Demeter and Persephone Essay

Who does not like a good folklore story with good moral values? Something that shows you how it influences the people that listen. There are three main ways that a myth can be interpreted. They can be categorized in different ways but the easiest way to put it is in the magnitude of how many people it effects. They are the natural world level, the social/ community level, and the individual’s psychological level. It is important to know the three different levels that a myth operates on to understand the thinking of the people that believed them.

The way the goddess Demeter affected the world level of influence on peoples’ views is pretty clear because to every one she was known as the goddess of the corn or the goddess of all agricultural growth. If she were to become upset and stop the growth process, a lot of people would go very hungry. So to avoid upsetting her the people would pray to her daily, and especially at harvest time. And the way she effects the social level is when there would be a good harvest for one farmer, it would be because that person prayed more than the farmer who did not get a good harvest. And then rumors would spread and give hope to others for a good harvest. Lastly, the way that she connected with the psychological or individual was especially strong with the mothers because of the fact that when Hades kidnapped Persephone, Demeter was so filled with sorrow that she stopped the growth process. That helped to connect her with those mothers because any mother would be going through the same thing and fell those same emotions. As a result it would make things easier to deal with husbands not producing any crops. In a round about way it was showing the common people do not have that dissimilar feelings than that of gods. It would gave them hope and inspiration.

Persephone is the goddess of spring and the way she affects the world level of interpretation is she represents a fresh beginning and all things good and happy. She represents the innocence of youth that the people of the world look forward, and in their hope that she did not disappoint. The way she is considered a princess of the gods and to the people of a society is because she is a virgin and to them that represents purity. And lastly the way she has an individual connection with people is she was the one with the loss of innocence by being raped by Hades. She was a lost child without the aid of her mother. She does not have that much experience with most things. A lot of young women went through things like this. Wouldn’t that be something you needed, knowing that you were not the only one with those feelings. Like her mother, she gives hope.
In conclusion you could say that being able to interpret the different ways a myth can affect or influence few or many is invigorating. It kind of makes you feel better about knowing how these simple folk tale stories can do so much to inspire. It is amazing in the first place how long they have been around and how they still affect us today on the same three levels. Just think about it. Myths have been around for hundreds of years, they have survived and they are still here today.