The Homeric Hymn to Demeter , composed in the late seventh or early sixth century B.C.E., is a key to understanding the psychological and religious world of ancient Greek women. The poem tells how Hades, lord of the underworld, abducted the goddess Persephone and how her grieving mother, Demeter, the goddess of grain, forced the gods to allow Persephone to return to her for part of each year. Helene Foley presents the Greek text and an annotated translation of this poem, together with selected essays that give the reader a rich understanding of the Hymn 's structure and artistry, its role in the religious life of the ancient world, and its meaning for the modern world. "Foley synthesizes important insights of the articles she reprints and of much other scholarship besides, and builds on them to construct a comprehensive and persuasive reading of her own." ---William G. Thalmann, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Foley's book is the first full-length study in English of the Hymn .... It is a welcome and much-needed work.... Foley's analysis of the Hymn is an excellent demonstration of how it can be interpreted in the light of the [Eleusinian] Mysteries." ---Ann C. Suter, New England Classical Newsletter and Journal "Foley's attempt to connect the psychological, cosmological, and theological themes in the Hymn is her greatest success." ---Victoria Pedrick, The Classical Journal Over the decade of the 1980s, the traditional Western canon has been subject to ardent defense and criticism. The privileging of the works of upper-class, Western, white males in standard introductory humanities courses across the United States has been at the center of controversity. Helene P. Foley is Olin Professor of Classics at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is author of Ritual Irony: Poetry and Sacrifice in Euripides , coauthor of Women in the Classical World: Image and Text , and editor of Reflections of Women in Antiquity . THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER TRANSLATION, COMMENTARY, AND INTERPRETIVE ESSAYS By Helene P. Foley PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS Copyright © 1994 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-691-01479-1 Contents List of Illustrations......................................................ixPreface and Acknowledgments................................................xiPART 1. THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION, COMMENTARY, AND BACKGROUND...............1PART 2. INTERPRETIVE ESSAY ON THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER..................77PART 3. FURTHER INTERPRETATION: CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES.......................179Bibliography...............................................................266Bibliographical Addendum...................................................281Index Locorum..............................................................283General Index..............................................................289 CHAPTER 1 COMMENTARY ON THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER Helene P. Foley The homeric hymns were songs composed to honor andpraise deities and apparently served as preludes ( prooimia ) to therecitation of other epic poetry. Although we know nothingcertain about their audience and the circumstances of their performance,they were probably composed for recitation at feasts, at poetic contests, andat seasonally recurring festivals (the last two would often occur in combination).In a tradition where oral recitation is the primary mode of poeticcommunication, the context of performance (here uncertain) is probablythe determining feature of a poetic "genre". Yet the Homeric hymns are abody of poems with some shared characteristics. (The Hymn to Demeter includes all the features described below unless otherwise noted.) To thedegree that they represent a genre from a formal perspective, the hymnsdescribe the acquisition of distinctive powers and honors (including majorcults and sanctuaries) by gods or goddesses. They tend to begin and closewith an address to the deity or deities celebrated and a description of or anallusion to their special prerogatives, haunts, and activities. Both the openingsand closings of the poems mark characteristics of the deity with traditionalepithets. The closing often brings events up to the present time andincludes a farewell and the promise of another song. The hymns are sung prayers: the elements mentioned above secure theattention and favor of the divinity to the singer and his community. Thepoet's closing plea to the god generally follows a statement of credentialsthat justifies the god's granting of the present request on the basis of pastfavors (sacrifices and gifts to the god or prayers previously answered by thegod) or the god's special powers (e.g., the growth of grain is your specialty,and therefore you should grant this prayer). A hymn may include an accountof the god's birth (absent in the Hymn to Demeter ), a conflict orchallenge faced by the deity, his or her acquisition of honors, a divineepiphany, an ascent to and/o