#demophoon

The Tree of Forgiveness

Artist: Edward Coley Burne-Jones (English, 1881-1882)

Date: 1881-1882

Medium: Oil paint on canvas

Collection: National Museums Liverpool, United Kingdom

Description

Queen of the Dead part 2, 125

In the Hymn, when speaking about Demophoon's everlasting honor, Demeter says: ... "the sons of the Eleusinians will join in war and dreadful battle against each other forever" (Athanassakis, 2004). It is thought that this refers to the Ballétys, a local festival involving a mock battle among the young men of Eleusis.

Queen of the Dead part 2, 124

In The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Demeter herself takes Demophoon from the hearth and places him on the ground when Metaneira interrupts the ritual, which implies that this magic could only be worked in secret. It says nothing about the child dying. However, some scholars argue that the hymn-poet clearly alludes to his approaching death by using the word aspaironta for when he is left gasping on the floor, a word used elsewhere of dying heroes. In other versions of the story, the child is immediately burnt up in the fire when the ritual is interrupted (Apollodorus Bibliotheca 1.5.1 and Orphic frag. 49, 100ff). In Hyginus Fabulae it is the father, here named Eleusinius, who interrupts the ritual. He was killed by the angry goddess, but the child (who here is Triptolemus) was honored by Demeter and was given her chariot with flying serpents to spread the cultivation of grain to rest of humanity.

Queen of the Dead part 2, 121