SYRACUSE Sicily Agathocles Underworld queen KORE BULL Ancient Greek Coin i25811

In
Greek mythology
, Persephone also called
Kore (the maiden)is the daughter of

Zeus and the harvest-goddess
Demeter
, and queen of the
underworld
.
Homer
describes her as the formidable,
venerable majestic queen of the shades, who carries into effect the curses of
men upon the souls of the dead. Kore was abducted by
Hades
, the god-king of the underworld

^[2]
The myth of her abduction represents
her function as the
personification
of
vegetation
which shoots forth in
spring
and withdraws into the earth after
harvest; hence she is also associated with spring and with the seeds of the
fruits of the fields. Similar myths appear in the
Orient
, in the cults of male gods like
Attis
,
Adonis
and
Osiris
,^[3]
and in
Minoan

Crete
.

Persephone
as a
vegetation goddess
(Kore) and her mother
Demeter
were the central figures of the
Eleusinian mysteries
that predated the
Olympian pantheon
, and promised to the
initiated a more enjoyable prospect after death. The mystic Persephone is
further said to have become by

Zeus the mother of
Dionysos
,
Iacchus
, or
Zagreus
. The origins of her cult are uncertain,
but it was based on very old agrarian cults of agricultural communities.

Persephone was commonly worshipped along with Demeter, and with the same
mysteries. To her alone were dedicated the mysteries celebrated at Athens in the
month of
Anthesterion
. In
Classical Greek art
, Persephone is invariably
portrayed robed; often carrying a
sheaf
of grain. She may appear as a mystical
divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the
act of being carried off by
Hades
.

In
Roman mythology
, she is called
Proserpina
.

Her name

Etymology

In a Linear B
(Mycenean
Greek) inscription on a tablet found at
Pylos
dated 1400-1200 BC,
John Chadwick
reconstructs the name of a
goddess *Preswa who could be identified with
Persa
, daughter of
Oceanus
and finds speculative the further
identification with the first element of Persephone.^[4]
Persephonē (Greek:
Περσεφόνη) is her name in the
Ionic Greek
of
epic
literature. The Homeric form of her name
is Persephoneia (Περσεφονεία,^[5]
Persephonēia). In other dialects she was known under variant names:
Persephassa (Περσεφάσσα),
Persephatta (Περσεφάττα), or simply
Korē (Κόρη, “girl, maiden”).^[6]
Plato
calls her Pherepapha (Φερέπαφα)
in his
Cratylus
, “because she is wise and
touches that which is in motion”. There also the forms Perifona (Πηριφόνα)
and Phersephassa (Φερσέφασσα). The
existence of so many different forms shows how difficult it was for the Greeks
to pronounce the word in their own language and suggests that the name has
probably a pre-Greek origin.^[7]

An alternative etymology is from φέρειν φόνον,
pherein phonon, “to bring (or cause) death”.^[8]

Another mythical personage of the name of Persephione is called a
daughter of
Minyas
and the mother of
Chloris
, a
nymph
of spring, flower and new growth.^[8]
The Minyans
were a group considered
autochthonous
, but some scholars assert that
they were the first wave of
Proto-Greek
speakers in the second milemnium
BC.^[9]

The Roman Proserpina

The Romans
first heard of her from the
Aeolian
and
Dorian
cities of
Magna Graecia
, who used the dialectal variant
Proserpinē (Προσερπινη). Hence, in
Roman mythology
she was called
Proserpina
, a name erroneously derived by the
Romans from “proserpere”, “to shoot forth”^[10]
and as such became an emblematic figure of the
Renaissance
.^{[citation
needed]}

At Locri
, perhaps uniquely, Persephone was the
protector of marriage, a role usually assumed by

Hera; in the iconography of
votive plaques
at Locri, her abduction and
marriage to Hades served as an emblem of the marital state, children at Locri
were dedicated to Proserpina, and maidens about to be wed brought their
peplos
to be blessed.^[11]

Nestis

In a Classical period text ascribed to
Empedocles
, c. 490–430 BC,^[12]
describing a correspondence among four deities and the
classical elements
, the name Nestis for
water apparently refers to Persephone: “Now hear the fourfold roots of
everything: enlivening Hera, Hades, shining Zeus. And Nestis, moistening mortal
springs with tears.”^[13]

Of the four deities of Empedocles’s elements, it is the name of Persephone
alone that is taboo
—Nestis is a euphemistic cult title^[14]—for
she was also the terrible Queen of the Dead, whose name was not safe to speak
aloud, who was
euphemistically
named simply as Kore or “the
Maiden”, a vestige of her archaic role as the deity ruling the underworld.

Titles and functions

The epithets of Persephone reveal her double function as
chthonic
and vegetation goddess. The surnames
given to her by the poets refer to her character as Queen of the lower world and
the dead, or her symbolic meaning of the power that shoots forth and withdraws
into the earth. Her common name as a vegetation goddess is

Kore and in
Arcadia
she was worshipped under the title
Despoina
“the mistress”, a very old chthonic
divinity. Plutarch
identifies her with spring and
Cicero
calls her the seed of the fruits of the
fields. In the
Eleusinian
mysteries her return is the symbol
of immortality and hence she was frequently represented on sarcophagi.^[8]

In the mystical theories of the
Orphics
and the
Platonists
, Kore is described as the
all-pervading goddess of nature
^[15]
who both produces and destroys
everything and she is therefore mentioned along or identified with other mystic
divinities such as Isis
,
Rhea
,
Ge
,
Hestia
,
Pandora
,
Artemis
, and
Hecate
.^[16]
The mystic Persephone is further said to have become by

Zeus the mother of
Dionysos
,
Iacchus
, or
Zagreus
.^[8]

Demeter and Persephone were often referred to as “the two goddesses” or “the
mistresses”.^[17]

Origins

The myth of the rape of the vegetation goddess is Pre-Greek. In the original
Near eastern
myth of the primitive agricultural
societies, every year the fertility goddess bore the “god of the new year”, who
then became her lover, and died immediately in order to be reborn and face the
same destiny. Similar myths appear in the
Orient
in the cults of
Attis
,
Adonis
and
Osiris
,^[18]
and in
Minoan

Crete
, where the myth is related with a female
vegetation goddess.^[19]

The cult of Persephone and
Demeter
in the
Eleusinian mysteries
and in the
Thesmophoria
was based on very old agrarian
cults. Ancient cults like age-old cults of the dead, worship of animal headed
gods, and rituals for the new crop, had their position in Greek religion because
they were connected with daily or seasonal tasks and concecrated by immemorial
practices. A lot of ancient beliefs was based on initiation in jealously guided
mysteries
(secret rites) because they oferred
prospects after death more enjoyable than the final end at the gloomy space of
the Greek Hades
. However it is doubtful if the idea of
immortality which appears in the syncretistic religions of
Near East
existed in the Eleusinian mysteries
at the very beginning.^[20][21]

It seems that the Eleusinian mysteries were established during the
Mycenean
period.^[22]
In the mysteries Demeter
and Kore were usually referred to as
“the two goddesses” or “the mistresses” in historical times.^[23]
The names Demeter
and Kore are Greek, and this
probably indicates that the Greeks adopted these divinities during their
wandering, and that they were later fused with local divinities in the ancient
cults.^[24]
In the
Mycenean Greek
tablets dated 1400-1200 BC, the
“two mistresses and the king” are mentioned.
John Chadwick
believes that these were the
precursor divinities of
Demeter
, Persephone and
Poseidon
.^[25]
The cult was originally private, and we have no information for it, but it seems
that it had similarities with the cult of
Despoina
, “the mistress” in isolated
Arcadia
.^[26]
Despoine
was one of her surnames just as the
surname of Persephone Kore.^[27]
Demeter
and Persephone, were the two Great
Goddesses, “the mistresses” of the
Arcadian

mysteries
. Despoina, whose name was not
allowed to be revealed to the not initiated, was daughter of Demeter, who was
united with the god of the storms and earthquakes
Poseidon Hippios
(horse).^[28]
The union of the fertility goddess with the beast in a
ritual copulation
is an old
Near Eastern
myth, which appears in many
primitive agricultural societies.^[19]
Processions of women with animal-masks in a ritual dance,^[29]
or processions of
daemons
in front of a goddess appear in the
temple of Despoina at
Lycosura
, and on
Mycenean
frescoes and goldrings.^[30][31]

Kerenyi
theorizes that the cult of Pesephone
was the continuation of the worship of a
Minoan
Great goddess, and he identifies her
with the nameless “mistress of the
labyrinth
“ who appears in a
Mycenean Greek
inscription from
Knossos
in
Crete
. He suggests that the Greeks gave to her
euphemistically
the name
Ariadne
( derived from αγνή, hagne,
“pure”).^[32][33]
The Greeks used to give to the deities of the underworld euphemistically
friendly names, and such were the common epithets of Persephone
despoina
, “mistress” and Hagne, “pure” .^[34][35]
However besides these similarities,
Burkert
notifies that up to now we don’t know
to what extent one can and must differentiate between
Minoan
and
Mycenean
religion

^[36]
It seems that the Minoan vegetation
goddess Ariadne
was absorbed by more powerful
divinities.^[37]
She survived in Greek folklore as the consort of
Dionysos
, with whom she was worshipped in some
local cults like the
Anthesteria
.

Greek mythology

Abduction myth

Persephone used to live far away from the other deities, a goddess within
Nature herself before the days of planting seeds and nurturing plants. In the
Olympian telling, the gods
Hermes
,

Ares, Apollo
, and
Hephaestus
had all wooed Persephone; but
Demeter rejected all their gifts and hid her daughter away from the company of
the Olympian deities.^[38]

The story of her abduction by
Pluto
against her will, is traditionally
referred to as the
Rape of Persephone
. It is first mentioned in
Hesiod
‘s
Theogony
.^[39]

Zeus, it is said, advised
Pluto
(Hades)
who was in love with the beautiful Persephone, to carry her off, as her mother
Demeter
, was not likely to allow her daughter
to go down to Hades. Persephone was gathering flowers with
Artemis
and
Athena
, the
Homeric hymn
says—or Leucippe, or
Oceanids
—in a field when
Hades
came to abduct her, bursting through a
cleft in the earth.
Demeter
, when she found her daughter had
disappeared, searched for her all over the earth with torches. In most versions
she forbids the earth to produce, or she neglects the earth and in the depth of
her despair she causes nothing to grow.
Helios
, the sun, who sees everything,
eventually told Demeter what had happened and at length she discovered the place
of her abode. Finally, Zeus, pressed by the cries of the hungry people and by
the other deities who also heard their anguish, forced
Hades
to return Persephone.^[40]

Hades
indeed complied with the request, but
first he tricked her giving her a kernel of a
pomegranate
to eat. She ate four seeds, which
correspond to the dry summer months in
Greece
. It was a rule of the
Fates
that whoever consumed food or drink in
the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Persephone was released by
Hermes
, who had been sent to retrieve her, but
she was obliged to spend four months of a year in the underworld, and the
remaining two thirds with the gods above.^[40]

The various local traditions each place Persephone’s abduction in a different
locatiom. The Sicilians
, among whom her worship was probably
introduced by the Corinthian and Megarian colonists, believed that Hades found
her in the meadows near Enna
, and that a well arose on the spot where
he descended with her into the lower world. The
Cretans
thought that their own island had been
the scene of the rape, and the
Eleusinians
mentioned the Nysaean plain in
Boeotia, and said that Persephone had descended with Hades into the lower world
at the entrance of the western
Oceanus
. Later accounts place the rape in
Attica
, near
Athens
, or near
Eleusis
.^[8][40]

In some versions,
Ascalaphus
informed the other deities that
Persephone had eaten the pomegranate seeds. When Demeter and her daughter were
reunited, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for some months
each year, when Persephone returned to the underworld, the earth once again
became a barren realm. This is an
origin story
to explain the seasons.

In an earlier version,
Hecate
rescued Persephone. On an Attic
red-figured

bell krater
of ca 440 BC in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
, Persephone is
rising as if up stairs from a cleft in the earth, while Hermes stands aside;
Hecate, holding two torches, looks back as she leads her to the enthroned
Demeter.^[41]

The tenth-century
Byzantine
encyclopedia

Suda introduces a goddess of a blessed
afterlife
assured to
Orphic mystery
initiates. This
Macaria
is asserted to be the daughter of
Hades, but no mother is mentioned.^[42]

 Pluto-Interpretetion
of the myth

In the myth
Pluto
abducts Persephone to be his wife and the
queen of his realm.^[43]
Pluto
( Πλούτων, Ploutōn) was a name for
the ruler of
the underworld
; the god was also known as
Hades
, a name for the underworld itself. The
name Pluton was conflated with that of
Ploutos
( Πλούτος Ploutos, “wealth”), a
god of wealth, because mineral wealth was found underground, and because
Pluto
as a
chthonic
god ruled the deep earth that
contained the seeds necessary for a bountiful harvest.^[43]
Plouton is lord of the dead, but as Persephone’s husband he has serious
claims to the powers of fertility.^[44]

In the Theogony
of
Hesiod

Demeter
was united with the hero
Iasion
in
Crete
and she bore
Ploutos
, who can make everyone rich.^[39]
This union seems to be a reference to a
hieros gamos
(ritual copulation) to ensure the
earth’s fertility.^[44]
This ritual copulation appears in
Minoan

Crete
, in many
Near Eastern
agricultural societies, and also
in the Anthesteria

^[45]

Nilsson
believes that the original cult of
Ploutos
( or
Pluto
) in
Eleusis
was similar with the
Minoan
cult of the “divine child”, who died in
order to be reborn. The child was abandoned by his mother and then it was
brought up by the powers of nature. Similar myths appear in the cults of
Hyakinthos
(Amyklai),
Erichthonios
(Athens),
and later in the cult of
Dionysos
.^[46]

The Greek version of the abduction myth, is related with the corn which was
the most important and rare in the Greek environment, and the return (ascent) of
Persephone was celebrated at the autumn sowing.
Pluto
(Ploutos)
represents the wealth of the corn that was stored in underground silos or
ceramic jars (pithoi), during summer months. Similar subterranean
pithoi were used in ancient times for burials and
Pluto
is fused with
Hades
, the King of the realm of the dead.
During summer months, the Greek Corn-Maiden (Kore)
is lying in the corn of the underground silos, in the realm of Hades and she is
fused with Persephone, the Queen of the underworld. At the beginning of the
autumn, when the seeds of the old crop are laid on the fields, she ascends and
is reunited with her mother
Demeter
, for at that time the old crop and the
new meet each other. For the initiated this union was the symbol of the eternity
of human life that flows from the generations which spring from each other.^[47][48]

Elysion

Hesiod refers to the island of the “happy dead”

^[49]
and it is the
Elysion
, where according to an old
Minoan
belief, the departed could have a
different, but happier existence.^[50]
Elysion is probably counterpart with
Eleusis
, the city of the Eleusinian mysteries,
and it may have been oferred like a reward to the initiated. The Greeks believed
that only the beloved of the gods could exist there.^[51]
Pindar
in some fragments speeks for the
immortality of the souls, which may spent in Elysion a happy eternity.^[52]
In Odyssey
Homer carries the old belief to the
ideal island for mortals
Scheria
, the imaginary perfect world that was
offered to the future emigrants. This island, which the tradition relates with
Elysion
, became the lost dream of the Greek
world.^[53]

The Arcadian myths

The primitive myths of isolated
Arcadia
seem to be related with the first
Greek-speaking people who came from the north-east during the
bronze age
.
Despoina
, (the mistress) the goddess of the
Arcadian mysteries, is the daughter of Demeter and
Poseidon
Hippios (horse), who represents
the river spirit of the underworld that appears as a horse as often happens in
northern-European folklore. He pursues the mare-Demeter and from the union she
bears the horse Arion
and a daughter who originally had the
form or the shape of a mare. The two goddesses were not clearly separated and
they were closely connected with the springs and the animals. They were related
with the god of rivers and springs; Poseidon and especially with
Artemis
, the
Mistress of the Animals
who was the first
nymph
.^[2]
According to the Greek tradition a hunt-goddess preceded the harvest goddess.^[54]
In Arcadia Demeter
and Persephone were often called
Despoinai (Δέσποιναι, “the mistresses”) in historical times. They are the
two Great Goddesses of the
Arcadian
cults, and evidently they come from a
more primitive religion.^[23]
The Greek god Poseidon
probably substituted the companion (Paredros,
Πάρεδρος) of the
Minoan

Great goddess
.^[55]
in the Arcadian mysteries.

Queen of the
Underworld

Persephone held an ancient role as the dread queen of the Underworld, within
which tradition it was forbidden to speak her name. This tradition comes from
her conflation with the very old
chthonic
divinity
Despoina
(the mistress), whose real name could
not be revealed to anyone except those initiated to her mysteries.^[28]
As goddess of death she was also called a daughter of

Zeus and Styx
,^[56]
the river that formed the boundary between
Earth
and the underworld.
Homer
describes her as the formidable,
venerable majestic queen of the shades, who carries into effect the curses of
men upon the souls of the dead, along with her husband Hades.^[57]
In the reformulation of Greek mythology expressed in the
Orphic Hymns
, Dionysus and Melinoe are
separately called children of Zeus and Persephone.^[58]
Groves sacred to her stood at the western extremity of the earth on the
frontiers of the lower world, which itself was called “house of Persephone”.^[59]

Her central myth served as the context for the secret rites of regeneration
at
Eleusis
,^[60]
which promised immortality to initiates.

Cult of Persephone

Persephone was worshipped along with her mother
Demeter
and in the same mysteries. Her cults
included
agrarian
magic, dancing, and rituals. The
priests used special vessels and holy symbols, and the people participated with
rhymes. In
Eleusis
there is evidence of sacred laws and
other inscriptios
^[61]

Cult of Demeter and the Maiden is found at
Attica
, in the main festivals
Thesmophoria
and
Eleusinian mysteries
and in a lot of local
cults. These festivals were almost always celebrated at the autunn showing, and
at full-moon according to the Greek tradition. In some local cults the fests
were dedicated to Demeter.

 Thesmophoria

Thesmophoria
, were celebrated in
Athens
, and the festival was widely spread in
Greece. This was a festival of secret women-only rituals connected with marriage
customs and commemorated the third of the year when Kore was abducted and
Demeter abstained from her role as goddess of harvest and growth. The ceremony
involved sinking sacrifices into the earth by night and retrieving the decaying
remains of pigs that had been placed in the megara of Demeter, ( trenches
and pits or natural clefts in rock) , the previous year.

^[62]
This
agrarian
magic was also used in the cult of the
earth-goddesses “potniai” ( mistresses) in the
Cabeirian
, and in
Knidos
.
^[63]
. The festival was celebrated in
three days. The first was the “way up” to the sacred space, the second the day
of festing when they ate
pomegranate
seeds and the third was a meat fest
in celebration of “Kalligeneia” a goddess of beautiful birth.

Zeus
^[62]
which is an
euphemistical
name of
Hades
(Chthonios

Zeus).^[64].

Eleusinian mysteries

The
Eleusinian mysteries
was a festival celebrated
at the autumn sowing in the city
Eleusis
. Inscriptions are referring to “the two
Goddesses” accompanied by the agricultural god
Triptolemus
probably son of
Ge
and
Oceanus

^[65]
and “the God and the Goddess”
(Persephone and Ploutos) accompanied by
Eubuleus
who probably led the way back from the
underworld.
^[66]
The myth was represented in a cycle
with three phases: the “descent”, the “search”, and the “ascent”, with
contrasted emotions from sorrow to joy which roused the mystae to exultation.
The main theme was the ascent of Persephone and the reunion with her mother
Demeter.
^[47]
The festival activities included
dancing, probably across the Rharian field, where according to the myth the
first corn grew. At the beggining of the fest the priests filled two special
vessels and poured out, the one towards the west, the other towards the east.
The people looking both to the sky and the earth shouted in a magical rhyme
“rain and conceive”. In a ritual a child initiated from the herth ( the divine
fire). It was the ritual of the “divine child” who originally was
Ploutos
. In the Homeric hymn the ritual is
connected with the myth of the agricultural god
Triptolemos

^[67]
The high point of the celebration
was “an ear of corn cut in silence”, which represented the force of the new
life. The idea of immortality didn’t exist in the mysteries at the beginning,
but the initiated believed that they would have a better fate in the underworld.
Death remained a reality, but at the same time a new beggining like the plant
which grows from the burried seed.

^[61]
In the earliest depictions
Persephone is an armless and legless deity, who grows out of the ground.

^[68]

Local cults

Local cults of Demeter an Kore existed in Greece,
Asia Minor
,
Sicily
and
Magna Graecia
:

• Attica:
  • Piraeus
    : The Skirophoria, a
    festival related with the Thesmophoria
    
    ^[69]
    
• Boeotia:
  • Thebes
    , which Zeus is said to have been
    given to her as an acknowledgement for a favour she had bestown to him.
    
    ^[70]
    
    Pausanias
    records a grove of Cabeirian
    Demeter and the Maid, three miles outside the gates of Thebes, where a
    ritual was performed, so called on the grounds that Demeter gave it to
    the Cabeiri
    , who established it at Thebes.
    The Thebans told Pausanias that some inhabitants of
    Naupactus
    had performed the same
    rituals there, and had met with divine vengeance.^[71]
  • Thebes
    : Cult of Demeter and Kore in a
    fest named
    Thesmophoria
    but probably different. It
    was celebrated in the summer month Bukatios
    
    ^[69]
    .
    
    ^[72]
    
• Peloponnese (except Arcadia)
  
  ^[69]
  
  • Hermione  : An old cult of Demeter
    Chthonia
    , Kore, and Klymenos (Hades).
    It is possible that Hermione was a mythical name, the place of the
    souls.
    ^[64]
    
  • Asine
    : Cult of Demeter
    Chthonia
    . The cult seems to be related
    with the original cult of Demeter in Hermione.
    
    ^[64]
    
  • Sparta
    : Temple of Demeter Eleusinia.
    The name was given before the relation of Demeter with the cult of
    Eleusis
    .
  • Corinth
    : Cult of Demeter, Kore and
    Pluton.
    ^[64]
    
  • Triphylia
    in
    Elis
    : Cult of Demeter, Kore and Hades.
    
    ^[64]
    
  • Lakonia
    at Aigila: Dedicated to
    Demeter. Men were excluded.
  • Pellene
    : Dedicated to the Mysian
    Demeter. Men were excluded.
  • Megara
     :Temple consecrated to Demeter
    or to the Maid .^[8]
• Arcadia
  ^[73]
  
  • Pheneos
     : Mysteries of Demeter
    Thesmia and Demeter Eleusinia. The Eleusinian cult was
    introduced later. The priest used the mask of Demeter Kidaria,and
    a kind of agrarian magic.
  • Karyai
    : Cult of Kore and Pluton.
    
    ^[64]
    
  • Tegea
    : Cult of Demeter and Kore, the
    Karpophoroi, “Fruit givers”.
  • Megalopolis
    : Cult of the Great
    goddesses, Demeter and Kore Sotira, (probably Trapezus) “the
    savior “.
  • Mantinea
    : Cult of Demeter and Kore in
    the fest Koragia.^[74]
  • Trapezus
    : Mysteries of the Great
    goddesses, Demeter and Kore.
  • Andania
     : Cult of the Great goddesses,
    Demeter and Hagne. Hagne , a goddess of the spring, was the
    original deity before Demeter.
  • near
    Thelpusa
    in Onkeion: Temple of Demeter
    Erinys (vengeful) and Demeter Lusia (bathing). She bears the horse
    Arion
    and the unnamed. The name
    Despoina
    was given in West Arcadia.
  • Phigalia
    : Cult of the mare-headed
    Demeter ( black), and
    Despoina
    . Demeter was depicted in her
    archaic form , a Medusa type with a horse’s head with snaky hair,
    holding a dove and a dolphin.
    ^[75]
    
  • Lycosura
    ,
    Main article:
    Despoina

    Cult of Demeter and
    Despoina
    . In the portico of the temple
    of Despoina there was a tablet with the inscriptions of the mysteries.
    In front of the temple there was an altar to Demeter and another to
    Despoine, after which was one of the Great Mother. By the sides stood
    Artemis
    and Anytos, the Titan who
    brought up Despoine. Besides the temple there was the hall where the
    Arcadians celebrated the mysteries .
    
    ^{[76]
    [77]}

• Islands
  • Paros
    : Cult of Demeter, Kore and Zeus-Eubuleus.
    
    ^[64]
    
  • Amorgos
    : Cult of Demeter, Kore and
    Zeus-Eubuleus.
    ^[64]
    
  • Delos
    : Cult of Demeter, Kore, and Zeus-Eubuleus.
    Probably a different fest with the name
    Thesmophoria
    , celebrated in a summer
    month ( the same month in Thebes)
    
    <sup>[69]
    
    
    [72]</sup>
    
• Asia Minor
  • Knidos
    : Cult of Demeter, Kore and
    Pluton.
    ^[64]
    Agrarian magic similar with
    the one used in
    Thesmophoria
    and in the cult of the
    “potniai” (
    Cabeirian
    ).^[69]
  • Ephesos

    
    ^[78]
    

• Sicily
  • Syracuse
    : There was a harvest festival
    of Demeter and Persephone at Syracuse when the grain was ripe (about
    May).
    ^[79]
    
• Magna Graecia
  • Epizephyrian Locri
    : A temple associated
    with childbirth; its treasure was looted by
    Pyrrhus
    .^[80]
  • Archaeological finds suggest that worship of Demeter and Persephone
    was widespread in Sicily and Greek Italy.

Agathocles (361-289

BC), (Greek name

Ἀγαθοκλῆς (Agathokles): derived from αγαθός (agathos)

good and κλέος (kleos) glory), was

tyrant
of

Syracuse

(317-289 BC) and king of

Sicily
(304-289

BC).

//

 Biography

Agathocles was born at Thermae

Himeraeae

(modern name

Termini Imerese

) in Sicily. The son of a

potter
who

had moved to Syracuse in about 343 BC, he learned his father’s trade, but

afterwards entered the army. In

333 BC
he

married the widow

of his patron Damas, a distinguished and wealthy citizen. He was twice

banished
for

attempting to overthrow the

oligarchical

party in Syracuse.

In 317 BC
he

returned with an army of

mercenaries

under a solemn oath to observe the

democratic

constitution

which was then set up. Having banished or murdered some 10,000

citizens, and thus made himself master of Syracuse, he created a strong army and

fleet and subdued the greater part of Sicily.

War with Carthage

followed. In 311 BC Agathocles was

besieged
and

defeated in Syracuse in

the battle of Himera

. After defeat in 310 BC he took the desperate resolve

of breaking through the

blockade

and attacking the enemy in

Africa
. In

Africa he concluded the treaty with

Ophellas
,

ruler of Cyrenaica

. After several victories he was at last completely defeated (307

BC) and fled secretly to Sicily.

After concluding peace with Carthage in

306 BC
,

Agathocles styled himself king of Sicily in

304 BC
, and

established his rule over the

Greek
cities of

the island more firmly than ever. A peace treaty with Carthage left him in

control of Sicily east of the

Halycus River

. Even in his old age he displayed the same restless energy,

and is said to have been contemplating a fresh attack on Carthage at the time of

his death.

His last years were plagued by ill-health and the turbulence of his grandson

Archagathus

, at whose instigation he is said to have been

poisoned
(by

his

eromenos

, Menon of Ægista, who poisoned the tooth-cleaning quill);^[1]

according to others, he died a natural death. He was a born leader of

mercenaries, and, although he did not shrink from cruelty to gain his ends, he

afterwards showed himself a mild and popular “tyrant.” Agathocles restored the

Syracusan democracy on his death bed and did not want his sons to succeed him as

king.

The historian Justin says that Agathocles was born in poverty but very early

in life parlayed his remarkable beauty into a career as a prostitute, first for

men, and later, after puberty, for women, then made a living by robbery before

becoming a soldier.

Agathocles married

Theoxena

, stepdaughter of

Ptolemy I of Egypt

. His daughter

Lanassa

married King

Pyrrhus of Epirus
.

 Legacy

Agathocles was cited as from the lowest, most abject condition of life and as

an example of “those who by their crimes come to be princes” in Chapter VIII of

Niccolò Machiavelli

’s treatise on politics,

The Prince

(1513). He was described as behaving as a criminal at every stage of his career.

However, he came to “glory” as much as he did brutality by repelling invading

Carthaginians and winning the loyalty of the denizens of his land. However, many

later disapproved of his actions, including to an extent Machiavelli, who

claimed “It cannot be called prowess to kill fellow-citizens, to betray friends,

to be treacherous, pitiless, irreligious.”^[2].

Machiavelli, though, merely means that Agathocle’s actions do not exemplify

prowess, as he does with many other examples in Chapter XV. He actually admired

Agothocles for his brutality, but criticized him for being so cruel in public

and thus losing the people’s trust.

Syracuse pronounced,

Sicilian

: Sarausa,

Ancient Greek

: Συράκουσαι –

transliterated: Syrakousai) is a historic

city in

southern Italy

, the

capital

of the

province of Syracuse

. The city is famous for its rich Greek history,

culture
,

amphitheatres

,

architecture

and association to

Archimedes
,

playing an important role in ancient times as one of the top powers of the

Mediterranean

world; it is over 2,700 years old. Syracuse is located in the

south-east corner of the island of

Sicily
, right

by the Gulf of Syracuse next to the

Ionian Sea
.

The city was founded by

Ancient Greek

Corinthians

and became a very powerful

city-state
.

Syracuse was allied with

Sparta
and

Corinth
,

exerting influence over the entire

Magna Grecia

area of which it was the most important city. Once

described by Cicero

as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all”, it later became

part of the

Roman Republic

and

Byzantine Empire

. After this

Palermo

overtook it in importance, as the capital of the

Kingdom of Sicily

. Eventually the kingdom would be united with the

Kingdom of Naples

to form the

Two Sicilies

until the

Italian unification

of 1860.

In the modern day, the city is listed by

UNESCO
as a

World Heritage Site

along with the

Necropolis of Pantalica

. In the central area, the city itself has a

population of around 125,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Siracusans,

and the local language spoken by its inhabitants is the

Sicilian language

. Syracuse is mentioned in the

Bible
in the

Acts of the Apostles

book at 28:12 as

Paul

stayed there.^[2]

The patron saint

of the city is

Saint Lucy
;

she was born in Syracuse and her feast day,

Saint Lucy’s Day

, is celebrated on 13 December.

Greek period

Syracuse and its surrounding area have been inhabited since ancient times, as

shown by the findings in the villages of Stentinello, Ognina, Plemmirio,

Matrensa, Cozzo Pantano and Thapsos, which already had a relationship

with

Mycenaean Greece

.

Syracuse was founded in 734 or 733 BC by Greek settlers from

Corinth

and Tenea
,

led by the oecist (colonizer)

Archias

, who called it Sirako, referring to a nearby salt marsh. The

nucleus of the ancient city was the small island of Ortygia. The settlers

found the land fertile and the native tribes to be reasonably well-disposed to

their presence. The city grew and prospered, and for some time stood as the most

powerful Greek city anywhere in the

Mediterranean

. Colonies were founded at

Akrai

(664 BC),

Kasmenai

(643 BC),

Akrillai

(VII century BC), Helorus

(VII century BC) and

Kamarina

(598 BC). The descendants of the first colonist, called Gamoroi, held the

power until they were expelled by the Killichiroi, the lower class of the

city. The former, however, returned to power in 485 BC, thanks to the help of

Gelo, ruler of

Gela. Gelo himself

became the despot of the city, and moved many inhabitants of Gela, Kamarina and

Megera to Syracuse, building the new quarters of

Tyche
and

Neapolis

outside the walls. His program of new constructions included a new

theater, designed by

Damocopos

, which gave the city a flourishing cultural life: this in turn

attracted personalities as

Aeschylus
,

Ario of

Metimma

, Eumelos of

Corinth
and

Sappho
, who had

been exiled here from

Mytilene
.

The enlarged power of Syracuse made unavoidable the clash against the

Carthaginians

, who ruled western Sicily. In the

Battle of Himera

, Gelo, who had allied with Theron of

Agrigento
,

decisively defeated the African force led by

Hamilcar
. A

temple
,

entitled to Athena

(on the site of the today’s Cathedral), was erected in the city to commemorate

the event

Gelon was succedeed by his brother

Hiero

, who

fought

against the

Etruscans

at Cumae

in 474 BC. His rule was eulogized by poets like

Simonides of Ceos

,

Bacchylides

and Pindar

, who visited his court. A democratic regime was introduced by

Thrasybulos

(467 BC). The city continued to expand in

Sicily
,

fighting against the rebellious

Siculi

, and on the

Tyrrhenian Sea

, making expeditions up to

Corsica
and

Elba. In the late

5th century BC, Syracuse found itself at war with

Athens
, which

sought more resources to fight the

Peloponnesian War

. The Syracusans enlisted the aid of a general from

Sparta
, Athens’

foe in the war, to defeat the Athenians, destroy their ships, and leave them to

starve on the island (see

Sicilian Expedition

). In 401 BC, Syracuse contributed a force of 3,000

hoplites

and a general to

Cyrus the Younger

‘s

Army of the Ten Thousand

.

Then in the early 4th century BC, the

tyrant

Dionysius the Elder

was again at war against

Carthage

and, although losing Gela and Camarina, kept that power from capturing the whole

of Sicily. After the end of the conflict Dionysius built a massive fortress on

the Ortygia

island of the city and 22 km-long walls around all of Syracuse. Another period

of expansion saw the destruction of

Naxos

, Catania

and Lentini

, then Syracuse entered again in war against Carthage (397 BC). After

various changes of fortune, the Carthaginians managed to besiege Syracuse

itself, but were eventually pushed back by a pestilence. A treaty in 392 BC

allowed Syracuse to enlarge further its possessions, founding the cities of

Adrano, Ancona
,

Adria
, Tindari

and Tauromenos, and conquering

Reggio Calabria

on the continent. Apart from his battle deeds, Dionysius was

famous as a patron of art, and

Plato
himself

visited Syracuse several times.

His successor was

Dionysius the Younger

, who was however expelled by

Dion

in 356 BC. But the latter’s despotic rule led in turn to his expulsion,

and Dionysius reclaimed his throne in 347 BC. A democratic government was

installed by Timoleon

in 345 BC. The long series of internal struggles had weakened

Syracuse’s power on the island, and Timoleon tried to remedy this, defeating the

Carthaginians in 339 BC near the

Krimisos

river. But the struggle among the city’s parties restarted after

his death and ended with the rise of another tyrant,

Agathocles
,

who seized power with a coup in 317 BC. He resumed the war against Carthage,

with alternate fortunes. He however scored a moral success, bringing the war to

the Carthaginians’ native African soil, inflicting heavy losses to the enemy.

The war ended with another treaty of peace which did not prevent the

Carthaginians interfering in the politics of Syracuse after the death of

Agathocles (289 BC). The citizens called

Pyrrhus of Epirus

for help. After a brief period under the rule of Epirus,

Hiero II

seized power in 275 BC.

Hiero inaugurated a period of 50 years of peace and prosperity, in which

Syracause became one of the most renowned capitals of Antiquity. He issued the

so-called Lex Hieronica, which was later adopted by the Romans for their

administration of Sicily; he also had the theater enlarged and a new immense

altar
, the “Hiero’s

Ara”, built. Under his rule lived the most famous Syracusan, the

natural philosopher

Archimedes
.

Among his many inventions were various military engines including the

claw of Archimedes

, later used to resist the

Roman

siege of 214 BC–212 BC. Literary figures included

Theocritus

and others.

Hiero’s successor, the young

Hieronymus

(ruled from 215 BC), broke the alliance with the Romans after

their defeat at the

Battle of Cannae

and accepted

Carthage
‘s

support. The Romans, led by consul

Marcus Claudius Marcellus

,

besieged the city

in 214 BC. The city held out for three years, but fell in

212 BC. It is believed to have fallen due to a peace party opening a small door

in the wall to negotiate a peace, but the Romans charged through the door and

took the city, killing Archimedes in the process.

 From

Roman domination to the Middle Ages

Though declining slowly by the years, Syracuse maintained the status of

capital of the Roman government of Sicily and seat of the

praetor
. It

remained an important port for the trades between the Eastern and the Western

parts of the Empire.

Christianity

spread in the city through the efforts of

Paul of Tarsus

and Saint Marziano, the first bishop of the city, who made it

one of the main centres of

proselytism

in the West. In the age of the persecutions massive

catacombs

were carved, whose size is second only to those of Rome.

After a period of

Vandal

rule, Syracuse and the island was recovered by

Belisarius

for the

Byzantine Empire

(31 December 535). From 663 to 668 Syracuse was the seat of

Emperor Constans II

, as well as metropolis of the whole Sicilian Church.

Another siege in 878, resulted in the city coming under two centuries of

Muslim
rule. The

capital was moved from Syracuse to

Palermo
. The

Cathedral was converted into a

mosque
and the

quarter on the Ortygia island was gradually rebuilt along Islamic styles. The

city, nevertheless, maintained important trade relationships, and housed a

relatively flourishing cultural and artistic life: several Arab poets, including

Ibn Hamdis
,

the most important Sicilian poet of the 12th century, flourished in the city.

In 1038, the Byzantine general

George Maniaces

reconquered the city, sending the relics of St. Lucy to

Constantinople

. The eponymous castle on the cape of Ortygia bears his name,

although it was built under the

Hohenstaufen

rule. In 1085 the

Normans

entered Syracuse, one of the last

Arab

strongholds, after a summer-long siege by

Roger I of Sicily

and his son

Jordan of Hauteville

, who was given the city as count. New quarters were

built, and the cathedral was restored, as well as other churches.

In 1194

Henry VI

of Swabia

occupied Syracuse. After a short period of

Genoese

rule (1205–1220), which favoured a rise of trades, Syracuse was

conquered back by emperor

Frederick II

. He began the construction of the

Castello Maniace

, the Bishops’ Palace and the Bellomo Palace. Frederick’s

death brought a period of unrest and feudal anarchy. In the struggle between the

Anjou
and

Aragonese

monarchies, Syracuse sided with the Aragonese and defeated the

Anjou in 1298, receiving from the Spanish sovereigns great privileges in reward.

The pre-eminence of baronal families is also shown by the construction of the

palaces of Abela
,

Chiaramonte

, Nava
,

Montalto
.