Demeter (for my Greek friends celebrating this day) In ancient Greek religion and myth, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. She is often described simply as the Goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and her daughter Persephone were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon. So the myth goes ... Demeters virgin daughter Persephone was abducted to the underworld by Hades. Demeter searched for her ceaselessly, preoccupied with her loss and her grief. The seasons halted; living things ceased their growth, then began to die. Faced with the extinction of all life on earth, Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to the underworld to bring Persephone back. Hades agreed to release her, but gave her a pomegranate. When she ate the pomegranate seeds, she was bound to him for one third of the year, either the dry Mediterranean summer, when plant life is threatened by drought, or the autumn and winter. There are several variations on the basic myth. In the Homeric hymn to Demeter, Hecate assists in the search and later becomes Persephones underworld attendant. In another, Persephone willingly and secretly eats the pomegranate seeds, thinking to deceive Hades (Pluto), but is discovered and made to stay. In all versions, Persephones time in the underworld corresponds with the unfruitful seasons of the ancient Greek calendar, and her return to the upper world with springtime. Demeters descent to retrieve Persephone from the underworld is connected to the Eleusinian Mysteries. Among the Greek Orthodox followers, Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki (Greek) was a Christian martyr of the early 4th century AD. During the Middle Ages, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints, His feast day is celebrated in his honour every year among the church faithful. There is way more that can be connected through the ancient Greek and Roman stories, and even those myths pre-dating these variations including the womb of the universe etc. but Il spare you the long details. The names Demetrius, Demetri, Demetra, Demi, sometimes translated among the Greek guys in English as James/Jim, are all deeply rooted in this ancient Greek Mythology of Demeter, and ultimately in more modern times named for the Orthodox Saint Demetrius in the same way as Catholics would use John, Matthew, Peter, etc. as being named after the Biblical accounts written in their names for the New Testament. Just a thought ... for my Greek friends who celebrate their name-day today.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 20:53:45 +0000
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