Most modern people who know the myth of Persephone think that the ancient Greeks believed that she was in the underworld during the winter and with Demeter for the rest of the year. Even many professional classicists think this. I, however, like some other scholars, am convinced that this is incorrect. The surviving ancient sources for the myth are unclear about which part of the year Persephone spends in the underworld and it makes far more sense given everything we know about the ancient Greek agricultural and religious calendars to conclude that the Greeks believed that she was in the underworld during the summer, not the winter.
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Hesiodos indicates that the Greek agricultural calendar for grain during the period in which the Homeric Hymn to Demeter was composed was the exact opposite of the agricultural calendar throughout much of the western world in the twenty-first century; for the Archaic Greeks, winter was when the grain was growing and summer was the fallow period.
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If the ancient Greeks believed that Persephone was in the underworld during the winter and that she was reunited with Demeter in the spring, then we would expect them to celebrate the major festivals of Demeter and Persephone in the spring. Instead, both of the major Attic festivals honoring the two goddesses took place in the autumn. This suggests that the people of Attikē regarded the autumn—not the spring—as the time when Persephone returned from the underworld and was reunited with her mother.
I've definitely seen this before. I just think that myths serve us, not the other way around so if spring makes more sense to us today then that's fine. Historians and classists can care about...
I've definitely seen this before. I just think that myths serve us, not the other way around so if spring makes more sense to us today then that's fine. Historians and classists can care about accuracy.
Similar to how we write and rewrite the Hades/Persephone myth from a sanctioned kidnapping to a forbidden love story. (I personally am interested in the seemingly older origins of Persephone as a cthonic deity). Sometimes we act like there's only one "canon" of myth when frankly even a glance at a Wikipedia page will show that not only were the Greek gods held in different roles in different places, and tied to older forms of worship, but we have nearly no record of how women's only cults worshipped or what their mysteries were.
If the gods are real, they can correct the record should they desire. Otherwise, I believe their purpose is to serve our needs for meaning and story, so write that "fanfic" all day long.
Even if it is just about Demeter needing to get some chill when her daughter spend time with her husband. Ugh, overbearing moms, am I right?
I think that's a different game. You can certainly do what you want with Greek gods from an artistic point of view and many do. A historian will want to figure out what ancient Greeks believed,...
I think that's a different game. You can certainly do what you want with Greek gods from an artistic point of view and many do. A historian will want to figure out what ancient Greeks believed, though?
Yeah I know. I find it interesting from a historical perspective, just that it wasn't new to me. I find myth more interesting from a story perspective is all.
Historians and classists can care about accuracy.
Yeah I know.
I find it interesting from a historical perspective, just that it wasn't new to me. I find myth more interesting from a story perspective is all.
From the article:
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I've definitely seen this before. I just think that myths serve us, not the other way around so if spring makes more sense to us today then that's fine. Historians and classists can care about accuracy.
Similar to how we write and rewrite the Hades/Persephone myth from a sanctioned kidnapping to a forbidden love story. (I personally am interested in the seemingly older origins of Persephone as a cthonic deity). Sometimes we act like there's only one "canon" of myth when frankly even a glance at a Wikipedia page will show that not only were the Greek gods held in different roles in different places, and tied to older forms of worship, but we have nearly no record of how women's only cults worshipped or what their mysteries were.
If the gods are real, they can correct the record should they desire. Otherwise, I believe their purpose is to serve our needs for meaning and story, so write that "fanfic" all day long.
Even if it is just about Demeter needing to get some chill when her daughter spend time with her husband. Ugh, overbearing moms, am I right?
(Some day I'll get that folklore degree...)
I think that's a different game. You can certainly do what you want with Greek gods from an artistic point of view and many do. A historian will want to figure out what ancient Greeks believed, though?
Yeah I know.
I find it interesting from a historical perspective, just that it wasn't new to me. I find myth more interesting from a story perspective is all.