Tag Archives: Demeter

By Sean Kelly, Managing Editor, Classical Wisdom The myth of Persephone and Hades, that tale of shifting seasons, strangely remains evergreen. Through the centuries, the story of the god of the underworld abducting the goddess Demeter’s daughter, resulting in Demeter’s winter-inducing depression, has endured as one of the most popular and continuously retold stories from

Written by Mary Naples, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Part 1 of this series can be found here. From the deep recesses of the Archaic era to enlightened Imperial Rome, the list of initiates into the Eleusinian Mysteries, a popular cult honoring the goddesses Demeter and Persephone, reads like a who’s who of the Classical era.

Written by Mary Naples, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Conjuring up mystical images of secret initiation rites held under cover of darkness, the Eleusinian Mysteries were reputedly a dark and dangerous festival. In fact, the rituals were surrounded by such an aura of deadly secrecy that the tragedian Aeschylus was nearly killed on stage just for referencing

Written by Mary Naples, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Clad in white robes and carrying torches, the dawn’s amber rays cast a golden glow on the hundreds of pious women as their procession passed through the polis. With their heads raised to the heavens, the sound of their fervent voices singing in praise of Demeter reverberated

by Mary E. Naples, M.A. Who were Demeter and Persephone and why did their myth resonate so strongly with women of ancient Greece? The story of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and her daughter Persephone, queen of the underworld, has inspired many. And while there are twenty-two variations of the myth, it is the Homeric