The woman’s role in their community is not as powerfully depicted as the man’s. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the abduction of Persephone without Demeter’s consent is similar to practices of arranged marriages. However, in contrast to the perceived norms, Demeter challenges Zeus and demands to wreck havoc on the gods if Persephone is not returned. The unfortunate series of events for Persephone unfolds when she is the most vulnerable. Her mother has no ideas regarding who or what kidnapped her daughter. Only when Hecate transmitted the message did Demeter realize what has happened, “But Zeus was sitting far away from the gods in a temple where many suppliants came, where he received many beautiful offerings from mortal men. And so though
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Zeus tries to reason with Demeter by offering her many gifts and honors but it all failed to please her, because she only wanted one thing, her daughter returned. To make her point clear, Demeter started to wreck havoc for mortals, “… she would have wiped out the whole race of talking men with painful famine, and deprived those who live on Olympos of the glorious honor of offerings and sacrifices, if Zeus hadn’t noticed it, and thought about it in his heart” (142-143). Ultimately, Demeter knew that the gods don’t care for the mortal’s well being, they care about the honor and prestige that came with their status. If all the mortals died, there would be no one to distinguish who is the ultimate ruler. Finally, Zeus commands Hermes to send a message to the underworld king and tells Hades to return Persephone back to the world of the living. Unfortunately, through Hades’s trickery, Demeter only got a portion of her desired wants, “[Zeus] consents that your daughter would spend a third part of the year’s cycle in the mist darkness and the two other parts with you and the other gods. He consented with a nod of the head” (159-160). Although, Demeter’s desires were not completely fulfilled, her prowess as the goddess of fertility demonstrated that she is not to be tampered with. She defies the charter myth of arranged marriages and weakens the fact that women were unable to participate in such a destiny-deciding
Zeus tries to reason with Demeter by offering her many gifts and honors but it all failed to please her, because she only wanted one thing, her daughter returned. To make her point clear, Demeter started to wreck havoc for mortals, “… she would have wiped out the whole race of talking men with painful famine, and deprived those who live on Olympos of the glorious honor of offerings and sacrifices, if Zeus hadn’t noticed it, and thought about it in his heart” (142-143). Ultimately, Demeter knew that the gods don’t care for the mortal’s well being, they care about the honor and prestige that came with their status. If all the mortals died, there would be no one to distinguish who is the ultimate ruler. Finally, Zeus commands Hermes to send a message to the underworld king and tells Hades to return Persephone back to the world of the living. Unfortunately, through Hades’s trickery, Demeter only got a portion of her desired wants, “[Zeus] consents that your daughter would spend a third part of the year’s cycle in the mist darkness and the two other parts with you and the other gods. He consented with a nod of the head” (159-160). Although, Demeter’s desires were not completely fulfilled, her prowess as the goddess of fertility demonstrated that she is not to be tampered with. She defies the charter myth of arranged marriages and weakens the fact that women were unable to participate in such a destiny-deciding