In Greek mythology, twelve major gods, or Olympians, stand out among the others. But there are those whom we call lesser gods. One of which, is the goddess of grain and harvest, Demeter, daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Her legend centers on her daughter Persephone, who is stolen by Hades and taken to live in the underworld. Being distressed by Persephone’s disappearance, she loses interest in the harvest, and as a result, there is widespread famine. Dismayed at this situation, Zeus, the ruler of the universe, demands that his brother Hades return Persephone to her mother. Hades agrees, but before he releases the girl, he makes her eat some pomegranate seeds that would force her to return to him for four months each year. When Apollo travels on the Earth, he sees Persephone in the underworld. Each year when her daughter returns, Demeter makes the Earth bloom (miracle of spring).
After Persephone’s return to Hades in the fall, winter arrives. Another one is the god of wine, Dionysus, who is a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, the only god said to have a mortal parent, the son of Zeus and Semele. He shows mortals how to cultivate grapevines and make wine. He’s also characterized as a deity whose mysteries inspired ecstatic, orgiastic worship, usually done by the maenads, or bacchantes, that wear fawn skins and are believed to possess occult powers. Lavish festivals called Dionysia are being held in his honor. He comes to represent the irrational side of human nature, while Apollo represented order and reason. His attendants are the satyrs, minor gods representing the forces of nature. Dionysus learns to make wine and journeys across the world to give it to the mortals. The god enjoys many adventures on his travels. He finally goes into the infernal regions to find his mother and bring her back. He renames her Thyone and brings her with him to Mount Olympus, the grandiose home of the gods.
Image Courtesy: Christopher Campbell
Both Demeter and Dionysus portray the promise of the spring-winter occurrences (accompanied by the seasonal renewal of the fruits of the earth), and the resurrection or return of the gloom, or rebirth. And also, they connive with each other in a sense that, what happens to one, is equivalently happening to the other. Dionysus dies each winter (like a vine) and is reborn in the spring, so as spring turns to winter in a certain lot of time. Simultaneously occurring, defining it wholly. Moreover, both of them embark in a parent-child relationship. Demeter longs for her daughter, while Dionysus searches for his mother. Thus, they overcome the stresses within them, by making the normal things they do. Furthermore, they bring out the good and bad, dual in nature, convergent on one hand, divergent on the other. Both swim into the lakes of grief, wandering for the reason to why their souls shrivel in the mourning essence of winter.
Image Courtesy: Christopher Campbell
Conversely, one differs from the other, in such a way, of how their festivals are done. The Eleusinian mysteries, are commemorated every five years, while the Bacchanalia, festival of Bacchus (Dionysus), is celebrated every third year. Also, Demeter has both parents, as gods; while Dionysus has a mortal mother, and an everlasting, powerful father. Other than that, Dionysus is represented in works of art and drama, making him much significant than the odds, especially Demeter.
Well, gods simply carry the flow of the seasons, the beliefs of resurrection and wildlife adaptation, the use of taupe skins, the representational meanings hidden within the gods’ identities, and even at that time, the parent-child ambience was already considered as one of the basic principles of emblematic, immortal love.
Comments