The abduction of Persephone

I am always surprised by how many of you actively worship or ask after Haides; while Persephone features in my daily prayers, I would never dream to add Haides to those. That said, I enjoy the myth of Persephone joining the Underworld court, and seeing as no less than three of you asked after it, I think it's time to dig deeper into the myth of Haides' abduction of Persephone; as Jasmina wrote me:

"The Hades and Persephone myth (because there's a lot of people saying a lot of different things, like Persephone plucked a particular flower, which opened up a hole to the Underworld, and others say that Hades came to the surface and took Persephone with him to the Underworld..)"

It's not surprising that over the years, the myth of Persephone's abduction became one of the most embellished of all the Hellenic myths; it's a timeless tragic love story, and as a Netflix visit can confirm, we love those. The ancient Hellenic sources are a lot less eloquent about the myth and that is most likely the reason for the modern day confusion Jasmina hinted at: there was enough room for interpretation, and so the myth was interpreted again and again. The oldest source is most likely the Homeric Hymn to Demeter which reads:

"Apart from Demeter, lady of the golden sword and glorious fruits, she was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Oceanus and gathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful violets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus, which Earth made to grow at the will of Zeus and to please the Host of Many [Haides], to be a snare for the bloom-like girl -- a marvellous, radiant flower. It was a thing of awe whether for deathless gods or mortal men to see: from its root grew a hundred blooms and is smelled most sweetly, so that all wide heaven above and the whole earth and the sea's salt swell laughed for joy. And the girl was amazed and reached out with both hands to take the lovely toy; but the wide-pathed earth yawned there in the plain of Nysa, and the lord, Host of Many, with his immortal horses sprang out upon her -- the Son of Cronos [Haides], He who has many names. He caught her up reluctant on his golden car and bare her away lamenting. Then she cried out shrilly with her voice, calling upon her father, the Son of Cronos, who is most high and excellent. But no one, either of the deathless gods or of mortal men, heard her voice." [4-21]

The other instance Jasmina mentions, where Haides came to the surface to collect Persephone Himself is actually not in Hellenic kythology, but it would not surprise me is it came from the Orphic tradition. In the Orphic Hymn to Plouton [Haides], Haides is described as coming up to the surface with Persephone so He can hold her captive in a cave near Eleusis:

"And in dread Acheron [Haides], whose depths obscure, earth's stable roots eternally secure. O mighty dæmon, whose decision dread, the future fate determines of the dead, with captive Proserpine [Persephone], thro' grassy plains, drawn in a four-yok'd car with loosen'd reins, rapt o'er the deep, impell'd by love, you flew 'till Eleusina's city rose to view; there, in a wond'rous cave obscure and deep, the sacred maid secure from search you keep, the cave of Atthis, whose wide gates display an entrance to the kingdoms void of day." [17]

So now we come to something that is often misinterpreted: the words 'rape' and 'abduction'. I have already written a long post about these subjects, which can be found here. Time to de-romanticize the ancient Hellenes a little. We tend to equate 'rape' with the absence of love and mutual consent, but in ancient Hellas, marriage itself was an agreement between men about a woman. Rape in ancient Hellas was therefor not tied to the approval of the woman--any sexual act on her part was performed without love and consent anyway, or at least without care for her consent--but to the approval of the men surrounding her. In my opinion, the question of rape lies in the outcome of the mythological sexual act: does the sexual act lead to marriage or not? In cases where it does, the sexual act is not so much rape as we understand it, but an illustration of the start of a marriage. This certainly holds true in the myth of Haides and Persephone. To illustrate this view, I would like to quote Roman mythographer Apollodorus from his 'Library' as he puts into words what many other writers hint at or say far more flowery:

"Pluto [Haides] fell in love with Persephone and with the help of Zeus carried her off secretly." [1.5.1]

Here we see a perfect illustration of a marriage arrangement: Zeus and Plouton decided upon the fate of Zeus' daughter Persephone. In a twist that most Hellenic women would most likely not have been able to achieve however, Demeter fought against the marriage agreement and managed to wrangle a situation where Persephone could come up to the surface at least part of the year. I feel--but UPG/personal interpretation alert here--that this part of the myth served as a reminder for ancient Hellenic men (and women) that a woman was always partially part of her family-by-blood, and that when a man took a wife, he got her family with her in a package deal. This included tending to ailing parents and probably supporting them financially if the need arose.

The myth of Persephone and Haides is an important myth about family, marriage, and the ethical and practical responsibilities that came with both. The details of Her abduction matter, but not as much as the lessons attached to it.

• Saturday, December 14, 2013
  ancient Hellenic culture Appollodorus Demeter Hades Homeric Hymns Mythology 101 Orphic Hymns Persephone rape requested post Zeus

'Who were the Greeks' BBC Two series

While I wrap up the last things for college, I'm going to leave you with part one of two of a BBC Two series about ancient Hellas. In this documentary series, Classicist Dr. Michael Scott, explores 'the legacies of the Ancient Greeks, what they have given us today, and asks why these legacies have lasted through time'.

 

The Hellenic online communities I am a part of seem to be unanimously in love with this series. For me, the series paints ancient Hellas with too... sensational a brush. The focus on the differences between ancient Hellas and the modern world seems counterproductive to the goal of providing an understanding of how life in ancient Hellas worked.

 

I also have to admit, I knew almost everything in this video already, which does not help with my judgment upon it. It was nice seeing the medical tools, though. For those of you looking for more information on some of these subjects, try these blog posts:

• Abandoning children
• Dog sacrifices
• Asklēpiós and Asklepieia
• Nudity and nudity on statues
• Adultery and rape
• Pederasty
• Beauty (or Arête)
• Wine and symposia
• Democracy and trials
• Slavery
• Funerary rites

Part two of this series airs Thursday at 9 PM, on BBC Two, and as far a I'm concerned, it's shaping up to be a lot more interesting than part one.

• Sunday, June 30, 2013
  adultery ancient Hellenic culture arete Athens household worship nudity rape sacrifice Sparta video

Rape in ancient Hellas and Hellenic mythology

A long time ago, I promised to look closer into the act of rape in ancient Hellenic mythology, and despite that promise, I haven't written about it in a cohesive way since. It's a difficult topic and while that doesn't usually hold me back, it's also a topic about which a lot is written but nothing is proven beyond a doubt. Paraphrasing the available information leads to an incomplete picture, but I'm going to try my best.

This post is inspired by a comment on yesterday's post, where I, amongst others, describe how Zeus raped Hera so He could marry Her. Understandably, this didn't go over well. Rape is a terrible act, a shameful act, with dire consequences for all involved. It's 'the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse.'

Dr. Susan Deacy, in her excellent essay 'The vulnerability of Athena' describes three categories of rape in myth: parthenoi (maidens, 'those who are unmarried') who reject normal female activities and wish to remain unmarried; parthenoi who are lured away from the paternal oikos, are raped and give birth to remarkable offspring; and rape as a representation of marriage.

I have noted before, that there is no word for 'rape' in the ancient Hellenic language. What we would consider rape, was assumably either a property crime, or an act of violence. The roles of women in ancient Hellas were a lot different than the roles of women today. In my post on suicide, I wrote the following:

"In ancient Greece, women were almost solely in charge of raising children. Their lives consisted of taking care of the hearth, her husband and her children. Any status a woman had, was tied in with her husband. Women in ancient Greece were groomed to function in pairs. It was because of this that a widow was passed on to another male as soon as possible."

A free woman could marry, and she did so when she was quite young. In my post on children, childnessness and the hearth, I wrote:

"Marriage in ancient Greece was a family affair. The father of the son--who was often in his thirties by the time he got married--opened negotiations with the family of a bride in her teens. The two families came to an agreement about dowry, a contract was signed by the father of the groom and the father of the bride in front of witnesses, and the groom met his new wife--often for the first time--before taking her to bed."

I add to this in my post about ancient Hellenic taboos:

"Prostitution was common, and men tended to have concubines. Some even lived at the house. Demosthenes, a Hellenic writer from ancient Athens, was recorded as saying: 'we have courtesans for pleasure, concubines to provide for our daily needs, and our spouses to give us legitimate children and to be the faithful guardians of our homes.'"

In short, a free woman married her husband when she was in her teens. Her husband took her from her home, and into his. He introduced her to Hestia through the hearth and that was that. They were now married. From that point forward, they had sex only to produce children. Love rarely entered into the equation, although I pose that a good few of these couples eventually ended up loving each other, even if it may not be the romantic love we value today. Sex games and sex for pleasure for a male was had with prostitutes, concubines and—perhaps—with their younger male protégées.

We tend to equate 'rape' with the absence of love and mutual consent, but in ancient Hellas, marriage itself was an agreement between men about a woman. Rape in ancient Hellas was therefor not tied to the approval of the woman--any sexual act on her part was performed without love and consent anyway—but to the approval of the men surrounding her.

I find it important to pause here for an adjustment of terminology. From this point on, I will use 'rape' only when it is absolutely clear the men surrounding the women in question would object to her having sexual relations with the man in question. For all other instances, I will use terms which describe a sexual act, no matter if they are forced upon or wanted. This, to further illustrate the views of ancient Hellens.

In ancient Hellenic society, free women lived separate from men. They rarely had interactions with men not from their oikos. Still, there are accounts of women being sexually assaulted, and monetary fines that were issued to the perpetrator. From this, we know that sexual assault and rape were criminal, and shameful acts. The question is: was the sexual assault/rape criminal and shameful, or was it criminal and shameful to take someone else's property from them? And if so, could a father accuse a man of sexual assault/rape, if he married her? 

Most of the laws concerning this topic relate to adulterers; a man who caught his wife cheating, could bring the man she was cheating with to court. Plutarch, in a discussion of law, says that Solon gave 'to the one who catches a moichos (an adulterer) the right to kill him, but if anyone seizes a free woman and forces her, he assigned the penalty of one hundred drachmas.' This means that adultery was seen as a far more serious offense than sexual assault. 

In order to get married, women were encouraged to be virgins. Especially in mythology, this proves difficult when a God lays their eyes on them. Some are saved by other Deities. They get transformed into plants, trees or animals—although the latter rarely prevents the God from having sex with them—to get away from the God in question. These usually fall in the first, or sometimes second, category laid out by Deacy. Examples include Daphne, who was chased by Apollon and transformed into a laurel, and Europa, who was abducted by Zeus, has sex with Him, and is abandoned.

Myths are educational tools. They teach morality and ethics. Through myths, we can understand the way the ancient Hellens thought a little better. In my opinion, the question of rape lies in the outcome of the mythological sexual act: does the sexual act lead to marriage or not? In cases where it does, the sexual act is not so much rape as we understand it, but an illustration of the start of a marriage. This would be the case with Zeus' rape of Hera. So what of all these mortal women who are abandoned?

To answer this, I feel we must first take a firm step back from mythology. We have seen that sexual assault and rape were criminal offenses, but they weren't punished that severely. Still, one hundred drachmas was more than most men could pay. In modern times, one hundred drachmas would equate to roughly $ 6000,-, with the day wage for a skilled artisan being around one drachma. Ancient sources also tell us that men were only punishable for sexual assault or rape if they raped a woman—or possibly a man—above their own rank. No one was punished for raping a slave, for example, and the practice was common.

So then, what of Gods? It stands to reason that hierarchical rules also apply here, as myths are formed by the men who tell them. Who is higher in rank than a God? And, above all, who is higher in rank than Zeus? If Zeus desires a woman, He is free to take her under ancient Hellenic law. It also stands to reason that a God lower in standing, say Apollon, would be punished severely for raping a Goddess above his standing. If Zeus had not claimed Hera, and He had laid claim to Her, I am sure He would have been unsuccessful, and perhaps would even have been punished.

Looking at mortals, nymphs and 'lesser' Immortals, nearly all Gods outrank them, so the ancient Hellens would have seen no problem in a sexual act between a God and these women. An exception to the rules and regulations applied to mortal adulterous men, would most likely have been made for the Gods as well. Their Divinity would allow Them to 'overrule' the mortal marriage without bringing shame to the husband, although there seems to be a threat stemming from a demi-God son (as can be seen in the myth of Perseus).

This has become a long post and it's not exhaustive in any way, shape or form. It is merely an illustration of ancient Hellenic culture and ancient Hellenic views upon sexual assault and rape. So many years later, our attitudes have changed. Women's rights have come a long way, and with them, the criminalization and social rejection of rape. Yet, in ancient Hellas, these views were different, and Hellenic myths reflect this. As uncomfortable as that may be to some or most, this does not change anything about the facts and the myths.

Yes, in a good few of the myths where a woman is raped, the sex was non-consensual. Even if it was consensual, it wouldn't reflect in the myths because a woman was incapable of consenting to anything; only her father, brother or husband could. I don't sugarcoat these facts; many say that the rape is figurative, that it is meant as an outpour of divinity upon a mortal. It may very well be, but that doesn't change the fact that myths often reflect the culture they were formed in, and that a form of non-consensual sex most likely was the foundation of the accounts which formed these myths. It isn't pretty, but there it is.

This doesn't stop me from worshipping the Theoi in any way, shape or form. I have spoken before about religion dictating the reconstruction practice, not the culture. Non-consensual sex will never be a standardized part of Hellenismos. Any follower who wishes it to be so, wishes it to be so because of his or her own desires or a blatant misinterpretation of reconstructive practices.

I hope this post clears up some of the confusion and bad aftertaste some myths seem to leave in one's mouth. It is a practice we, as humans, have left behind. These myths were formed in a time where things were very different. I don't excuse the practice of accepted rape in ancient Hellas because there is nothing to excuse. Who am I to judge an ancient society or it's myths? Especially, who am I to judge the Theoi? All I can say is that rape is not a part of Hellenismos and the Theoi are not revered because of these sexual escapades. It's a part of Them, just like their dominion over thunder, the sea, the Underworld, or love. They are not defined by it.

• Tuesday, October 16, 2012
  ancient Hellenic culture Apollon Hellenismos 101 Hera Mythology 101 rape Zeus

Suicide in ancient Hellas, mythology and in current time

I got back from my city trip to Berlin late last night and I had planned on writing about some experiences from that trip, but I received my daily e-mail from a friend who informed me that his wife's cousin had taken his own life unexpectedly, and that his life was pretty hectic right now because of it. He would therefor need some time to get back to me. After that, the concept and act of suicide was set firmly in my mind and I could write about nothing else. So here is fair warning; this post is about suicide, it touches on depression, my interesting childhood and my opinion on suicide. If any of these are triggers for you, I would ask you to come back tomorrow. Also, and I will get back to this, depression lies.

I grew up in a household where the threat of suicide was prevalent. When I mentioned moving out, when I got angry, when something went wrong (especially if it was something I had caused--or for which I was blamed), I was stopped and the emotions repressed by a veiled or outright threat of suicide by my mother. I used to be angry about that, but as I got older, I understood that it was simply her only way to deal with the depression and personality disorders she was struggling with. She did try once, and it was a horrible experience for all involved. After that, though, I think she realized that no matter how miserable she was, she wasn't really going to go through with it. The threats only stopped when we agreed that she was only allowed to call me with a suicide threat if she really meant it. She never spoke of it again.

Through my experience with suicide, I have developed a very low patience threshold for people who use (the threat of) suicide as an excuse to get attention. For people in my social circle who honestly feel they might commit suicide, I am there. All I ask of them is that they ask for help if they need it. I will gladly give it. I'll get up in the middle of the night for weeks to talk them off of any ledge they might be on, but I need honesty and I will not be guilt tripped into helping them. I did that for at least ten years. I'm a very decent human being. If you need me, in any way, I will be there for you. You don't have to lie. But if you simply need attention, if you need a shoulder to cry on and someone to tell you what a miserable life you have and act shocked you have even considered the act of suicide, I am not the person to go to. I'm the person you go to for help, and to get you help.

That having been said, I understand depression. Everyone goes through rough patches but sometimes it seems impossible to get back out of them. Jenny Lawson, AKA The Bloggess, suffers from a multitude of mental disorders and for those who are struggling with anything that might lead to depression or suicide, you need to watch her talk through her fear and pain, and offer some fantastic words of wisdom I would never be able to give in her video on it. The main message, though? Depression lies, do not trust it. Ever. It lies, and when the depression lessens, you will be able to see that. So it's important to imprint upon yourself that depression lies, so that when life is so dark, the only thing you can think of is to end it, you can hold on to that.

The ancient Hellens had a different attitude towards suicide--and life--than we do today. In general, suicide was an accepted form of death and it even became an accepted form of capital punishment. Athenian philosopher Socrates was condemned to death for 'refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state' and for 'corrupting the youth.' He died by drinking down a cup of poison hemlock.

In Hellenic myth, suicide has different causes for males than for females. Males often take their own lives out of shame, fear of disgrace, self-sacrifice, grief or the loss of honor. Women kill themselves mostly out of grief over the death of a male child or husband, out of shame or through self-sacrifice although their self-sacrifice is often for different reasons and by different means than that of males.

Shame is a prevalent motivator for suicide for both men and women in Hellenic myth. The sources of shame vary greatly, between the sexes but also within the sexes. For women, rape is the most common source of shame. For men, shame comes often from a loss of honor. This can occur when they are slighted in the distribution of bounty (like Ajax), when they commit sexual acts with their daughters (like Clymenus) or because of 'ugliness', like Broteas, who in some versions of mythology is said to have burnt himself because he was ashamed of the way he looked.

Grief is by far the most common motivator for women to take their own lives. In ancient Hellas, women were almost solely in charge of raising children. Their lives consisted of taking care of the hearth, her husband and her children. Any status a woman had, was tied in with her husband. Women in ancient Hellas were groomed to function in pairs. It was because of this that a widow was passed on to another male as soon as possible. For a lot of women in mythology, loosing their husband or male child proves too much to handle. They kill themselves our of grief, fear and/or the promise of an undesirable husband. For women, dying with their husbands was considered a virtuous thing to do. Alcyone, for example, hears of her husband's death and drowns herself. Laodamia, threw herself on her husband's funeral pyre. When Anticleia, mother of Odysseus, is sure Odysseus is dead, she kill herself to end her suffering.

There are also fathers who kill themselves when they lose a son, and husbands who commit suicide when they lose their wife, although it occurs much less frequent than for mothers and wives. Aegeus, thinking his son Theseus is dead, dives off of a cliff. Orpheus, in some versions of the myth, does not leave the Underworld when he loses his wife for a second time, but walks back to die himself.

Stepping away from mythology, suicide became a more frowned-upon practice as time went by. Pythagoras and Aristotle, for example, were against the practice. Pythagoras believed there were only a finite number of souls so suicide upset the balance. Aristotle was against suicide because he felt that the community suffered a loss. A lot later, with the arrival of the Christians, suicide became an act of the Devil.

I doubt Hellenics have reached a consensus over suicide yet. We might, in the future, but for now our societies, our personal experiences and our own (political) preferences influence our views more than our Reconstructionistic practices.

I have actually thought about suicide, and assisted suicide, a lot, both before and after transitioning to Hellenismos. Becoming a priestess has always drawn me. Assisting the sick and dying is a part of that. Unless things change dramatically over the years, I doubt I will ever be called to aid someone I do not know personally, as they decide to end their own life with the help of a physician. I am in favor of euthanasia and I would gladly help a person going through it by praying with them, offering to the Gods in their name and pleading to the psychopomps to aid them on their journey to the Underworld. I would gladly give them the funeral rites their family might be unaware of. I would also do the latter for those who committed suicide.

Some may call suicide hubris. I can see where this idea comes from and I think I agree with it. Offerings to appease the Gods would be a necessary part of Hellenic funeral rites after a suicide; after all, you have taken yourself from the Olympians. Yet, I feel Hades would welcome the soul of someone who has committed suicide, regardless. I don't think He would judge a person at all on committing suicide. That having been said, please read the part of this post about not committing suicide again. Once you're dead, you're dead and although the Underworld isn't that horrible a place, no one should wish to leave the sunlight before their time, no matter how hard life can get.

• Wednesday, August 15, 2012
  ancient Hellenic culture Hellenismos 101 Mythology 101 Odysseus rape suicide

PBP: Gender-roles in Hellenic mythology

Alright, I feel better so lets move on to a lighter topic, shall we? Gender-roles in Hellenic mythology. Hellenic myth isn't the most balanced or forward mythological system when it comes to gender roles. In fact, I strongly believe it's a gender package no one comes out of, looking better. Women have three choices; rejoicing their femininity and inherent sexuality and leaving themselves open to kidnap and/or rape, tempting and/or raping in return or becoming warrior virgins who (only go through attempted rape but) will never know love. Men have two choices; either they become brutes who chase every bit of tail that comes their way or they become tricksters, harmless to the females around them as well as the egos and reputations of the males. I've seen better options.

Lets look at the women first; The first option is to be so beautiful and/or innocent and/or conveniently available that the male God or hero can not restrain himself. He must have her and so he takes her from her home and (often) has sex with her. Persephone is a textbook example of this. These rapes (although the sex sometimes is concensual) often end in pregnancy and the birth of a new hero. Examples include Perseus and Kastor and/or Polideukes. Often the women get punished severely for their part in the sex/rape. Just look at Médousa.

The second option is to be in control of one's beauty and sexual prowess but eternally alone. The Odysee is full of examples of this one; the sorceress Circe, Calypso as well as the Sirens. All tempt Odysseus to various degrees of success, sometimes taking his faculties from him so they can take from him what they want.

The last category for the women is to become a warrior and remain a virgin. The only way to find love is to revert to one of the other two options. The Goddesses Artemis and Athena are amongst these, as well as the Amazons.

The men have different options but it comes down to two words; power or trickery (or a combination of both). The men-who-become-brutes tend to be the ones who chase women down in lust until they have her and can make love to her or rape her or until she is taken from them by the intervention of another deity. See Médousa for the former and Daphne and Minthe for the latter.

The tricksters include Gods like Hermes and perhaps even Apollon; They find love but only by avoiding the men and women that the brutes are attracted to. More often than not, the tricksters get assigned their partners by the brutes.

Now, this is an overgeneralization. There are many shades of grey here. Rape, in Hellenic myth shouldn't even be interpreted as rape as we know it; in myths it's the pouring out of Divinity over mortals. In general, it can even be seen as a blessing, of sorts.

I do not condone rape in any way, shape or form. I am merely saying that women in ancient Hellens were considered to be property of the men in their lives. Any sexual encounters they had was rape, by definition, as it was a property crime. So consensual sex was still rape... well... a property crime, because the word 'rape' did not exist in ancient Hellas. Of course, this whole thing is still a tangled web of hurt that is beyond the scope of this blog post. Perhaps when we get to 'R'. For now, I will limit myself to the gender-roles listed above.

There are lessons to be learned in these stories. While the Theoi are fully fleshed out entities, who are perfectly capable of thinking for Themselves, most of Them did get pigeonholed into certain stereotypes in the myths that survived the ages. There are many, many cases of UPG and SPG that give light to a whole other side of these Gods and Goddesses. Often, Their stories also distract us from what They did have and from the stories that were never told or not often focussed upon. Zeus, for example, has children with many mortal (and immortal) women but he returns to the bed He shares with Hera every night. While She may spurn him for his dalliances, She seems to be very aware (as is He) that His needs are really only sated with Her and Hera rules the daily going on's on Olympus in His stead. Persephone might not hate the time She spends with Hades at all; She seems to have taken Her rightful place by His side as Queen of the Underworld and who knows? Perhaps She ate those pomegranate seeds of Her own free will?

I admit that the gender roles of ancient Hellas bother me. Reading these myths can leave a sour taste in my mouth that only washes away when I look beyond the words, to the messages themselves. By filling the gaps between myths, one can often reconcile their worries about the myths with their personal creed as well as moral guidelines like the Delphic Maxims. It's also very important to note the time period in which these myths were formed; Hellenic culture has its source in Mycenaean Hellas, starting roughly 3900 years ago. That's a lot of time to go by and women's rights weren't really a part of ancient living. Men were expected to provide, and healthy, powerful man simply had more prowess. It's not odd to think the Gods mirrored these societal bounds.

I doubt many (if any) Modern Hellenics long back for a time when men ruled over women in the way that is portrayed in myth. Rape is not condoned. Modern Hellenics try to read beyond the words to get to the message(s). The myths tell us something about the Gods but, like us, They have had a lot of time to evolve. This is a thought that must not be forgotten.

• Saturday, June 9, 2012
  Apollon Artemis Athena Calypso Circe Daphne Hellenic Reconstruction Hera Hermes Kastor and Polideukes Médousa Minthe Pagan Blog Project Persephone rape Sirens Zeus