The Food of the Dead: The Homeric Hymn to Demeter and Genesis 3
This is my first vlog post. I hope you like it! This is certainly not going to replace my writing here at Smoking a Ziggurat. But there are certain things that maybe come across better in a mini-lecture like this. So, in this one, I deal with a motif from ancient literature: the food of the dead.
Ancient folklore, has many stories about folks getting trapped in the underworld (or something like that) because they ate the food of the dead. Here in this mini-lecture, I look at three examples. The first is from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Then I look at the story of Saul and the Necromancer of Endor. Finally, I discuss the fall of Adam and Eve from Genesis 3.
So far, I’ve brought a lot of insights from Jewish midrash to this blog. The opportunities that pagan mythology can offer for better appreciating our Scriptures also fascinate me. The story of Persephone eating the food of the dead is one good example.
The Eleusinian Mysteries
The Homeric Hymn of Demeter was composed for the Eleusinian Mysteries. This was one of the most ancient mystery cults of Greece. It had counterparts in the Near East. In these mysteries, the initiates participated annually in a three-part, mythic cycle. First, they observed Persephone’s descent into the underworld with Hades, her abductor. Then, they participated in Demeter’s sorrowful search for her daughter. Finally, they celebrated Persephone’s ascent into the world of life. It seems likely that this began as an agrarian cult. I.e., the initiates conducted these rituals in an effort to encourage the earth (Demeter) to be fruitful. But the mysteries had benefits for the initiates in the afterlife, as well. The initiates kept all of these rituals secret. This is why we use the word “mystery” today with its current meaning.
