Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Hamilton discusses Demeter and Dionysus, two divinities who were intimately connected with humans’ daily lives, as bread and wine would have been staples and because both shared “lasting grief” (55). The Eleusinian Mysteries was a sacred festival held every five years in Demeter’s honor. Dionysus was honored during the harvest at a festival where tragedies were performed. These performances were sacred events, the attendees engaged in an act of worship.

Hamilton notes that Demeter’s story is best known through the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, believed to have been composed during the Archaic period. The hymn recounts Hades’ abduction of Persephone and its aftermath. Unable to find her daughter, Demeter withdrew from the gods in grief. At Eleusis, she attempted to immortalize a young boy but was interrupted by the child’s mother. However, because he was cared for by Demeter, she determined that he would have honors and ordered a temple to be built. She remained there apart from the gods, ignoring Zeus’s summons and causing the earth to become barren.

After famine threatened humanity, Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone. Hades agreed but gave Persephone a pomegranate seed to ensure she would have to spend part of the year with him.