Homeric anthem with Déméter
The Homeric Hymne in Déméter is an antiquated anthem of the ancient Greece. Composed of 495 hexameters dactylic, it is one of longest the Homeric Hymnes , these short poems dedicated to a divinity and wrongfully allotted by the Old ones to Homère. It is devoted to the pain of Déméter vis-a-vis the removal of his daughter Coré by Hadès.
In this anthem, the poet tells the wandering of Déméter, which seeks his/her daughter Coré (also called Perséphone). Déméter gets information near the gods to know who removed his daughter. Hélios teaches him that Zeus, the king of the gods, gave it for wife to Hadès, the god of the Enfers. Déméter refuses the loss of his/her daughter, and continuous to wander on ground. Arrival in the Greek city of Éleusis, it is made pass for an old woman. The girls of the king of the city engage it as nurse. After some time, Déméter is made recognize, and requires so that the inhabitants of Éleusis dedicate a worship to him. During this time, on the Olympe, the gods worry: as long as the sorrow of Déméter lasts, the ground is fertile any more, nothing any more does not push on Earth. The gods try to persuade Déméter to return on Olympe. The goddess grants to it only the condition of re-examining her daughter. Hermes will seek Coré in Enfers. This one re-examines his/her mother, who is happy. However, Coré ate pips of grenade to the Hells, which condemns it to turn over at Hadès. The gods find a compromise then: Coré will pass a third of time to the Hells and remaining two thirds near his/her mother. Déméter accepts, and turns over on Olympe, after having taught agriculture with the men.
Work
This work is different from the texts relating to the traditional Greek religion, it gives form to a religion developed in the sanctuary of Éleusis. This anthem represents the oldest form of the Mystères of Éleusis but it was modified under the influence of the orphism. It was probably used for ceremonies.
The legend of Perséphone/Coré, whose this anthem tells the history partly, is a contradiction between the primitive character of the divine characters and the role which is allotted to them: in the Homeric poems, Perséphone is described like the terrible queen of deaths, malevolent divinity while in this anthem it is described like a gracious virgin, similar to the Olympiens, playing with the nymphs.
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