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    Contents:
  • To Dionysus
  • To Demeter
  • To Hermes
  • To Aphrodite
  • To Aphrodite
  • To Dionysus
  • To Ares
  • To Artemis
  • To Aphrodite
  • To Athena
  • To Hera
  • To Demeter
  • To the Mother of the Gods
  • To Heracles the Lion-Hearted
  • To Asclepius
  • To the Dioscuri
  • To Hermes
  • To Pan
  • To Hephaestus
  • to Apollo
  • To Poseidon
  • To the Son of Cronos, Most High
  • To Hestia
  • To the Muses and Apollo
  • To Dionysus
  • To Artemis
  • To Athena
  • To Hestia
  • To Earth the Mother of All
  • To Helios
  • To Selene
  • To the Dioscuri
    		•

    Homeric Hymns (ed. Hugh G. Evelyn-White)

    To Demeter

    Editions and translations: Greek (ed. Hugh G. Evelyn-White) | English (ed. Hugh G. Evelyn-White)
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    hymn=1:line=5 hymn=2:line=1 hymn=2:line=30 hymn=2:line=50 hymn=2:line=80 hymn=2:line=100 hymn=2:line=118 hymn=2:line=140 hymn=2:line=160 hymn=2:line=184 hymn=2:line=210 hymn=2:line=230 hymn=2:line=245 hymn=2:line=270 hymn=2:line=292 hymn=2:line=320 hymn=2:line=345 hymn=2:line=370 hymn=2:line=395 hymn=2:line=410 hymn=2:line=440 hymn=2:line=460 hymn=2:line=490 hymn=3:line=5 hymn=3:line=30 hymn=3:line=50 hymn=3:line=80 hymn=3:line=95 hymn=3:line=125 hymn=3:line=145 hymn=3:line=170 hymn=3:line=1 hymn=3:line=205 hymn=3:line=225 hymn=3:line=255 hymn=3:line=275 hymn=3:line=300 hymn=3:line=317a hymn=3:line=340 hymn=3:line=360 hymn=3:line=390 hymn=3:line=405 hymn=3:line=430 hymn=3:line=450 hymn=3:line=480 hymn=3:line=500 hymn=3:line=530 hymn=3:line=540 hymn=4:line=5 hymn=4:line=30 hymn=4:line=55 hymn=4:line=75 hymn=4:line=94 hymn=4:line=120 hymn=4:line=135 hymn=4:line=165 hymn=4:line=185 hymn=4:line=210 hymn=4:line=235 hymn=4:line=256 hymn=4:line=280 hymn=4:line=300 hymn=4:line=330 hymn=4:line=350 hymn=4:line=380 hymn=4:line=400 hymn=4:line=409b hymn=4:line=435 hymn=4:line=455 hymn=4:line=485 hymn=4:line=505 hymn=4:line=525 hymn=4:line=545 hymn=4:line=565 hymn=5 hymn=5:line=20 hymn=5:line=40 hymn=5:line=70 hymn=5:line=85 hymn=5:line=95 hymn=5:line=115 hymn=5:line=140 hymn=5:line=165 hymn=5:line=185 hymn=5:line=210 hymn=5:line=230 hymn=5:line=250 hymn=5:line=280 hymn=6:line=5 hymn=7:line=1 hymn=7:line=25 hymn=7:line=45 hymn=8:line=5 hymn=9:line=5 hymn=11 hymn=12:line=5 hymn=14 hymn=15:line=5 hymn=17 hymn=18:line=5 hymn=19:line=10 hymn=19:line=40 hymn=20:line=5 hymn=22 hymn=24 hymn=25:line=1 hymn=26:line=10 hymn=27:line=15 hymn=28:line=5 hymn=29:line=5 hymn=30:line=1 hymn=31:line=1 hymn=32 hymn=33

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    Soon they came to the house of heaven-nurtured Celeus [185] and went through the portico to where their queenly mother sat by a pillar of the close-fitted roof, holding her son, a tender scion, in her bosom. And the girls ran to her. But the goddess walked to the threshold: and her head reached the roof and she filled the doorway with a heavenly radiance. [190] Then awe and reverence and pale fear took hold of Metaneira, and she rose up from her couch before Demeter, and bade her be seated. But Demeter, bringer of seasons and giver of perfect gifts, would not sit upon the bright couch, but stayed silent with lovely eyes cast down [195] until careful Iambe placed a jointed seat for her and threw over it a silvery fleece. Then she sat down and held her veil in her hands before her face. A long time she sat upon the stool1 without speaking because of her sorrow, and greeted no one by word or by sign, but rested, [200] never smiling, and tasting neither food nor drink, because she pined with longing for her deep-bosomed daughter, until careful Iambe --who pleased her moods in aftertime also --moved the holy lady with many a quip and jest to smile and laugh and cheer her heart. [205] Then Metaneira filled a cup with sweet wine and offered it to her; but she refused it, for she said it was not lawful for her to drink red wine, but bade them mix meal and water with soft mint and give her to drink. [210] And Metaneira mixed the draught and gave it to the goddess as she bade. So the great queen Deo received it to observe the sacrament2 ...

    And of them all, well-girded Metaneira first began to speak:

    1 Demeter chooses the lowlier seat, supposedly as being more suitable to her assumed condition, but really because in her sorrow she refuses all comforts.

    2 An act of communion --the drinking of the potion (kukeôn) here described --was one of the most important pieces of ritual in the Eleusinian mysteries, as commemorating the sorrows of the goddess.

    There are a total of 4 comments on and cross references to this page.

    Further comments from Thomas W. Allen, E. E. Sikes, Commentary on the Homeric Hymns:
    line 195: Iambê
    line 200: aGelastos
    line 200: apastos
    line 205: orgais

    Cross references from William Watson Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb:
    636 [prin with the Indicative.]

    Preferred URL for linking to this page: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=HH+2+184

    The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.

    This text is based on the following book(s):
    Anonymous. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
    OCLC: 41785942
    ISBN: 0674990633

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