children who deal justice, or like the house-keepers in their echoing halls.[5]

Demeter here is at her lowest point in her journey. She is deprived of her motherhood (“cut off from childbearing”), and feels as if she is lost and in a position of little to no power (“like the nurses of kings' children who deal justice, or like the house-keepers in their echoing halls.”)

Soon after, Demeter encounters the king of Eleusis Celeus, and his wife Metaneira. They took Demeter, disguised as an old woman with the epithet Doso, into their home. There, she assisted in the nursing of their son Demophoon, and the education of their other son Triptolemus. She has raised herself by taking solace in her new position of caring. Callidice, a daughter of Celeus and Metaneira, when asking for Demeter to assist in the nursing of their youngest son Demophoon, says to her, “if you could bring him up until he reached the full measure of youth, any one of womankind who should see you would straightway envy you.”[6] This side event in the story emphasizes Demeter’s role as a mother figure, and further explores the interplay between motherhood and womanhood. 

In multiple ways, the myth of Demeter and Persephone closely parallels a myth centered around Demeter’s mother, Rhea. In this primordial myth, Cronus, the husband of Rhea, fearing an usurper among his unborn children, swallows each upon their birth. Rhea, with the aid of Gaia and Uranus, wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and presented it to Cronus in an attempt to save their last child. Cronus fell to this ruse and Rhea sequestered the infant, who would grow up to be Zeus, in a cave on mount Ida. 

In both myths, mothers are challenged by threats to their offspring. Also in both myths, they respond by subverting the traditionally patriarchal powers of their perceived male superiors: Rhea by tricking Cronus, and Demeter by depriving the earth of agriculture and putting Zeus in duress. Homer’s multiple references to Demeter as the epithet “daughter of rich-haired Rhea,”[7] suggests the closeness and significance of this relationship.

During the time of Demeter’s wanderings, she deprived the earth of agriculture, and as a consequence halted divine sacrifice.  Finally, Zeus, angered at not receiving sacrifices due to Demeter’s disobedience, agrees to return Persephone to the loving Demeter for one third of the year. Per Rhea’s convincing, Demeter accepts this offer, and this is where the myth comes to a halting close.

It is an interesting question to ask just how much the Greeks valued the role of women in society. Although almost certainly there was immense imbalance among the sexes in Ancient Greece, Greek mythology clues us in to the fact that in the least the roles women traditionally took on, notably including but not limited to motherhood, did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. 

Notes

[1] “Demeter" in Encyclopaedia Britannica (Encyclopaedia Britannica), last modified February 15, 2018, accessed January 7, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Demeter.

[2] The Homeric Hymns have been attributed to Homer, although it is generally thought that he did not write them himself.

[3] Homer, Homeric Hymn to Demeter (perseus.tufts.edu, n.d.), 90,91, accessed January 7 2019, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0138%3ahymn%3d2

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid., 90-105

[6] Ibid., 166

[7] Ibid., 60, 76