I begin my song of the holy goddess, fair-haired
Demeter, and of her slim-ankled daughter whom Aidoneus snatched away; and
Zeus the loud-crashing, the wide-voiced one, granted it. She was playing
with the deep-bosomed daughters of Ocean, away from Demeter of the golden
weapon and glorious fruit, and she was gathering flowers throughout the
luxuriant meadow - roses, saffron, violets, iris, hyacinth, and a
narcissus which was a trap planted for the blossoming maiden by Earth in
accord with Zeus's plans, a favor to Hades the receiver of many guests; it
was radiantly wonderful, inspiring awe in all who saw it, whether immortal
god or mortal man; a hundred stems grew from its root; and the whole wide
heaven above, the whole earth, and the salt surge of the sea smiled for
joy at its fragrance. The girl was charmed by it, and reached out both
hands to pluck the pretty plaything - suddenly, the earth split wide open
along the plain and from it the lord host of many, Kronos' son of many
names, darted out on his immortal horses. He grabbed her, resisting and
screaming, and took her away in his golden chariot. She lifted her voice
in a cry, calling upon father Zeus, the almighty and good. But no one, god
or mortal, heard her voice, not even the glorious-fruited olive-trees,
except the childish daughter of Perses, Hecate of the glistening veil, who
- from her cave - heard, and so did Lord Helios the glorious son of
Hyperion, as the maiden calling upon father Zeus, though he was sitting,
removed from the other gods, in his much-besought temple, receiving fine
sacrifices from mortal men.
Her, all unwilling, with the approval of Zeus, he
took away on his immortal horses, Kronos' son of many names, brother of
her father, designator of many, host of many. As long as the goddess could
see the earth and the starry sky, the flowing, fish-filled sea and the
rays of the sun, she still had hope that her holy mother and the race of
the immortal gods would see her, and there was still much hope in her
heart in spite of her distress. . . . The peaks of the mountains and the
depths of the sea echoed back the immortal voice, and her blessed mother
heard her. Then sharp grief seized the mother's heart; she tore the
head-dress upon her ambrosial hair, and threw her dark veil down from both
her shoulders; and like a bird she darted over land and sea, searching.
None of the gods or of mortal men would give her a true report, nor would
any of the birds come to her as a true messenger.
For nine days then lady Deo wandered the earth,
holding blazing torches in her hands; in her grief she touched neither
ambrosia nor the sweetness of nectar, nor did she bathe her body with
water. But when the tenth day dawned Hecate, bearing light in her hands,
encountered her and spoke to her this message: "Lady Demeter, bringer
of seasons and glorious gifts, who of the gods of heaven or of mortal men
has taken Persephone and pained your own heart? I heard her voice, but did
not see who it was. I am telling you everything promptly, and
accurately."
So spoke Hecate. The daughter of fair-haired Rheia
did not answer a word, but she immediately darted off with her, holding
blazing torches in her hands, and they came to Helios, the viewer of gods
and men. They stood before his horses and the divine goddess said,
"Helios, as a god, respect me, as a goddess, if ever in word or deed,
I have warmed your heart. The maiden whom I bore - sweetest blossom -
beautiful - I heard her voice, sobbing, as if she were being raped, but I
did not see her. But you survey from the bright heaven all the earth and
the sea with your rays; tell me accurately whether you have seen who of
gods or mortal men has forced her and taken her away, all unwillingly, in
my absence."
So she spoke, and the son of Hyperion answered
her: "Lady Demeter, daughter of fair-haired Rheia, you will know all:
I have great respect for you and pity you in your grief for your
slim-ankled child: none of the immortals is responsible except Zeus the
cloud-gatherer, who has granted to Hades his own brother that she be
called his tender wife; and he has taken her, screaming a loud cry, away
on his horses down into the misty darkness. So, goddess, stop your loud
lament; you should not rashly hold on to this boundless anger; Aidoneus,
the designator of many, is after all not an unsuitable son-in-law for you,
since you have the same mother and father; and his honor he gained when at
the beginning a division into three parts was made; and he dwells with
those over whom the lot made him king." When he had said this he
called to his horses, and at his command they bore the swift chariot like
broad-winged birds.
Then grief still more horrible and oppressive came
upon her heart, and in her anger at Zeus, shrouded in clouds, she deserted
the gatherings of the gods and went far from Olympus to the cities and
farms of men and for a long time disguised her appearance. No man, no
woman who saw her recognized her, until she arrived at the home of clever
Keleos, who was the king of fragrant Eleusis at the time. At the Spring
Parthenion where the citizens draw water in the shade of a towering olive
tree she sat by the side of the road in the guise of an old woman, one who
is beyond the age of childbearing and the gifts of Aphrodite who bears the
garland of love, one who might be a nurse of royal children or governess
of important households. The daughters of Keleos of Eleusis saw her as
they came to draw water and carry it in bronze vessels to their father's
house. There were four of them, like goddesses in youthful bloom -
Kallidike, Klesidike, lovely Demo and Kallithoe, the eldest of them all.
They did not recognize her, for gods are hard for mortals toee. They
approached her and said, "Old woman, who are you? Why have you kept
away from the city and not approached the settlement? There in the dusky
houses there are women as old as you and younger, who would treat you
kindly in word and deed."
So they spoke, and the goddess mistress said in
answer, "Dear children, daughters of womanly mothers, be of good
cheer, and I will tell you, for it is right to tell you the truth. The
name my lady mother gave to me is Doso. I have just come across the sea
from Crete, forced by pirate men who abducted me against my will. They
brought their swift ship to shore at Thorikos, and a crowd of women came
on board from the land and they all prepared their dinner by the ship's
stern-cables. But my heart had no desire for a pleasant supper; instead I
got up secretly and escaped those arrogant overlords across the dark
countryside, so that they might not enjoy any profit from selling me. I
wandered about until I arrived here; but I do not know what land it is nor
which people dwell here. May all the gods who dwell on Olympus grant you
vigorous husbands and all the progeny they want; but pity me, maidens;
dear children, help me come propitiously to some home of a man and woman
where I may provide the services of an aged woman for them: I could hold
their infant child in my arms and nurse it well, I could keep house, make
the master's bed in the inmost chamber, and instruct the women in their
tasks."
So said the goddess, and the maiden Kallidike,
most beautiful of Keleos' daughters, answered her, "Mother, we humans
endure the gifts of the gods, even under grievous compulsion, for they are
much mightier. I will explain it all to you clearly, and tell you the men
who hold the power of authority here, and who stand out in the government
and direct the defense of the city with their counsels and decisions.
There are Triptolemos the clever, Dioklos, Polyxeinos, Eumolpos the
blameless, Dolichos, and our father the manly one. Their wives manage
everything in their households, and not one of them would dishonor you at
first sight by making you depart from their houses. They will receive you,
for you are godlike. If you wish, wait here while we go to our father's
house and tell Metaneira our deep-belted mother all these things, and see
whether she bids you come to our house and not search for another's. A
favorite son, born to her late, is being nursed in the strongly built
palace; she prayed much for him, and rejoiced in him. If you would nurse
him and he would reach adolescence, any woman would envy the sight of you,
for she [Metaneira] would give you so great a reward for nursing
him."
So she spoke, and she nodded her head, and then
they filled their shining jugs with water and carried them proudly. Soon
they reached their father's great house, and quickly told their mother
what they had seen and heard. She told them to go quickly and bid her
come, at a vast wage. As deer or heifers frolic across the meadow eating
to their heart's content, so they darted along the road down the gulley,
holding up the folds of their lovely gowns, and their hair streamed along
their shoulders like saffron blossoms. They reached the spot near the road
where they had left the glorious goddess, and they led her to their
father's house. She, grieved at heart, walked behind them with her head
veiled, and the dark robe trailed along around the slender feet of the
goddess.
Soon they reached the house of Zeus-descended
Keleos, and went through the portico to the place where their lady mother
was sitting beside a column of the carefully made chamber, holding her new
baby in her lap. The girls ran to her, but Demeter trod upon the
threshold, and her head reached the roof-beam, and she filled the doorway
with a divine radiance. At this awe, reverence and pale fear seized the
woman. She rose from her chair and urged her to be seated, but Demeter the
bringer of seasons and glorious gifts did not wish to be seated on the
gleaming chair, but silently cast down her beautiful eyes and waited until
Iambe understood and set a jointed stool out for her, and threw a shining
white fleece upon it. She sat down, holding her veil in front with her
hands. For a long time she sat there on the stool sorrowfully, without
speaking; and made no contact with anyone in word or gesture. Without
smiling, without touching food or drink she sat, consumed with yearning
for her daughter, until Iambe understood and made plenty of jokes and
jests and made the holy Lady smile with kindly heart, and ever afterward
she continues to delight her spirit. Then Metaneira filled a cup of sweet
wine and offered it to her, but she refused it, for she said it was not
right for her to drink red wine. Instead, she asked her to give her barley
groats and water mixed with crusted pennyroyal to drink. She made the
compound, the kykeon, as she commanded, and offered it to the
goddess. Deo the greatly revered accepted it for the sake of the ceremony.
. . . Fair-belted Metaneira began with these words, "Be of good
cheer, woman; I do not expect that you are sprung from base stock, but
from good; dignity and grace are manifest in your eyes, like those of
kings, stewards of the right. But we humans endure the gifts of the gods,
even under grievous compulsion, for a yoke lies upon our neck. But now
that you have com here, all that is mine shall be yours. Nurse this child
for me, whom the immortals have given me, late-born and unexpected, but
much prayed for. If you would nurse him and he would reach adolescence,
any woman would envy the sight of you, for I would give you so great a
reward for nursing him."
Then Demeter of the fair crown said to her,
"May you also be of good cheer, woman, and may the gods grant you all
good things; I willing accept the child, as you bid me. I will nurse him,
and I do not expect that he will be injured by nurse's incompetence,
supernatural attacks nor magical cuttings, for I know an antidote more
mighty than the woodcutter, and I know a fine preventative against
malignant attacks."
When she had said this she received him with her
immortal hands in her fragrant lap, and the mother's heart rejoiced. So
she nursed the glorious son of clever Keleos, Demophon, whom fair-belted
Metaneira bore, and he grew like a god, eating no food, being suckled on
no milk, for Demeter would [feed and] anoint him with ambrosia,
like the progeny of a god, and she breathed sweetly on him and held him in
her lap. At night she would hide him like a fire-brand within the might of
the flame, without his parents' knowledge. It made them wonder greatly how
he was so precocious, and why his appearance was like the gods'. She would
have made him ageless and deathless, if it had not been that fair-belted
Metaneira foolishly kept watch one night and watched her from her fragrant
bed-chamber. She screamed and struck both her thighs in fear for her child
and in a frenzy of mindlessness. Wailing, she said, "My child
Demophon, the stranger woman is hiding you in the blazing fire, and is
making grief and bitter sorrow for me."
So she spoke, lamenting, and the divine goddess
heard her. Demeter of the beautiful crown was amazed at her; with her
immortal hands she put from her the dear child whom [Metaneira] had borne,
all unexpected, in the palace, and threw him at her feet, drawing him out
of the fire, terribly angry at heart, and at the same time she said to
fair-belted Metaneira, "Humans are short-sighted, stupid, ignorant of
the share of good or evil which is coming to them. You by your foolishness
have hurt him beyond curing. Let my witness be the oath of the gods sworn
by the intractable water of Styx, that I would have made your son
deathless and ageless all his days, and given him imperishable honor. But
now it is not possible to ward off death and destruction. Still he will
have imperishable honor forever, since he stood on my knees and slept in
my arms; in due season, as the years pass around, the children of the
Eleusinians will conduct in his honor war (games) and the terrible
battle-cry with each other for ever and ever. I am Demeter, the Venerable,
ready as the greatest boon and joy for immortals and mortals. So now, let
the whole people build me a great temple, and an altar beneath it, below
the city and the towering wall, above Kallirhoe on the ridge which juts
forth. I myself will establish rites so that henceforth you may celebrate
them purely and propitiate my mind."
With these words the goddess altered size and form
and sloughed off old age; beauty wafted about her. A lovely fresh smell
radiated from her lovely gown and the radiance from the skin of the
immortal goddess shone afar. Her blonde hair flowed down over her
shoulders, and the sturdy house was filled with light like a flash of
lightning. She went out through the palace. As for the other, her knees
gave way, and for a long time she was speechless. She did not even
remember the child, her favorite, to pick him up from the floor. His
sisters heard his piteous crying, and they leapt down from their
well-covered beds. Then one of them took the child in her hands and put
him in her lap, one kindled a fire, and another hurried on gentle feet to
rouse her mother out of the fragrant chamber. Crowding around they washed
him, covering him with love as he squirmed; his heart was not comforted,
however, for less skillful nurses and nurse maids were holding him
now.
All night long the women, quaking with fear,
propitiated the glorious goddess. As soon as dawn appeared they gave a
full report to wide-ruling Keleos, as Demeter of the beautiful garlands
commanded. He summoned the people from their many boundaries and ordered
them to build an elaborate temple to fair-haired Demeter and an altar on
the ridge which juts forth. They obeyed him straightway, and hearkened to
him as he spoke, and started to build as he commanded. And it grew at the
dispensation of the divinity. When they finished and ceased from their
toil, each person went back to his home. Blonde Demeter stayed there,
seated far from mall the blessed gods, wasting with grief for her
deep-belted daughter.
She made the most terrible, most oppressive year
for men upon the nourishing land, and the earth sent up no seed, as
fair-garlanded Demeter hid it. Cattle drew the many curved plows in vain
over the fields, and much white barley seed fell useless on the earth. By
now she would have destroyed the entire race of men by grievous famine,
and deprived those who dwell on Olympus of the glorious honor of offerings
and sacrifices, if Zeus had not taken notice and taken counsel with his
mind. First he roused gold-winged Iris to summon fair-haired Demeter, of
the very desirable beauty. So he spoke, and she obeyed Zeus wrapped in
clouds, the son of Kronos. She rushed down the middle and arrived at the
citadel of fragrant Eleusis. In the temple she found Demeter dark-clad,
and addressed her with winged words. "Demeter, father Zeus who
understands imperishable things summons you to come among the race of the
immortal gods. So come, and let my message from Zeus not be
fruitless."
So she spoke in supplication, but her heart was
not persuaded. Therefore the Father sent out the blessed, ever-living gods
one after another, and they went in turn and implored her, and offered her
many fine gifts and whatever honors she might choose among the immortal
gods. None, however, was able to persuade the heart and mind of the angry
goddess. She rejected their speeches firmly, and claimed that she would
never set foot upon fragrant Olympus, nor allow any fruit to grow on the
earth, until she saw with her eyes the beautiful face of her daughter.
When Zeus the loud-crashing, the wide-voiced one,
heard this he sent Hermes the slayer of Argos with his golden wand to
Erebos, to use smooth words on Hades and lead pure Persephone out of the
misty darkness into the light to join the deities, in order that her
mother might see her with her eyes and turn from her anger. Hermes obeyed,
and eagerly rushed down under the recesses of the earth, leaving the seat
of Olympus. He found the Lord inside his house, seated on couches with his
modest and very unwilling wife, yearning for her mother. . . .
The mighty slayer of Argos came near and said,
"Dark-haired Hades, ruler of the departed, Father Zeus has ordered me
to lead glorious Persephone out of Erebos to join them, in order that her
mother might see her with her eyes and cease from her anger and terrible
wrath, since she is contriving a tremendous deed, to destroy the fragile
race of earth-born men, hiding the seed under the earth and obliterating
the honors of the immortals. Her anger is terrible, she has no contact
with the gods, but sits apart inside her fragrant temple, holding the
rocky citadel of Eleusis."
So he spoke, and Aidoneus the lord of the
underworld smiled with his brows, and did not disobey the injunctions of
Zeus the king. Promptly he gave the command to diligent Persephone:
"Go, Persephone, to your dark-clad mother, and keep gentle the
strength and heart in your breast. Do not be despondent to excess beyond
all others. I shall not be an inappropriate husband for you among the
immortals; I am a brother of Father Zeus. Being there, you will rule over
all that lives and moves, enjoying the greatest honors among the
immortals. And there shall be punishment forever on those who act unjustly
and who do not propitiate your might with sacrifices, performing the pious
acts and offering appropriate gifts."
So he spoke, and Persephone the discreet was glad,
and leapt up for joy. But he gave her a honey-sweet pomegranate seed to
eat, having secretly passed it around, so that she might not stay forever
there by modest dark-clad Demeter. Aidoneus, designator of many, harnessed
the immortal horses in front of the golden chariot, and she stepped on the
chariot; beside her the mighty slayer of Argos took the reins and a whip
in his hands and drove out of the palace. The pair of horses flew
willingly. They finished the long journey quickly. Neither sea nor rivers
nor grassy glens nor mountain peaks held back the rush of the immortal
horses; they went above them, and cut through the high air. He drove them
where Demeter of the fair crown waited in front of her fragrant temple,
and he stopped them there. Seeing them, she darted up like a maenad in
the woods on a thick-shaded mountain.
[Demeter asked Persephone if she had eaten
anything in the underworld. If not,] "you will come up and dwell with
me and Zeus of the dark clouds, and be honored by all the immortals. But
if you have tasted anything, then you shall go back down and dwell there
for the third part of the season, and for the other two, here with me and
the other immortals. Whenever the earth blossoms with all the
sweet-smelling flowers of spring, then you will come back up from the
misty darkness, a great wonder to gods and to mortal men. But what trick
did the powerful host of many use to deceive you?"
Persephone, the exceedingly beautiful, gave her
this response: "I will tell you, Mother, everything accurately. When
the swift slayer of Argos came to me from Father Zeus and the others in
heaven with the message to come out of Erebos, so that seeing me with your
eyes you might cease from your anger and terrible wrath, I leapt up for
joy. But he secretly insinuated a pomegranate, honey-sweet food, and
though I was unwilling, he compelled me by force to taste it. How he
snatched me away through the clever plan of Zeus and carried me off, down
into the recesses of the earth, I will tell you and I will go through it
all as you ask. We were all there in the lovely meadow -Leukippe, Phaino,
Elektre, Ianthe, Melite, Iache, Rhodeia, Kallirhoe, Melobosis, Tyche,
Okyrhoe of the flowering face, Chryseis, Ianeira, Akaste, Admete, Rhodope,
Plouto, charming Kalypso, Styx, Ouranie, lovely Galaxaure, Pallas the
inciter of battles, Artemis the shooter of arrows - playing and picking
the lovely flowers, a profusion of gentle saffron blossoms, iris,
hyacinth, rose birds and lilies, a marvel to see, and narcissus, which the
broad land grew like saffron. Full of joy, I was picking them, but the
earth under me moved, and the powerful Lord, the host of many, leapt out.
And he took me under the earth on his golden chariot, against my will, and
I screamed loudly with my voice. Grieved though I am, I am telling you the
whole truth."
Then with minds in concord they spent the whole
day warming their hearts and minds, showering much love on each other, and
her mind found respite from its griefs, as they gave and received joys
from each other. And there came near them Hecate of the glistening veil,
and she also showered much love on the daughter of holy Demeter, and ever
since she has been her attendant and lady-in-waiting.
Zeus the land-crashing, the loud-voiced one, sent
fair-haired Rheia as a messenger to them, to bring dark-gowned Demeter
among the race of the gods; he promised to give her whatever honors she
might choose among the immortal gods. He granted that her daughter should
spend the third portion of the year in its cycle down in the misty
darkness, but the other two with her mother and the other immortals.
So he spoke, and the goddess obeyed the biddings
of Zeus. Promptly she darted along the peaks of Olympus, and came to the
Rarian plain, the life-bringing udder of plough-land formerly, but at that
time not life-bringing at all, as it stood all barren and leafless. The
white barley was concealed according to the plans of fair-ankled Demeter,
but at this time it was about to grow shaggy with waves of grain as it
became spring. In the field the rich furrows were to be loaded with the
grain, and they were to be bound in sheaves. Here she first alighted from
the boundless aether, and they saw each other gladly, and rejoiced in
their hearts.
Rheia of the glistening veil said to her,
"Come here, child. Zeus the loud-crashing, the wide-voiced one,
summons you to come among the race of the immortal gods, and he has
promised to give you whatever honors you might choose among the immortal
gods. He has granted that your daughter will spend the third portion of
the year in its cycle down in the misty darkness, but the other two with
you and the other immortals. So has he promised, and nodded his head in
affirmation. Go, now, my child, and obey; do not be obdurately angry at
Zeus of the dark clouds but give prompt increase to the fruit, bringer of
life to men."
So she spoke, and Demeter of the fair crown
obeyed. Promptly she sent up fruit on the rich-soiled fields, and the
whole broad land was loaded with leaves and flowers. She went to the royal
stewards of the right and to Triptolemos, Diokles the driver of horses,
mighty Eumolpos and Keleos the leader of the people. She showed the
tendance of the holy things and explicated the rites to them all, to
Triptolemos, to Polyxeinos and to Diokles - sacred rites, which it is
forbidden to transgress, to inquire into, or to speak about, for great
reverence of the gods constrains their voice. Blessed of earth-bound men
is he who has seen these things, but he who dies without fulfilling the
holy things, and he who is without a share of them, has no claim ever on
such blessings, even when departed down to the moldy darkness.
When the divine goddess had ordained all this, she
went to Olympus among the assembly of the other gods. And there they
dwell, sacred and reverent, with Zeus who revels in thunder. Greatly
blessed of earth-bound men is he whom they propitiously love: to him they
promptly send to the hearth of his great house Ploutos [Wealth], who gives
abundance to mortal men.
Now, ye that hold the people of fragrant Eleusis,
and sea-girt Paros and rocky Antron, Lady mistress Deo, bringer of seasons
and glorious gifts, thou thyself and Persephone, the exceedingly
beautiful, do ye bestow a heartwarming livelihood in exchange for my song.
Now I shall recall thee, and also another song.
- trans. N.J. Richardson