The classic Greek Pantheon is just extra dysfunctional.
But then as Red from OSP puts it (paraphrasing): The Greek gods were representatives of what was true, not what was good; Classical Greece was absolutely horrible to women so therefore the gods were, too.
Another informative piece by Joshua J. Mark (one of my sources for "Women in the Ancient World"). Also, ever wonder where #Christianity got some of their ideas about the #afterlife? Pretty much, they took what they wanted (or what was popular), then banned the Rites.
"The #RitesOfEleusis, or the Eleusinian Mysteries, were the secret rituals of the mystery school of #Eleusis and were observed regularly from c. 1600 BCE - 392 CE. Exactly what this mystic ritual was no one knows; but why the ancient Greeks participated in it can be understood by the testimonials of the initiated.
"The Eleusinian Mysteries, held each year at Eleusis, Greece, fourteen miles northwest of Athens, were so important to the Greeks that, until the arrival of the Romans, The Sacred Way (the road from Athens to Eleusis) was the only road, not a goat path, in all of central Greece. The mysteries celebrated the story of Demeter and #Persephone but, as the initiated were sworn to secrecy on pain of death as to the details of the ritual, we do not know what form these rituals took. We do know, though, that those who participated in the mysteries were forever changed for the better and that they no longer feared death.
"The rituals were based on a symbolic reading of the story of Demeter and Persephone and provided initiates with a vision of the afterlife so powerful that it changed the way they saw the world and their place in it. Participants were freed from a fear of death through the recognition that they were immortal souls temporarily in mortal bodies. In the same way that Persephone went down to the land of the dead and returned to that of the living each year, so would every human being die only to live again on another plane of existence or in another body."
“According to the Orphic myths, #Zeus wanted to marry his mother #Rhea. After Rhea refused to marry him, Zeus turned into a snake and raped her. She had #Persephone with Zeus.”
It’s the first day of winter in the Northern hemisphere so a bonus #ArtAdventCalendar - my linocut Persephone. The ancient Greek goddess Persephone, beloved daughter of Demeter was kidnapped by Hades, god of the underworld, and taken to his home where she was tempted with many delicious items. The pomegranate proved the most irresistible and sealed her fate. For the six pomegranate seeds she accepted from Hades, 🧵 #linocut#printmaking#persephone#pomegranate#GreekMythology#winter#MastoArt
Happy #Equinox to all who celebrate. Today, day and night are of approximately equal length. From now on, the days get shorter in the Northern hemisphere as #Persephone descends to the underworld and Demeter's sadness halts any plant growth until her daugher returns in Spring. Unless it is actually in winter that Persephone is with #Demeter. Both interpretations are compelling.
Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts is a Classicist /Greek Historian looking for modern Hellenic Polytheists who worship #Hades and #Persephone for research on how modern polytheists approach texts from antiquity.
This week's #MythologyMonday theme is work.
Four deities spring to my mind when I think of work: #Demeter, #Hermes, #Hephaistos, and #Athena. #AncientGreece was an agricultural society with 80% of the population being involved in this line of work. In Greek mythology, it was Demeter who invented agriculture but according to Diodorus Siculus she burnt all the grain when her daughter #Persephone vanished out of grief and anger.
While searching for #Persephone, Demeter was received by Eleusinian prince #Triptolemos and his family and after she had found Persephone, she taught him how to grow crops and provided him with a winged, serpent-drawn chariot to spread her gift across the earth. Triptolemus was the favourite of #Demeter, and it is said that he became the inventor of the plough. Pausanias even tells of a temple of Triptolemos at #Eleusis.
"They [the Athenians] honoured him as a god next after the son of Persephone [Dionysos Zagreus], and after Semele's son [Dionysos Bromios]; they established sacrifices for Dionysos late born [#Bromios] and Dionysos first born [#Zagreus], and third they chanted a new hymn for #Iakkhos."
There are several stories of the #GreekGods turning mortals into birds. One of them is about Askalaphos, the keeper of #Hades' orchard: He saw #Persephone eat the pomegranate seeds and testified against her so she had to return to the underworld every year. In anger, #Demeter trapped him below a giant boulder. When #Herakles came to fetch Kerberos, he rolled the boulder away, freeing Askalaphos. Demeter then turned the gardener into an eagle #owl.