The Two Great Gods of the Earth The

The Two Great Gods of the Earth

The Two Gods Demeter, Goddess of Harvest • Dionysus, God of Wine

Story of Demeter o o o o o Had a daughter by the name of Persephone, which was taken by Hades. One day Persephone (spring) was picking flowers and Hades drew her away with a wondrous flower. He took her to the underworld. Demeter looked everywhere for her daughter but couldn’t find her until the Sun God told her where she was. Demeter was in such grief, she created winter. This created a famine. Zeus had to do something about it so men wouldn’t starve. Demeter could see Persephone Hades would have her for 4 months. Thus seasons began

Demeter was viewed as a tragic God She represented Man’s benefactor Demeter even tried to give a boy immortal youth Persephone always dies, every fall, and always returns in spring

Dionysus Wine God Man’s destroyer and benefactor Had female followers, lived in the wild Dionysus’ festival was five days of plays

Story of Dionysus • He was born in Thebes. His father is Zeus, and his mother is a princess named Semele. • Semele dies by Zeus’ god-form, but he saved the baby. • Dionysus was taken care of by the nymphs, and traveled a lot. • He was walking one day and was captured by pirates. (ransom) • A helmsman warned the other pirates but they did not listen. • So Dionysus drove them mad. • Eventually he went to the underworld looking for his mother. • Dionysus drove them mad too. Later Dionysus went to Thebes. • Pentheus, the king of Thebes and Dionysus’ cousin demanded he be thrown in jail because he caused three women there to fall under his power. • Dionysus drove Pentheus’ mother and sister mad and they tore Pentheus limb from limb. • He also was the first idea of immortality

Lessons • There is always a period of sorrow within somebody's life. Even a god who created joy for mankind had to lose her daughter, the Princess of Spring, which supposedly brings life to her. • Since Dionysus was the God of Wine, he made people react in multiple ways…ex. For the Maenads, when they drank wine went crazy and feasted in terrible ways. Wine was a good or bad thing depending on the person. .

Allusions l l Demeter has a fragrance known as Tomato…it’s to describe that she was a goddess and would be beautiful and smell good. It is named as Tomato most likely due to the fact that she is the goddess of harvest. Dionysus happens to have a winery named, of course Dionysus Winery. That would describe how the God of Wine has to relate to it.

Questions 1. Is Demeter just as deadly as the other Gods considering the famine she struck on humankind? Explain… 2. In what ways can wine affect a human? Explain what makes Dionysus a greater power than the other Gods. . 3. Explain each God’s morals and how they react to a human that may interfere in a negative way on their life. How does this make the God appear in another's eyes?

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