1. DEMETER & KORE

2. Fragmentation of Magna Mater
FUNCTION
DEITY
agricultural fertility
(Gaea), Demeter/Persephone, (Hera)
animal fertility/hunt
Artemis, (Aphrodite)
sexuality
Aphrodite, Hera
marriage
Hera
childbirth
Hera, (Artemis)

3. Regeneration Myth
1. Absence of deity 2. Disruption of natural order 3. Search for absent deity 4. Restoration of deity 5. Limitation/Fault/Failure 6. Absence of deity 7. Ritualization

4. hieros gamos

5. Regeneration Myth Absence of deity
Persephone (Kore) abducted by Hades.
Disruption of natural order
Plants, animals, humans become sterile.
Search for absent deity
• Demeter wanders in search of Kore.
• Demeter arrives at Eleusis, sits in mourning on Mirthless Rock.
• Iambe / Baubo amuses her by telling obscene jokes and exposing her genitals.
• Demeter hired as nanny for Demophoön, infant son of king and queen of Ephesus.
• Demeter discovered cooking Demophoön in hearth fire at night; procedure halted.
• Demeter reveals identity, enjoins Eleusinians to establish a cult in her honor.

6. Demeter SPECIES PREPARATION LONGEVITY animal raw meat short-lived
human
cooked meat
longer-lived
deity
incinerated meat (smoke)
immortal

7. Regeneration Myth Restoration of deity Zeus reunites Demeter and Kore
Restoration of natural order
Demeter teaches agriculture to Triptolemos (=Bouzyges), sent to spread that knowledge through world
Limitation/Fault/Failure
Kore has eaten pomegranate seeds in underworld.
Absence of deity
Kore periodically returns to Hades

8. THESMOPHORIA Pyanopsion (September-October)
DAY 1
Anodos (Ascent)
Participation limited to wives of Athenian citizens.
Pompê to Thesmophorion sanctuary near Pnyx.
Celebrants sleep in Thesmophorion overnight.

9. THESMOPHORIA DAY 2 Nesteia (Fasting)
Celebrants sit on the ground and grieve, eating only pomegranate seeds.
Ritual insults (aiskhrologia) and whipping with bark strips.

10. THESMOPHORIA DAY 3 Kalligeneia (She of Beautiful Birth)
Night-time torch pompê.
Retrieval of thesmoi: snake- and phallus-shaped bread and remains of animals (pigs) left in pits in Demeter sanctuary days (months?) earlier.
Remains placed on altars, later mixed with grain and sprinkled over fields.