Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -- PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- PART 1.THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION, COMMENTARY, AND BACKGROUND -- TEXT AND TRANSLATION OF THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER -- COMMENTARY ON THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER / Foley, Helene P. -- BACKGROUND: THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES AND WOMEN'S RITES FOR DEMETER / Foley, Helene P. -- PART 2. INTERPRETIVE ESSAY ON THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER -- INTRODUCTION -- INTERPRETING THE HYMN TO DEMETER -- THE "THEOLOGY" OF THE MYSTERIES -- VARIANTS OF THE MYTH AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VERSION IN THE HYMN TO DEMETER -- FEMALE EXPERIENCE IN THE HYMN TO DEMETER -- MARRIAGE -- GENDER CONFLICT AND THE COSMOLOGICAL TRADITION -- THE MOTHER/DAUGHTER ROMANCE -- THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MYSTERIES -- THE HYMN TO DEMETER AND THE POLIS -- CHRISTIANITY AND THE HYMN TO DEMETER -- THE INFLUENCE OF THE HYMN TO DEMETER AND ITS MYTH -- APPENDIX -- The Hymn to Demeter as a Panhellenic Poem -- PART 3. FURTHER INTERPRETATION: CONTRIBUTED ARTICLES -- WITHDRAWAL AND RETURN: AN EPIC STORY PATTERN IN THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER AND IN THE HOMERIC POEMS / Lord, Mary Louise -- SOME FUNCTIONS OF THE DEMOPHOON EPISODE IN THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER / Felson-Rubin, Nancy / Deal, Harriet M. -- CONCERNING THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER / Rudhardt, Jean -- POLITICS AND POMEGRANATES REVISITED / Katz, Marilyn Arthur -- POLITICS AND POMEGRANATES: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER / Arthur, Marylin -- FAMILY STRUCTURE AND FEMININE PERSONALITY / Chodorow, Nancy -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ADDENDUM -- INDEX LOCORUM -- GENERAL INDEX The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, composed in the late seventh or early sixth century B.C.E., is a key to understanding the psychological and religious world of ancient Greek women. The poem tells how Hades, lord of the underworld, abducted the goddess Persephone and how her grieving mother, Demeter, the goddess of grain, forced the gods to allow Persephone to return to her for part of each year. Helene Foley presents the Greek text and an annotated translation of this poem, together with selected essays that give the reader a rich understanding of the Hymn's structure and artistry, its role in the religious life of the ancient world, and its meaning for the modern world
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