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The Orphic Hymns
the Orphic tradition · Hymn 41, lines 3–5 · She ended her fast at Eleusis
41.3
The Orphic Hymns 41.3 · She ended her fast at Eleusis
Demeter's search for her daughter in brief: the fast she kept, its end at Eleusis, and her journey down to the dead.
· · ·
ἥ1
hḗ
you who
ποτε2
pote
once
, μαστεύουσα3
masteúousa
searching
ἐν4
en
in
πολυπλάγκτῳ5
polyplánktōi
wandering
ἀνίῃ6
aníēi
grief
, κατέπαυσας7
katépausas
ended
νηστείην8
nēsteíēn
your fast
γυάλοισιν9
gyáloisin
in the vales
Ἐλευσῖνος10
Eleusînos
of Eleusis
, τʼ11
t’
and
ἦλθές12
êlthés
went
εἰς13
eis
into
Ἀίδην14
Aídēn
Hades
πρὸς15
pròs
to
ἀγαυὴν16
agauḕn
noble
Φερσεφόνειαν17
Phersephóneian
Persephone
, you who once, searching in wandering grief, ended your fast in the vales of Eleusis, and went into Hades to noble Persephone,
you who once, searching in wandering grief, ended your fast in the vales of Eleusis, and went into Hades to noble Persephone,
Interpretation
you who once, searching in your wandering grief, ended your fast in the vales of Eleusis, and went down into Hades to noble Persephone,
The Homeric Hymn to Demeter tells the long version. Searching for her daughter, the goddess tasted neither food nor drink, and at Eleusis she broke her fast with a drink of barley and water flavored with mint, which the initiates later drank in her memory. In that poem it is Hermes who goes down to bring Persephone back. Here the mother goes down to Hades herself.
41.6
The Orphic Hymns 41.6 · Guided below by the child of Dysaules
Her guide below was the holy child of Dysaules, who showed her where Persephone lay with the king of the dead. Then the goddess gave birth, like a mortal woman, to a child, Eubouleus.
· · ·
having gained as your guide the holy child of Dysaules, revealer of the sacred bed of holy Zeus of the underworld, giving birth to Eubouleus, a goddess under mortal necessity.