Mythology and Symbolism
1. The image of seeds is a recurring one in the “Demeter and Persephone” myth. Among other elements, such as plot and characters, this image helps to develop the theme of power with the seed as a source of it. After a long starvation caused by the grief of loss of daughter Demeter asks for a mixture of “meal and water with soft mint”. Meal, which is ground seeds, here appears as something the goddess requires to restore her powers. By giving Persephone “sweet pomegranate seed” Hades gains power over Demeter’s daughter that obliges her to spend third part of the year with him. In his speech addressed to Hades Hermes states that “by keeping seed hidden beneath the earth” Demeter is going to “destroy the weakly tribes of earthborn men”. These words also support the symbolic meaning of a seed as a source of essential powers.
2. Though Hermes, described as a “strong Slayer of Argus”, is the one who brings Persephone back from the gloomy kingdom of Hades, he can not be perceived as a hero, since he rescues Demeter’s daughter obeying Zeus’s order. Nevertheless, as Zeus gives him instructions, he speaks of “winning over Hades with soft words”. This phrase of Zeus points at Hermes’s diplomatic skills that help him to “lead … Persephone to the light from the misty gloom”. Hermes’s success during negotiation with Hades positively influences the fates of Persephone, Demeter, Zeus and mortals’.
3. The events of the myth of Prometheus chronologically precede the story of Pandora. According to myth, Pandora, the first woman on Earth, was designed by Zeus to complicate the life of mortals after they have received fire from Prometheus. Both myths tell the story of fundamental phenomena being introduced to humans. Although, the myth of Prometheus tells about the arriving of the good, one of the “the means of life”, and the myth of Pandora is a story of “countless plagues” becoming a part of humans’ life. Another difference between these two myths lies in the motivation of Prometheus and Pandora, the two responsible for bringing these phenomena to mortals. Fire was brought as a result of Prometheus’s striving for the well-being of humankind while “ills and hard toil and heavy sickness” penetrated into humans’ life as a result of Pandora’s “shameless mind and a deceitful nature”
Works Cited
Hesiod. Theogony. Translated by Evelyn-White, Hugh G. http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm Accessed 24 March 2017
Hesiod. Works and days. Translated by Evelyn-White, Hugh G. https://people.sc.fsu.edu/~dduke/lectures/hesiod1.pdf Accessed 24 March 2017
Homeric Hymns. Translated by Evelyn-White, Hugh G. http://www.platonic-philosophy.org/files/Homeric%20Hymns.pdf Accessed 24 March …
