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Vol. 36 No 3-4
Greek Poetry: New Voices and Ancient Echoes

Spring 1999

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The Homeric Hymn to Demeter

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(lines 1-20, 38-50, 74, 305-413)


Holy goddess   with the gorgeous hair, 
Earthmother Demeter,   I'll make you my songtheme — 
You, and your daughter   of the dainty ankles, 
Whom Hades, death's king,   kidnapped, but with Zeus 
The loudmouth agreeing   the gift with a thunderclap. 
Demeter earthmother was   absent — she 
Of the gleaming fruit   and golden sword. 
Persephone was playing   with the sumptuously breasted 
Daughters of Ocean,   her arms full of flowers: 
Bunches of roses,   crocuses, violets — 
What a honeysweet meadow —   there was hyacinth, iris, 
And narcissus, the trap   set by Earth — 
Though the plan was Zeus'   to please Hades, 
The king whose entrance   is always open — 
For the girl with the face   of a flower. Bud-bursting 
Narcissus — a mystery,   shining. Awe 
Grips everyone,   gods or mortals, 
When they see it. A hundred   heads of blossom 
Sprout from one root.   The perfume — such sweetness — 
All the earth laughs,   even ocean's salt waves, 
And the whole expanse   of heaven above. 
Persephone, astonished,   stretched out her hands 
For that jewel of a flower.   A crack in the earth's 
Wideness. The Nysian   watermeadow splits. 
The immortal horses!   Many-named Cronos-son, 
The Lord of Hades.   How he leaps on her. 
He snatches her, weeping,   and struggling, on to his golden 
Chariot, while she...   screams shrilly... 
The voice of the girl-   goddess echoed 
On the summits of mountains,   in the sea's depths. 
The mother recognised   the cry of her daughter. 
Searing pain   stabs at her heart. 
She mauls the veil   on her immortal hair, 
Flings her dark blue   cloak from her shoulders, 
And darts like a bird   over dry land and ocean, 
Seeking news of Persephone.   No one was willing — 
No human — to tell her   the truth — and no god. 
Not even the birds   brought her any message. 
For nine days over   the earth she rambled, 
Lady Demeter,   with blazing torches 
In her hands. Her grief   was so great, she refused 
To wash her body   with water, or taste 
One drop of nectar   or ambrosia. No sweetness. 
Then the scion of Hyperion,   the Sun-god, told her. 
So fair-haired Demeter   moped far from the gods, 
Away from them all.   She wasted and pined 
For her full-breasted daughter.   But the feeder of everyone, 
Earth, she blasted with   a blight of a year. 
The soil sprouted   no seed. For Demeter 
Of the fair garlands hid it.   Fields full of oxen, 
Much shoving of curved   ploughshares — in vain. 
Pale barley-seed, scattered   in abundance, falls uselessly. 
Now the whole chattering   human race 
She had almost finished   through famine — not to mention 
Robbing those whose domicile's   a dwelling on Olympus 
Of their pan-precious privileges   of perquisite and sacrifice. 
Nearly. But Zeus   noticed, and acted. 
First, orders to Iris:   'Fly golden-winged 
And invite Demeter   of the voluptuous body 
And gorgeous hair ..   here.' Obeying 
The frown of Zeus,   she raced through middle-earth, 
And alighted in the fragrance   of Eleusis' incense. 
Demeter was squatting   in the shrine, dark-cloaked. 
Iris gave wings   to her words, and said: 
`Father Zeus, whose mind   can measure the eternal, 
Invites you, Demeter,   to visit the family 
Of the everliving gods.   Please answer 'Yes.' 
Come with me, that Zeus   may accomplish his mission.' 
Iris pleads.   Relentless Demeter.
Father Zeus sends all   of the everliving gods, 
One after the other.   One after the other, 
They call on Demeter,   offer many, beautiful, 
Presents, and whatever   honours she wants —
Anything at all.   Her anger's implacable. 
She spurns their stories   with contempt, and vows 
She'll take no step towards scented Olympus, 
And she'll let no soil   sprout into harvest, 
Till her own eyes rest   on her radiant-eyed daughter. 
When loudthunder Zeus,   the longsighted, heard this, 
It was 'down to the underworld,   at the double,' for Hermes, 
Golden wand-waver,   and 'whisper to Hades 
With such charm,   that Persephone the holy —
Permission being given — from the mist and darkness 
Can be guided to the light, and the gods' company, 
While mother's anger ceases at sight of her daughter.' 
Hermes obeys.   Down holes in the earth 
He plunges and leaps —   after leaving Olympus. 
He finds lord Hades   at home, in bed 
With his wife being tender   unwillingly, while longing 
For her mother far above   who was brooding on the gods' 
  work. 
Hermes Argos-slayer   stood by them, and said: 
'Dark-haired Hades,   dead men's king, 
Father Zeus' decree   for Princess Persephone: 
I'm to lead her out   of the Underworld, back 
To the gods, and her mother's   gaze, who'll then 
Relax her wrath   and rage against us. 
For now she's plotting   the complete destruction 
Of that miserable species —   mud-crawling humans —
By hiding all seed   in the soil, and thus 
Putting to an end   the privileges of the immortals. 
Her fury is awesome.   She refuses our company. 
Far away, in her incense-   odorous temple, 
She squats. Eleusis —   her city of rock!' 
At this the lord   of the below-folk smiled... 
With his eyebrows. He didn't   disobey Zeus' 
Royal command.   He muttered hurriedly: 
'Do go, Persephone,   to your dark-cloaked mother. 
But retain in your body   the tenderness of your passion, 
Don't let it turn sour —   that's excessive. I won't be —
Out of all the immortals —   an unfitting husband, 
Being full brother   to father Zeus. 
Over all wriggling life   you'll reign — while you're here —
And you'll have the most potent   privileges of anyone. 
Punishment will last   as long as time does 
For any who insult you,   or cease to appease you 
With holy actions   and honourable gifts.' 
That speech made thoughtful   Persephone glad —
Running-glad — she jumped   for joy. Then he 
Popped into her mouth   some pomegranate seed —
Sweet as honey   it was — taking 
Her aside secretly.   He was setting it up 
That she wouldn't remain   with her mother for ever —
Dark-robed Demeter,   the merciful. Lord Hades —
Lordship of multiple   meanings — took his chariot 
Of gold, and harnessed   his horses, the undying ones. 
She climbed on the car.   With loving hands, 
Hermes, the strong   slayer of Argos, 
Took reins and whip.   Away from the underworld
He drove them, and the horses   happily galloped. 
Long journey quickly   completed. No oceans, 
No river currents,   no grass-rich glens, 
No mountain peaks,   could make the immortal 
Horses' speed slacken.   They sliced the air. 
He reins them in   at the front of the temple 
Where Demeter, garlanded,   is moping in the incense-smoke. 
She sees them, then like frenzied   rush down a mountain 
Forest by a maenad —   the mother runs to her 
Daughter, who's jumping   down from the chariot 
And racing — having seen   her sweet mother's eyes —
To pour embraces   round her neck. 
But Demeter, her hands   still holding her child, 
Has a sudden foreboding.   She's afraid of a trick. 
Terribly afraid.   She stops her kissing — 
'Child, you didn't ..   did you... while you .. 
Were down there, have a taste .. please tell me you didn't... 
Have a nibble of any food.   We must know, both of us. 
Tell me everything.   For if you ate nothing, 
It's no more horrible   Hades. You'll stay here 
With Zeus who is robed   in rainclouds, and with me, 
Receiving honour   from all the immortals.
If you did have a taste,   then it's down again, 
Through the holes of the earth,   and that's home during one 
Third of the year   for you, though the other 
Two seasons you may   spend here with the rest of us. 
The moment of the first   spring flowers bursting 
In their infinite diversity   over the earth — 
Will be time for you to   return from the hell-murk, 
In a glory to astonish both   gods and humans. 
But tell me, did Snatch-all   trick you... ? and how?' 
Persephone — her beauty   is outstanding — answered: 
`Mother, I will tell you   the entire truth. 
When Hermes luck-bringer,   the light-footed messenger, 
Arrived from Zeus-father   and the rest of the Heavenly Ones, 
To fetch me from the underworld,   that your eyes, meeting mine,
Would cease glaring   at the gods in anger, 
Immediately I jumped   for joy. But he 
Popped into my mouth   some pomegranate seed. 
Sweet as honey   it was. He took 
Me aside; he forced   the food on me violently...'

Translated by Leo Aylen

Page(s) 218-222

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