(4–18) Apart from Demeter, lady of the golden sword and glorious fruits, she was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus and gathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful violets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus, which Earth made to grow at the will of Zeus and to please the Host of Many, to be a snare for the bloom-like girl-a marvellous, radiant flower. The Return of Persephone, c.(1–3) I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter, awful goddess-of her and her trim-ankled daughter whom Aidoneus rapt away, given to him by all-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer. This helps to stress the warning about always worshipping and respecting the Gods, because you might happen to run into one in a bad mood and accidentally cause the starvation of humanity. Demeter’ rage at her daughter’s abduction and the human child's mother's disrespect causes the crops to wither and famine to almost destroy humanity.
For this egregious slight Demeter commands that a temple be built in her honour.Īnother theme that the Hymn highlights is the fragility of human existence. When his mother sees this she cries out in distress, "this stranger woman has plunged you deep in the flames and is causing me terrible sorrow and anguish" (Lines 222), clearly insulting Demeter and upsetting her even more than she was. In disguise as an old woman, Demeter attempts to turn a human child immortal by placing him into the fire. Through its themes the Homeric Hymn also provides a warning lesson on how to treat divinities, that is to say, show them respect, honour them, worship them, and trust that their word is law. Demeter ended the famine and the Hymn concludes with the founding of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Persephone had consumed a pomegranate seed, partially linking her to the Underworld, but she was still able to spend two-thirds of the year on Earth with her mother. "Demeter might well have destroyed the whole of humankind by a famine" (Line 278) if not for Zeus commanding Hermes to bring Persephone back.
She was welcomed initially but after failing to turn a human baby immortal she commanded that a great temple be built in her honour and ragefully created a famine on earth. After Demeter discovered that Zeus had given Persephone to his brother to marry without the consent of the young woman, "she left the immortals who gathered together in council on the broad expanse of Olympus" (Lines 86 - 87) and travelled to the town of Eleusis disguised as an elderly woman. Persephone was picking flowers when Hades carried her to the Underworld in his chariot. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is an epic poem that tells the story of the abduction of Persephone by Hades and Demeter's struggle to bring her beloved daughter back (Foley, 1994, p.
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