Sicily: Cults of Demeter and Persephone

The Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Morgantina, Getty Villa Exhibit

Many people recognize the story of Demeter and Persephone as the Ancient Greek explanation of seasons, but few people think about their importance outside of the Aegean. In Sicily, Demeter and Persephone were part of the structure of Sicilian dominance throughout the Mediterranean. Sicily was a well-known land for its fertility and central location, so naturally cults to gods (and goddesses) of fertility came naturally. Grain was the main agricultural product, so Demeter was the obvious choice. Sicily is also the mythical location of the reemergence of Persephone from Hades. Sicily is also connected to the underworld through Mt. Etna, which was believed to be a gateway to Tartarus where the enemy of Zeus Typhon was imprisoned.

Sanctuary to Chthonic Divinities, Agrigento

Cults throughout Sicily were dedicated to Chthonic (underworld or earthly) divinities like Aetna (the personification of Mt. Etna), Demeter, Persephone, Hades, and other spirits of the underworld. Demeter represented the fertility of the grain, and her daughter (sometimes also called simply Kore, "the maiden") was the mistress of death. As anyone with Sicilian relatives can tell you, Sicilian women are natural matriarchs, so it is also possible that a mother-daughter cult has long played a central role in Sicilian culture.

"Women Gossiping"; British Museum

Bellissima

This month I went back to Italy with my family and I had an amazing time. I got to re-visit the old haunts in Rome and see some new ones as well. We arrived in Rome and spent a few extra days before our official tour began and it was like I never left- I now know why the call it the eternal City!

We got to see the Vatican Museums twice, but you can always spend more time there and of course we didn't get to see enough. It was also my first time in St. Peter's Basilica so I got to see a different side of Rome as well as the familiar.

We continued our tour in the south passing through Pompeii and eventually landed in the Isle of Capri, where we spent a few days. That island is magical and I definitely can see why Emperor Tiberius hid himself away there towards the end of his life- its the perfect paradise to retire!

Anacapri

After Capri we passed through the town of Assisi where we viewed the Basilica of St. Francis (one of the best Saints ever) and in Classe we saw the Basilica of St. Apollinare with some great early Christian art.

Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi

Basilica of Saint Apollinaris in Classe

We eventually arrived in Venice, where we were treated to gondolas, champagne, and music while we went through the canals- it was truly magical! I also enjoyed the crafts stores with masks, glass, writing implements, and more.

Then we hopped over to Tuscany and we had a few great meals and visited Florence. My favorite part of Tuscany was the city of Sienna, especially because we arrived on the day of the Palio, the infamous 90 second horse race on the Piazza Del Campo. I also think it would be a great place to learn Italian! I'm already planning my next trip back to Italy.

Sienna- Banners for the Palio

Piazza del Campo- day of the Palio

ARRIVEDERCI!

Ankh Wedja Seneb
(Life Prosperity Health)

Leif Lauderdale

Dionysian Mysteries

La Jeunesse de Bacchus- William Bouguereau, 19th c.

We are all familiar with the traditional image of Bacchus as a drunken, pudgy, older man but this is actually a later tradition of the European Renaissance. Dionysus has actually gone through many phases from the bearded patriarch to an effeminate youth. In later Europe he was painted as a chubby trickster in the same fashion of his brother Cupid.

Antinous as Dionysus-  Roman, Vatican

The Mystery Cult of Dionysus actually allowed many different types of marginalized groups in society to mix together in revelry: men & women, slaves & aristocrats, Greeks & barbarians all found common ground in the great social equalizer- WINE.


Mystery religions in Greece usually had hidden meanings in their rituals and had secret initiations that revealed the true nature of their religion. The Mysteries of Dionysus held the hidden meaning of life and death through the symbol of the vine. The grapes would grow through its life cycle (the living, youthful god) and be harvested (symbolically die) and turned into wine (resurrected) and then imbibed in "communion" with the god (the same way that Christians have "communion").


The affect of wine was viewed as physical possession of the god, who was not only a god of the cycle of life, death, and resurrection, but also the god of madness, frenzy, and abandon. Wine and its contents also became a symbol of masculine "liquid fertility" as fertilizing seminal fluid. Other substances like honey, which was also mixed with wine, became part of this association.


Dionysus' other attributes included ivy and goats. Ivy was thought to counteract drunkenness because it blooms in the winter instead of the summer. The goat (and therefore its horns) symbolized Dionysus because they trimmed the grape vine, and wineskins were made out of goats' flesh.

Dionysus is also associated with many other gods and cults: Zeus, Zagreus (a sort of proto-Dionysus), Sabazios (a Phrygian-Thracian god), Orpheus (whose cult borrowed many things from Dionysus'), and later Christianity. One of the most parallel deities is Osiris in the Egyptian pantheon. Osiris was also the god of male fertility, wine, resurrection, and had a mystery cult similar to that of Dionysus. During Osiris' festivals they would have "sprouting Osirises" much like modern Chia Pets that symbolized the symbolic renewal of life as well as some phallic imagry. Passion plays at his festivals also were the precursors to the later dramatic festivals associated with Dionysus' public cult in Greece.

Sprout Mold in the form of Osiris

Dionysus's Mystery Cult finally included trance-like ritual that functioned much like a modern-day rave. Initiates would drink wine to facilitate spirit possession, play instruments with rhythmic beats that stimulated brain waves along with dancing that would combine to transport the initiates into a spiritual state. This type of ritual can also been found in other religions such as African Voodoo. The ultimate message was not just drunken revelry, but metaphors for the cycle of life-death-rebirth of both the body and the spirit.

EUOI!

Ankh Wedja Seneb
(Life Prosperity Health)

Leif Lauderdale