The Homeric Hymn to Demeter: Translation, Commentary and Interpretive Essays

by Helene P. Foley (editor)

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, composed in the late 7th or early 6th century BCE, reflects on the psychological & religious world of ancient Greek women. It tells how Hades abducted Persephone & how her mother, the grain goddess Demeter, forced the gods to allow Persephone to return to her part of each year. Foley presents the Greek text, an annotated translation & selected essays on its historical context & its religious, literary, social & psychological meaning. The Hymn reflects both the crisis when marriage separates mother & daughter as well as the bonds allowing them to survive this transition. Demeter & Persephone, who suffered the pains of mortality, found the Eleusinian Mysteries that offered their initiates a "different lot once dead in the dreary darkness." A version of the same myth formed the basis of exclusively female religious cults. The essays, contributed by Foley, Mary Louise Lord, Jean Rudhardt & Nancy Felson-Rubin, Harriet M. Deal, Marilyn Arthur Katz, & Nancy Chodorow, give a rich understanding of the Hymn's structure & artistry, its role in the religious life of the ancient world & its meaning for moderns. The essays study the Hymn in the context of early Greek epic & cosmology, examine its critical attitude to marriage & analyze mother-daughter dynamics.
Text & Translation of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Commentary on the Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Background: The Eleusinian Mysteries & Women's Rites for Demeter
Interpreting the Hymn to Demeter
The "Theology" of the Mysteries
Variants of the Myth & the Importance of the Version in the Hymn to Demeter
Female Experience in the Hymn to Demeter
Marriage
Gender Conflict & the Cosmological Tradition
The Mother/Daughter Romance
The Psychology of the Mysteries
The Hymn to Demeter & the Polis
Christianity & the Hymn to Demeter
The Influence of the Hymn to Demeter & Its Myth

Genres: Classics, Nonfiction, Mythology, Poetry, Religion, Greek Mythology, History

313 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

Reviews

[♡︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank goodness for readings I am required to do for class. Not really.

[Valéria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demeter has been demoted from the role of protective and caring parent into that of the obsessively annoying mother that just won't let you hang out with your emo boyfriend who just so happens to live in a hole in the ground and prohibits you from seeing her for nearly 6 months every consecutive year (your boyfriend also just happens to be your uncle).

Such a gripping myth that delves into crucial themes of the clashing of the female and male spaces within culture be it divine or mortal, the intricacies of mother-daughter dynamics, and how this relationship would be violently and mercilessly ripped apart be it by marriage, rape or war, has been amateurishly and foolishly dissected by the modern audiences that pick whatever portions they see fit and leave the majority of its carcass in the dissection table, left to rot unattended.

I am certain that in order to comprehend the myth of Demeter and Persephone and its role within the Eleusian mysteries it is necessary to temporarily disconnect ourselves from the modern perception of love and familial ties, and not only that, one must also regress in time with the aid of immersing oneself within the culture of antiquity in order to truly encapsulate the horizon of thought that dominated our period of study.

The myth of Demeter and Persephone has always been one that invoked much childlike wonder within my core, it was initially introduced to a much younger version of myself as an ancient explanation for the coming and going of the seasons and it rapidly acquired sole reign over my reasoning. I was an extremely impressionable kid, and just so happened to be a firm believer that any word lucky enough to find itself within one of the hundreds of books from my family’s library must possess some hidden infallible truth yet to be deciphered and rescued from whatever lightless corner it took as its hiding sanctuary.

From within the endless diversity of the Ancient Greek tradition, Hades happened to have caught my gaze with the lightest of efforts, I have always been easily entranced by hierarchical and well structured realms of the afterlife, and after reading his reaction to one of Poseidon’s attacks during the Trojan War (funnily enough the only moment in ‘The Iliad’ where he is directionally mentioned) I knew he was predestined to become one of my most coveted mythological figures.

I would like to say that when confronted with his role within the myth of Demeter and Persephone I reacted with the expected outrage and disgust to his unjust doings, but no matter how anticlimactic it can be I must admit that my response wasn’t of great ardor, I believe that by that time I was already desensitized enough not only from the countless atrocities the gods from a multitude of traditions committed within every myth that happened to pass through my ears, but also as a consequence of our modern state of affairs when it comes to the representation of romantic, or simply interpersonal relationships for young women.

There have been many retellings of this myth, none that I happen to consider bewitching enough to actually entice me into reading them in their totality. The problem with our modern perception of this myth is that we have allowed ourselves to succumb to a collective Freudian slip, when we mean to say ‘Hades’, the name ‘Demeter’ drips from our lips and when the narrative is switched around, silence overtakes us all.

In our contemporary disarray we have forgotten that the ancients too were of flesh and blood, we have forsaken not only them but also ourselves by cleaning the mythological slate clean and saying that from now onwards our frame of mind reigns supreme, may those that bow before our despotical rules cease from perishing after the fall.

This was certainly a great work, not only was it enjoyable to read but it also gave me a sense of comfort to finally be indirectly in contact with someone with similar views to mine in regards to this myth and its variants. I would like to say that I happen to have a proposal for how to remediate the amount of misinformation and misinterpreting facts in regards to ancient literature that have propelled themselves into our global collective due to the current popularity of ancient retellings with current generations of readers, but I sadly, and most miserably do not.

When the world has succumbed to madness even the sanest minds will begin to doubt the sterility of their own sanity.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was read for uni for my module on the gods of Greek literature, and in anticipation for an essay I plan to write on whether or not Demeter and Persephone's divinity affects the treatment of gender issues within the text.
Foley's commentary is undoubtedly helpful in this edition, as is her translation. We are told extensive background information, then thrown into the text, and then told even more through various interpretive essays and appendices.
Within the text itself, there are some interesting gender politics (αἐκουσαν...), but also a deeply moving portrayal of sympathetic female characters. I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that contrast, but it's intriguing. It's fun. I enjoyed it, and also am deeply troubled by it.

[Ava S · Rating 4 out of 5]

In other versions she (Demeter) threw a baby in a fire so that was definitely entertaining and interesting 🤨

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, in-depth look at this earliest known (written) version of the Persephone/Demeter myth. Foley's translation notes, her commentary, and the interpretive essays included in this book are insightful, thoughtful, and truly thought-provoking. It helped me to see my favorite myth in such a new light. Highly recommended.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why does no one ever talk about the fact that Demeter is kinda a villain in this too? It’s always fuck Zeus and Hades was also disappointing (especially after reading L.O), but Mrs. Demeter needs to do better as well.

[Abbigail K · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent translation of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, and a very interesting commentary. The accompanying essays were also very insightful, although I didn’t end up using them for the research I originally got this book for.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about fertility, summer, Native American reality, and female god.

[Sara Zia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read the long ones- so such fun stories!!!

[kaykat · Rating 3 out of 5]

persephone!! 😭💞