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Zeus, the sky god, has sexual relations with two of his sisters - Hera, who is a kind of long-suffering queen of heaven and Demeter, who is more earth-focused. Her siblings are Zeus, Poseidon and Hades on the male side, and Hera and Hestia on the female side. The Hymn describes the primordial maternal power brought to bear upon the male sky-god Zeus, who had secretly (ie without Demeter’s knowledge) given over his daughter Persephone to a marriage with his brother Hades.ĭemeter is one of the “older” generation of Olympian gods. The ancient Greek word for “mother” is actually embedded in Demeter’s name. Despite its connections to epic poetry, however, and the title “Homeric”, the hymn is of uncertain authorship.ĭemeter mourning Persephone by Evelyn de Morgan, 1906. It is 495 lines long and composed in hexameters, the same poetic metre as the Iliad and Odyssey. It probably dates to the first half of the 6th century BC. There is, however, a rather beautiful poem called the “Homeric Hymn to Demeter” in which Demeter and her daughter Persephone are the central focus of attention. Nor does she feature at all as a character in extant Greek drama. She is mentioned a little bit in Homeric epic, especially the Iliad, but has no actual part to play either in the Iliad or the Odyssey. As an Olympian goddess and fertility figure, she is very important in ancient Greek religion and life, but she has a rather small role in its literature and mythology. The goddess Demeter is an interesting case of this.

The student of Greek mythology is often struck by the fact that some gods and goddesses have extensive roles in the mythical narratives, and others have very limited parts to play.