The Wrath of Demeter : Story Pattern in the "Hymn to Demeter"

Abstract

uing, goddess, the wrath of Demeter of the splendid fruit1. So began one of the Orphic Hymns, and the line, modelled as it is on the first line of the Iliad, could well stand at the beginning of the Homeric Hymn to Deme ter, since this version of the Demeter and Persephone myth has much in common with the story of Achilles' wrath. This is because the same story pattern wrath, withdrawal, and return serves as the principal organiza tional device of each poem's narrative. For the Hymn poet, this appears to be a conscious choice. He, or she, suppresses other versions of the myth which emphasize the origin of the seasons, Demeter's gift of agriculture to humankind, or the foundation of the Mysteries in gratitude to the Eleusinians for their assistance in finding out what happened to Perse phone2. In the Hymn, the seasons and agriculture exist prior to the ab duction of Persephone and the Eleusinians appear not to know what has befallen Demeter's daughter. This version examines the grief and wrath of Demeter and their consequences. The focus of this paper, therefore, will be an examination of the wrath, withdrawal and return story pattern in the Hymn, and the ways in which the poet's use of this pattern infl uences the development of the narrative and its principal themes. In par ticular, such an analysis sheds new light on some of the Hymns more problematic passages, such as the Demopho?n episode and the famine. In order to understand the degree to which the story pattern influences our understanding of the Hymn, this will involve a study of other works that are organized around the same story pattern. The principal point of com parison is, of course, the Iliad, which contains not only the story of Achilles' wrath, but also Meleager's. This story pattern's earliest surviv ing exemplar, however, dates back to the second millennium Hittite myth of the disappearing god, Telipinu. In addition, Pausanias preserves an in