Song to Demeter

by Cynthia Birrer, William Birrer

A retelling of the myth which was the ancient Greek explanation for the seasons.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Library Binding

Published April 1, 1987

Reviews

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship]

Wow this book is really underrated or at least under-read. It tells the story of Demeter, Persephone and Hades. It does stay true to the original myth without much censorship considering it's a story about a young girl being kidnapped and raped by her uncle. Incest aside they myth's original purpose was to explain the changing of the seasons which is nicely illustrated in this book.

Speaking of illustrations, the ones in this book are very unique. The perspective is very reminiscent of a relief sculpture but instead of stone the figures seem to be embroidered, the effect was very cool and different.

This is what my cover looked like:

[SmokingMirror]

At one time I set out to demonstrate that the Homeric Hymns were better poetry than one of the chief scriptures of a monotheistic religion, but as I copied out the translation, line after sexist line caused me to cease my demonstration. The Homeric Hymns are beautiful but not necessarily aligned with the cultural perceptions of our time.

The title of this book caused me to think it more closely adhered to the hymns themselves rather than being a spare but more or less complete version of the Kore myth. The illustrations are machine sewn and embroidered cloth, fascinating to examine in detail, because they look like textured drawings.