HUMA 1105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Homeric Hymns, Eleusinian Mysteries, Thesmophoria
30 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Homer is a style of writing that is written by an anonymous writer. Representatives of a long tradition of oral poetry. Probably composed between 700 and 550 bc. There are 33 hymns dedicated to different gods, goddesses and divinities. It tells the story of the abduction of persephone by hades, god of the underworld. Etiological myth: it is a story that explains why things happen. Reveals the grief and struggle of demeter to win her daughter back. This story explains why we have seasons and is the basis for the eleusinian. Mysteries involved initiation rights, furification, sacred symbols, sacred rituals, and promise of a happy afterlife. This hymn explains how demeter tries to get persephone back from hades. Other gods don"t intervene with the abduction of persephone. Demeter takes away crops; she is the goddess of agriculture and grains. Demeter wants helios (sun god) to see what is going on.
