Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter

Anonymous. Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. Evelyn-White, Hugh G., editor. London: William Heinmann; New York: The Macmillan Co., 1914.

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This epic hymn depicts the separation and reunion of the fertility goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone, explaining the mythical origins of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The story begins with Persephone being abducted by Hades, the lord of the Underworld, driving a grieving Demeter to wander the earth in search of her daughter. Upon learning of Zeus’s complicity in the abduction, an enraged Demeter abandons Olympus, disguises herself as an old mortal woman, and seeks refuge in Eleusis, where she attempts to make a mortal child immortal until interrupted by the child's mother. In her anger and grief, she withdraws into her newly built temple and causes a devastating famine upon the earth, forcing Zeus to intervene. Although Persephone is allowed to return to her mother, she is bound to spend a portion of each year in the Underworld because she consumed pomegranate seeds there. Ultimately, mother and daughter are reunited, and Demeter restores fertility to the earth and institutes her sacred mysteries among the rulers of Eleusis before returning to Olympus.