Greek Mythology: The Two Great Gods of Earth

Demeter

-Goddess of corn, grain, and the harvest

-Roman name: Ceres

Who were Demeter's parents?

Cronus and Rhea

What made Demeter a goddess of the Earth?

-She is the goddess of corn, and the first cornfield began settled life on earth

-She knows suffering and grief because she is on earth and not on Olympus

Where and when did Demeter's chief festival occur? How long would it last and why did it last this long?

-Was at Harvest time

-At a temple in Eleusis

-Took place every 5 years in September for 9 days

-Was for 9 days because she spent 9 days wandering the earth for Persephone

How is it that Demeter knows grief and what is the cause of her grief?

-She is on earth (a place of grief and sorrow), not Olympus (where it is heavenly)

-Hades kidnapped Persephone

Who was Persephone?

-Demeter's daughter

-Roman name: Proserpina

-Goddess of springtime

-Was kidnapped by Hades and made Queen of the Underworld (his wife)

Why must Persephone stay with her husband in the Underworld for 4 months of the year?

She stays a month for each of the 4 pomegranate seeds she ate before she left the Underworld when she was returned to Demeter

What happens while Persephone is in the Underworld?

Demeter becomes grief-strucken and withdraws her gifts from the world

What is explained by the story of Hades and Persephone?

Winter

(Why we have the 4 seasons)

What do you lean about Demeter's personality from the story of Metaneira and her son, Demophoon?

-She is motherly, as she nursed Demophoon

-She also repays mortals who give her respect

What is highly prized in Greek Culture?

Hospitality

Dionysus

-God of wine, the vine, grape-harvest, theater, and madness

-Roman name: Bacchus

-Symbol: the grape vine

Dionysus is the son of who?

Zeus and Semele

How did Hero trick Zeus into killing one of his mistresses (Semele)?

-He promised on the Styx that that he'd grant Semele any request she had for him

-Hera made it so Semele wanted to see Zeus in his divine/true form

-However, no mortal can look upon a god's true, divine form without dying

-But since he promised on the Styx, Zeus sadly had to grant her request, killing her

-*Note: before he did fulfill her wish, though, he took the baby Dionysus out of her, saving Dionysus

How does Dionysus's birth explain how he became God of the Vine?

-Zeus gave him to the Nysan Nymphs (rain)

-As a result, he was born of fire and raised by rain

-On other words, the heat that ripens the grapes and the water that keeps them alive

What happened to a group of pirates who tried to kidnap Dionysus?

All but the helmsman, who had recognized that Dionysus was a god, were turned into dolphins when Dionysus turned into a lion and scared them

Who were the Maenads (Bacchantes)

-Religious followers of Dionysus

-Women frenzied with wine

-They ran through the woods like madwomen, gave sharp cries, waved pine cone-tipped wands, and tore and devoured wild creatures

Who was Pentheus?

Dionysus's cousin

What happened to Pentheus and why?

-Dionysus had his followers (the Maenads) kill him by turning him into a mountain lion and having them tear him to shreds

-The Maenads had tried to show him that they lived with both joy and beauty and blood and horridness, but Pentheus believed that they needed to be stopped

-Pentheus also was reluctant to accept the presence of a god (Dionysus) and that he should worship him

Why was Dionysus so different from one time to another?

Wine makes men warm and happy, but also makes them drunk

How is Dionysus a tragic god?

-He is the vine that is cut and seen only as a fruit bearer

-He "dies" every winter, but comes alive every spring

-His "rising again" in the springtime is what inspired the idea of resurrection

How did people worship Dionysus in the spring?

-Five days of peace and enjoyment in Greece

-Even prisoners would be released on these days!

-They gathered at a theater (theaters were for him)