List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgments
Pt. 1 The Text and Translation, Commentary, and Background 1
Text and Translation of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter 2
Commentary on the Homeric Hymn to Demeter 28
Background: The Eleusinian Mysteries and Women's Rites for Demeter 65
Pt. 2 Interpretive Essay on the Homeric Hymn to Demeter 77
Interpreting the Hymn to Demeter 83
The "Theology" Of the Mysteries 84
Variants of the Myth and the Importance of the Version in the Hymn to Demeter 97
Female Experience in the Hymn to Demeter 103
Marriage 104
Gender Conflict and the Cosmological Tradition 112
The Mother/Daughter Romance 118
The Psychology of the Mysteries 137
The Hymn to Demeter and the Polis 142
Christianity and the Hymn to Demeter 150
The Influence of the Hymn to Demeter and Its Myth 151
App. Eleusis and Athens 169
App. The Hymn to Demeter as a Panhellenic Poem 175
Pt. 3 Further Interpretation: Contributed Articles 179
Withdrawal and Return: An Epic Story Pattern in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and in the Homeric Poems 181
Some Functions of the Demophoon Episode in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter 190
Concerning the Homeric Hymn to Demeter 198
Politics and Pomegranates: An Interpretation of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter 212
Family Structure and Feminine Personality 243
Bibliography 267
Index Locorum 283
General Index 289

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.

Helene P. Foley is Olin Professor of Classics at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is author of Ritual Irony: Poetry and Sacrifice in Euripides, coauthor of Women in the
Classical World: Image and Text, and editor of Reflections of Women in Antiquity.