MR1

• Ares


  The god of war, described as a merciless killer when Zeus attacked him, representing the raw violence of the fight
• Athena


  The goddess representing tactics and control in battle, the opposite of Ares
• Dionysus


  The god of wine and theatre, son of Zeus and the Theban mortal Semele, attracted the wrath of Hera, seen as an outsider and not one of the original Olympians, received a great following from the Greeks, god of the theatre and had his own festival in Athens
• Dionysus is depicted with a thyrsus, vines and an animal skin, and with his companions the maenads and satyrs
• Bacchus


  Roman god, depicted with a thyrsus, vines and an animal skin, often with his companions the maenads and satyrs
• Main Greek gods


  • Zeus
  • Poseidon
  • Hera
  • Hades
  • Apollo
  • Aphrodite
  • Hermes
  • Demeter
  • Artemis

  
• The cult of Bacchus was banned by the Roman state around 186BC due to fears of rebellion, but he remained popular among the lower classes
• Epithets


  Stock phrases used to identify characters in oral poetry
• Epithets for Greek gods

  • Son of Cronus
  • Earth Shaker
  • Queen of Heaven
  • Dark Haired
  • Owl Eyed
  • Phoebus
  • Goddess of love
  • Slayer of Argus
  • Mother Earth
  • Goddess of the hunt
  • White armed
  • The cloud-gatherer
  • Wise
• Homeric Hymns


  Poems dedicated to the gods, including Heracles, sharing a similar style to the epics of Homer
• Homeric Hymn to Demeter


  • One of thirty-three Homeric Hymns
  • Dated to 7th-6th century BC
  • Part of an oral tradition, sung to audiences across the Greek world
• Demeter


  Goddess of the harvest, sister of Poseidon, Hades and Zeus, mother of Persephone
• Persephone


  Daughter of Demeter
• Hades

  Brother of Poseidon, Zeus and Demeter, also known as the God Who Receives So Many, The Ruler of Many and Receiver of Many
• Zeus


  Brother of Demeter, Poseidon and Hades, also referred to as the Son of Cronos, loud thundering and far seeing
• Daughters of Oceanus


  Daughters of the Titan Oceanus, god of fresh water
• Helios


  God of the sun, pulled the sun across the sky with his chariot
• Hecate


  Goddess of magic, witchcraft and the night
• Hermes


  Son of Zeus, also referred to as the Slayer of Argos
• Themes in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter


  • Relationship between the gods
  • Relationship between gods and men
• When Demeter retired to her temple, she made the grimmest and most brutal year for men on the all-nourishing earth as she kept the seeds hidden
• Zeus realised that Demeter would have destroyed the whole mortal race and deprived the gods of gifts and sacrifices if he had not intervened
• Despite the power of the gods, men were needed by them to offer sacrifice
• The Homeric Hymn to Demeter provides an insight into what the Greeks thought the relationship between gods and man was like
• Demeter: 'I begin to sing of beautiful-haired Demeter, holy goddess - of her and her delicate-ankled daughter whom Hades snatched away, her having been given to him by far-seeing Zeus the loud-thunderer.'
• Persephone


  • Delicate-ankled daughter of Demeter
  • Snatched away by Hades
• Hades


  Ruler of the underworld
• Zeus


  Far-seeing, loud-thunderer
• Persephone's abduction


  1. Persephone playing with Oceanus' daughters

  2. Persephone collecting flowers

  3. Hades emerging from earth

  4. Hades seizing Persephone in chariot

  5. Persephone crying out
• The flower that grew was radiant and marvellous, pleasing both gods and mortals
• Zeus arranged Persephone's marriage to Hades

  To secure family links and improve relationships between Underworld and Olympia
• Persephone still hoped to see her mother and the immortals as long as she could see the earth, sky, sea, and sun
• Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 2.10-13: 'From its root grew a hundred blooms, and it smelled most sweetly, so that all wide heaven above and the whole earth and the salty sea laughed for joy.'
• Abduction of Persephone


  1. Persephone looked at the flower

  2. Hades emerged from the Earth

  3. Hades took Persephone to his kingdom in his chariot
• Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 2.20: 'He seized her against her will on his golden chariot and carried her away as she wailed. Then she cried out shrilly with her voice, calling upon her father, the Son of Cronos, the highest and the best.'
• So long as both the earth and the starry sky could be seen by the goddess, and the strong-flowing, fish-filled sea, and the rays of the sun, she still hoped to see her dear mother and the tribe of the immortal gods. So during this time her great heart was soothed by hope, distressed as she was.
• Demeter searches for Persephone


  1. Demeter tore off the veil from her divine flowing hair

  2. Demeter hurled her dark cloak down from both her shoulders

  3. Demeter sped off searching like a bird of prey over land and sea
• Helios told her that it was Zeus that had offered Persephone to Hades.
• Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 2.90-95: 'A more terrible, more dreadful grief came upon Demeter's spirit. Therefore, in her anger at the son of Cronos of the dark clouds, she abandoned the assembly of the gods and high Olympus. She went among the cities and rich fields of men, for a long time disguising her form. Not one of the men who saw her, recognised her, nor did any of the deep-girded women'
• Disguised as an old woman she took refuge under a tree and mourned for her lost daughter.