Throughout Rita Dove’s Persephone, Falling, the work elaborates on the myth of Persephone and describes the mistakes that a daughter makes despite her mother’s warnings, utilizing allusive diction and an implicitly condemnatory tone to warn against the dangers in recklessness and excessive focus. Initially identifying the “narcissus among the ordinary beautiful flowers,” the speaker depicts the singly unique plant in the area, specifically denoting the narcissus plant species. However, while narcissus directly refers to the narcissus flower, it also alludes to the myth of Narcissus from Greek mythology, who existed obsessed with himself to the point of committing suicide. In referencing Narcissus early in the poem, the work implies the eventual fate of Persephone as one of self-destruction, as Narcissus …show more content…
As she pulls, the work largely illustrates her single-minded focus and greed in acquiring her treasure, mirroring how Narcissus only gave attention to himself in the mirror and ignored the world around him. As the girl obsesses over the flower, the events quickly derail, as when she obtains the narcissus, Hades “sprung out of the earth… [and] claimed his due,” portraying the consequences of both Persephone’s limited view to only the flower and her avarice that led to her capture and downfall. Through emphasizing that Hades remained just in his actions and only took Persephone due to her decision, the work assigns the blame of the capture to Persephone, diverting from typical interpretations of the myth that depict Persephone as a kidnapped child who cannot prevent her situation. The poem further elaborates on this position as it laments that “she had strayed from the herd,” underscoring that Persephone’s foolishness led her to the Underworld, while her continued mistakes in eating the pomegranate seeds kept her
In two amazing poems, both poets make allusions to the myth of Persephone. The myth of Persephone tells of her kidnap by Hades, the God of the Underworld. She is then fated to spend one-third of the year in the underworld as Hades’ bride because she consumed pomegranate seeds. This myth appears frequently as a metaphor not only in “The Pomegranate” and “The Bistro Styx,” but in many others as well. In both poems, the myth of Persephone is used to symbolize the mother-daughter relationships.
Hades fell in love with Demeter’s daughter, Persephone. Persephone loved to live about in the fields that her mother made. Hades wanted Persephone as his bride. Zeus, the father of Persephone, did not deny but warned that Demeter would be furious. He captured her and forced her to stay in the underworld. To capture her, he arose from the depth with a chariot of horses. He stole her from the flowery field and took her to a dungeon of darkness. Persephone gained the name “core”. This was symbolizing her loss of girlhood. Demeter went looking for her daughter. She could not find her, and she almost came to the extent of barring the whole earth of the vegetation. Zeus could not let this happen, so he sent for Persephone to be received. Persephone would not eat, but Hades would not let her leave until she ate at least one thing. Hades gave her a forbidden fruit. Any fruit that was to be eaten in the underworld, the eater of that fruit must stay in the underworld. Her eating the fruit meant she had to stay in the underworld forever. A compromise was made between Demeter and Hades. Four months of the year Persephone had to stay with Hades and be the queen of the underworld. During this time the Greeks entered a cold and barren time called winter. The other eight months, Persephone spent her year with Demeter. During this time crops and vegetation would be abundant (Peterson and Dunworth 143). These were the times of spring and summer. When it was time for Persephone to rule the underworld, she was in charge of watching the special prisoners. The prisoners were the defeated titans (Calame, 266).
First, he is called to an adventure in which he is assigned to complete an impossible task. Then he is mentored by Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and assisted by the magical gifts given by the nymphs to overcome a monster. Using the advice and tools he has received on his journey, Perseus kills the monster with his wits by using the reflection of his shield instead of relying on brute force. On his road back home, Perseus commits a good deed by saving a damsel in distress by slaying another monster. Finally, Perseus arrives home and is arguably the only Greek hero with a happy ending.
‘Demeter’ is a poem about the story of Demeter. "Demeter was the goddess of harvest and Persephone was the goddess of springtime. Hades, the lord of the underworld, kidnapped Persephone. Hades fell in love with Persephone and asked Zeus to help him kidnap her so she could become his bride. The crops started to wilt and humans couldn't grow crops anymore. However Zeus told Hermes to bring back Persephone and to make sure she didn't eat any food from the Underworld. Hermes fetched Persephone. But before she left, Hades convinced her to eat 6 pomegranate seeds. Hermes made a compromise and said Persephone had to stay in the Underworld as Hades wife for six months. That's why there are seasons. In the fall and winter, Persephone goes down into the Underworld and Demeter mourns. In the summer and spring, she comes back and Demeter rejoices. " (1)
In the Hymn to Demeter, the rape of Persephone starts with her picking flowers and she comes across the hundred headed narcissus which "Gaia made grow as a trick for the blushing maiden" (HHDem. 8-9). This trick is set into motion by Zeus, but since Gaia plays the role of protecting the youngest generation, this is a foreshadowing that Persephone's ordeal will be for a good cause. Hades moves in to take Persephone when the grounds gapes open and she begins to cry aloud. Demeter hears her daughters screams but she is powerless against Hades, hence the separation of distance between them. The grief stricken Demeter goes through an experience which plays out the role of a symbolic death. this is because the relationship between the mother and daughter ends at a wedding.
Must race confine us and define us?’ The story The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, written by Heidi W. Durrow, revolves around the protagonist Rachel, who has bi-racial parents. After her mother and two siblings plunge to their deaths from a Chicago building, young Rachel Morse survives and is sent to Portland. Furthermore, part of her story is learning about how she conform into the world while dealing with her ethnicity. Additionally, when Rachel’s moves in with her grandmother, she is faced with racial expectations at home and at school.
Has there ever been a time where you have experienced true love, but everything was not what you expected? You thought everything was at the forefront but there was a deeper meaning to things. Well in the poem “First Love: A Quiz”, A.E. Stallings introduces you to the deeper side of things. This poem doesn’t consist of many literary devices, but Stallings uses her choice of words to make the reader give thought to the text, and to the story being told of Persephone and Hades. The structure of the poem also helps to better understand the actual meaning of the poem. As you read this “quiz” everything gets very abstract and your options become harder and harder to choose from.
Each time a story is told, elements of the original are often changed to suit new situations and current societies, or to offer a new perspective. Over the centuries, Ovid’s tale of "Echo and Narcissus" has been told many times to new audiences, and in the late nineteenth-century, it took the form of The Picture of Dorian Gray. "Echo and Narcissus" is the tale of a beautiful boy who fell in love with his reflection in a pond, and spurned others who loved him because he was so fixated upon himself. As a result of his extreme self-worship and consequent inability to love another, Narcissus perishes. Although several aspects of the original myth are retained in Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray is shocking and its characters commit acts that lead to ultimate decay and destruction. By changing elements of Ovid’s original tale, Wilde expands the myth of Echo and Narcissus to express the inevitable punishment and ruin that excessive desire brings.
In The Odyssey and Hymn to Demeter, both Penelope and Demeter love and miss their family members. When Demeter hears her daughter Persephone’s cry, “a sharp grief took hold of Demeter in
Persephone, Hades’ wife, is the goddess of spring and the Queen of the underworld. She resides in the underworld for only six months of the year due to Hades kidnapping her. She was told not to eat anything for then she would have to remain in the underworld. While in the underworld, Persephone consumed six pomegranate seeds. Her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture, threw a fit. Demeter complained to her brother Zeus. To be fair, Zeus stated that Persephone would have to remain in the underworld one month per seed each year. So, Persephone now resides in the underworld six months out of every year.
The affair between Ares and Aphrodite poses the question of whether Odysseus will return home to find Penelope with another man. The story of Klytemnestra and Agamemnon is a theme itself throughout most of the poem. Therefore its is hard to ignore it as both hold the same story with different outcomes. In addition, the level of anxiety builds through Penelope's actions and the contradicting traits of different women.
... participants did not wear crowns or eat pomegranate seeds that had touched the ground because Persephone had been stolen while gathering flowers, and because she had eaten the pomegranate seeds in the underworld (Foley, 72/Taylor 1995).
Numerous lively heroes ventured into Persephone’s clutches with the hopes of beating death, yet she explains that despite their god-like strength they too will die. Two such heroes were Theseus and Pirithous. When Theseus and Pirithous attempted to kidnap the Queen of the Underworld she enticed them to sit in the chair of forgetfulness where their flesh fused to the cushions and refused to relinquish them (Taylor 268). Persephone appears many times to offer food, drink, or rest to weary heroes in the underworld in order to trap them there forever in the same manner that Hades tricked her (Taylor, 268). Because of Persephone and Hades’ antics many people hated them as gods, but Persephone’s cruelty serves as a reminder that while death is necessary it is not always kind. In the same manner that Persephone accepted her fate, mortals must also accept their own imminent
...caused by the grieving mother from the abduction Persephone/Proserpine. However, despite the similarities of the two literatures, Ovid incorporated and altered new elements and characters into the myth of the abduction of Persephone/Proserpine. Incorporation of Venus and Cupid greatly altered the similar story of the Greek and Roman literature, involving cupid’s arrow though Pluto’s heart, Venus not wanting another girl to remain a virgin, and her desire to extend her power. In conclusion, each argument that was discussed in the paper reinforced the invariant theme that was identified in both the Greek and Roman literature, the loss of the innocence of Persephone/Proserpine.
Narcissus was the son of a river god and a nymph. It was prophesied at his birth that he would live a long life if “he shall himself not know” (Ovid, Book three, Line 347). Echo was a nymph who angered Juno by distracted her while Jupiter was with other nymphs. Juno cursed her so that, “when speaking ends,/ All she can do is double each last word,/ And echo back again the voice she’s heard” (Ovid, Book 3, Line 364-6). When Narcissus was sixteen, he went out hunting with a group of friends and was separated from them.