1. Which gods hear and are able to help Demeter when Persephone is abducted? Which ones don't or can't? What's the difference and why? In answering, consider the genealogy of the gods as you learned them in the Theogony and think about the relationship between Hesiodic genealogy and poetic characterization.

2. How does the Hekate of the Homeric Hymn compare to her representation in the Theogony? What do you think the reasons for the differences might be?

3. Why do you think Demeter assumes the guise of an old woman when she comes to Eleusis?

4. At lines 118ff. Demeter/Doso tells the daughters of Celeus a "lying-tale" about who she is and where she comes from. What do you think is the relationship of her narrative to that of the poem overall?

5. Why do you think Demeter refuses to sit down when she enters the house at 192ff.? Why do you think Iambe is able to cheer her up? (One answer is given in the note to line 204. What can you suggest as an alternative?)

6. Consider the relationship between grief and anger in the poem. At what points does Demeter grieve? At what points does she become angry? What is the relationship between the two emotions in the poem?

7. Your notes to line 242 give three possible reasons for Demeter's attempt to immortalize Demophôn. Which do you think is the most convincing and why? Are there other reasons that you can think of?

8. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter survives in only one manuscript, which has a number of lacunae*--one of them, unfortunately, at lines 344-45, where we might have been told more about Persephone's feelings. Listen to this song by the folk-singer Cosy Sheridan, and then discuss the relationship between her view of Persephone and the character in the poem as you see her.

9. Reread lines 357-440 of the poem. Then read "The Bistro Styx" by the poet Rita Dove and compare the two versions of the reunion of Persephone and Demeter.

10. Assume that the "Homeric Hymn to Demeter," like the Theogony, traces the evolution from matriarchy to patriarchy. Which episodes** are "matriarchal"? Which are "patriarchal"? And why? Choose one of the three episodes.

*Lacuna: An area of a manuscript, painting, or other material, that is completely missing as a result of any type of damage. The word derives from the Latin expression for "gap."

**Episodes: Stage One: 1-89; Stage Two A: 90-280; Stage Two B: 281-309; Stage Three: 310-495