Dionysos is in the conception of Pindar the Paredros or companion in
worship of Dêmêtêr:[80] the worship and religious estimate of the
latter has by that time undergone as great a change as that of the
former, if we take our comparison with the brief description of Homer
and Hesiod: she has acquired[81] much of the awful and soul-disturbing
attributes of the Phrygian Cybelê. In Homer, Dêmêtêr is the goddess
of the corn-field, who becomes attached to the mortal man Jasiôn;
an unhappy passion, since Zeus, jealous of the connection between
goddesses and men, puts him to death. In the Hesiodic Theogony, Dêmêtêr
is the mother of Persephonê by Zeus, who permits Hadês to carry off
the latter as his wife: moreover Dêmêtêr has, besides, by Jasiôn a son
called Plutos, born in Krête. Even from Homer to Hesiod, the legend
of Dêmêtêr, has been expanded and her dignity exalted; according
to the usual tendency of Greek legend, the expansion goes on still
further. Through Jasiôn, Dêmêtêr becomes connected with the mysteries
of Samothrace; through Persephonê, with those of Eleusis. The former
connection it is difficult to follow out in detail, but the latter is
explained and traced to its origin in the Homeric Hymn to Dêmêtêr.
[80] Pindar, Isthm. vi. 3. χαλκοκρότου πάρεδρον Δημήτερος,—the
epithet marks the approximation of Dêmêtêr to the Mother of the
Gods. ᾗ κροτάλων τυπάνων τ᾽ ἰαχὴ, σύν τε βρόμος αὐλῶν Εὔαδεν
(Homer. Hymn, xiii.),—the Mother of the Gods was worshipped by
Pindar himself along with Pan; she had in his time her temple and
ceremonies at Thêbes (Pyth. iii. 78; Fragm. Dithyr. 5, and the
Scholia _ad l._) as well as, probably, at Athens (Pausan. i. 3,
3).
Dionysos and Dêmêtêr are also brought together in the chorus of
Sophoklês, Antigonê, 1072. μέδεις δὲ παγκοίνοις Ἐλευσινίας Δηοῦς
ἐν κόλποις; and in Kallimachus, Hymn. Cerer. 70. Bacchus or
Dionysos are in the Attic tragedians constantly confounded with
the Dêmêtrian Iacchos, originally so different,—a personification
of the mystic word shouted by the Eleusinian communicants. See
Strabo, x. p. 468.
[81] Euripidês in his Chorus in the Helena (1320 _seq._) assigns
to Dêmêtêr all the attributes of Rhea, and blends the two
completely into one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account