Demeter - Mythology.
Publié le 26/01/2014
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«
disguised herself as an old woman, wearing a hood.
The king’s wife, Metaneira, welcomed Demeter and
asked her to look after her newborn son, Demophon.
Demeter nourished the infant on ambrosia (food
of the gods) and each night placed him in the fire in
order to destroy all that was mortal in him, so that he
would grow up like a god.
One night, Metaneira spied
upon her nurse and saw her place the child in the fire.
Metaneira screamed with terror.
Demeter was angry
at the intrusion.
Demeter threw back her hood and
revealed herself as the goddess.
She demanded that a
temple be built for her in Eleusis.
In some accounts
Metaneira’s screams broke the magic spells and the
child was destroyed in the flames.
Before she left the palace of Eleusis, Demeter
showed her gratitude to Celeus and Metaneira by giving
Triptolemus, Celeus’s elder son, the first grain of corn.
She taught him how to sow it and harvest it.
In some
accounts Triptolemus is identified with Demophon.
Demeter and the Eleusinian Mysteries According
to legend, Persephone was the embodiment of the
corn seed that hides underground until its rebirth in
the spring, when it returns to Demeter, Earth Mother.
The disappearance and the return of Persephone
were the occasions of great festivals in ancient Greece,
among them the Eleusinian rites, whose secrets were so
closely guarded that little is known about them today.
Some experts believe the rites, or mysteries, fostered the
Demeter 43
idea of a more perfect life after death, and thus helped
to lay the groundwork for the coming of Christianity,
which upholds the idea of everlasting life..
»
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Liens utiles
- Prometheus Unbound Author's Preface Percy Bysshe Shelley The Greek tragic writers, in selecting as their subject any portion of their national history or mythology, employed in their treatment of it a certain arbitrary discretion.
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- pantheon Greek and Roman In mythology, pantheon refers to all the gods of a people, particularly those considered to be the most prominent or most powerful.
- Parcae Roman The origins of the Parcae in Roman mythology are unclear.
- Pegasus Greek The famous winged horse of Greek mythology.