Some Modern Interpretations of the Demeter/Persephone Myth New Uses for an Old Myth

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Rohrbacher, David

Keywords

Demeter, Persephone, Modern Adaptations

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

In this thesis I examine how several modern interpretations of the Demeter/Persephone myth use this ancient myth to analyze modern emotional issues. I begin with an examination of antecedents for modern interpretations of the myth: the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and Ovid's Metamorphoses. I examine themes, narrative techniques, and meaning of each of these texts. I then examine several modern interpretations of the Demeter/Persephone myth, in chronological order. Nathaniel Hawthorne's �The Pomegranate Seeds,� D.H. Lawrence's �Bavarian Gentians,� Margaret Atwood's Double Persephone and her interpretation of the role of the writer as seen in Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing, Rita Dove's Mother Love, and Melanie Hubbard's article �In this World Our Daughters Have No Chance.� In each of these works, I specifically examined what the author of the piece is doing in his or her interpretation of this myth, and how the author does this. I also responded creatively to each of the works, and the Demeter/Persephone myth as a whole, alternating an expressive writing creative response with my analytical writing. These expressive writings make up the last section of this work, and served as a way for me to reuse the Persephone myth in my own voice.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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