The Mysteries: Renaissance Choros

Last updated
Section VI [1]


The mysteries remain,
I keep the same
cycle of seed-time
and of sun and rain;
Demeter in the grass,
I multiply,
renew and bless
Iacchus in the vine;
I hold the law,
I keep the mysteries true,
the first of these
to name the living, dead;
I am red wine and bread.
I keep the law,
I hold the mysteries true,
I am the vine,
the branches, you
and you.

Contents

—H.D.

"The Mysteries: Renaissance Choros", [2] or "The Mysteries", [3] is a poem by American poet H.D. first published in 1931, as the concluding poem of her poetry anthology Red Roses for Bronze. [4] Inspired by the Eleusinian Mysteries, [5] the poem concerns a ritual meant to resurrect Adonis. [6]

Summary

Throughout the poem, which is "short lined and diffuse", [3] the poet employs repetition, for instance in Section IV, where the term "no man" appears several times, or in Section V, where the word behold is mentioned three consecutive times and twice at another point. [7]

The opening lines of "The Mysteries: Renaissance Choros" allude to the approaching world war: "Dark / days are past / and darker days draw near; / darkness on this side, / darkness over there". [8] A direct reference to the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark (4:39) appears further down: "Peace / be still." [9] Jesus is called a "magician" in the second part of "The Mysteries", recalling H.D.'s earlier poem "Magician" (1933), which also refers to Christ. [10] The rest of the poem is replete with other biblical allusions, as well as references to "pagan mystery cults". [9] The poem ends with "an image of new life emerging from death." [11]

Analysis

Louis Lohr Martz suggests that the use of the word "renaissance" in the title of the poem hints at a "new era of culture and a time for personal rebirth". [9] Helen Sword describes the poem's message as "heterodox" [12] and compares the poem with "Brot und Wein" by German poet Friedrich Hölderlin. [5] In arguing that the poem is about "the alliance of Christian and pagan myth", [13] she offers that the imagery of bread and wine in the poem refer not only to the body and blood of Christ, but also that of Demeter and Dionysus (Bacchus). [5] Similarly, she likens Demeter's fertility rites to the Christian doctrine of resurrection. [5] Rosamond Rosenmeier claims that the poem relates to "female and maternal power" and the Holy Spirit. [14] According to Diana Collecott, the poem focuses on "the seasonal cycle of death and rebirth." [15] Noting that H.D. would remain "publicly silent until The Walls Do Not Fall in 1944", Gary Dean Burnett concludes that the poem marks "a small death through which the mysterious workings of another kind of life, another kind of work, could still be heard." [16]

Legacy

Martz praised the work as "controlled and successful", [9] while Bridget Kendall of the BBC opined that out of all the works inspired by the Eleusinian Mysteries, H.D.'s poem was her favourite. [17] The Mysteries Remain (1982) by David Sampson, which has four movements (The Mysteries Remain; Cycles of Seed-Time; Demeter in the Grass; and Iacchus in the Vine), is based on H.D.'s poem. [18]

Related Research Articles

Demeter Greek goddess of the harvest, grains, and agriculture

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over grains and the fertility of the earth. She is also called Deo (Δηώ).

Hades God of the underworld in Greek mythology

Hades, in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth, long the province of Gaia, available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld, standing to his side.

Persephone Greek goddess of spring and the underworld

In Greek mythology, Persephone, also called Kore or Kora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Underworld after her abduction by Hades, the god of the underworld, with the approval of her father and brother-in-law, Zeus. The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld and her temporary return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, sprout from the earth in spring, and are harvested when fully grown. In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a sheaf of grain. She may appear as a mystical divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the process of being carried off by Hades.

Greco-Roman mysteries Religious schools of the Greco-Roman world

Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates (mystai). The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were of considerable antiquity and predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Julian the Apostate in the mid 4th century is known to have been initiated into three distinct mystery schools—most notably the mithraists. Due to the secret nature of the school, and because the mystery religions of Late Antiquity were persecuted by the Christian Roman Empire from the 4th century, the details of these religious practices are derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies. Much information on the Mysteries come from Marcus Terentius Varro.

Eleusinian Mysteries Secret religious rites in ancient Greece

The Eleusinian Mysteries were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece". Their basis was an old agrarian cult, and there is some evidence that they were derived from the religious practices of the Mycenean period. The Mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld Hades, in a cycle with three phases: the descent (loss), the search, and the ascent, with the main theme being the ascent of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to Rome. Similar religious rites appear in the agricultural societies of the Near East and in Minoan Crete.

Dionysus Ancient Greek god of winemaking and wine

Dionysus is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity and theatre in ancient Greek religion and myth. He is also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by the Romans; the frenzy that he induces is bakkheia. As Eleutherios, his wine, music and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. His thyrsus, a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself.

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Iacchus was a minor deity, of some cultic importance, particularly at Athens and Eleusis in connection with the Eleusinian mysteries, but without any significant mythology. He perhaps originated as the personification of the ritual exclamation Iacche! cried out during the Eleusinian procession from Athens to Eleusis. He was often identified with Dionysus, perhaps because of the resemblance of the names Iacchus and Bacchus, another name for Dionysus. By various accounts he was a son of Demeter, or a son of Persephone, identical with Dionysus Zagreus, or a son of Dionysus.

In Greek mythology, Minthe was a naiad nymph associated with the river Cocytus. She was beloved by Hades, King of the Underworld, and transformed into a mint plant by either his wife Persephone or his sister and mother-in-law Demeter.

In Greek Mythology, Eumolpus was a legendary king of Thrace. He was described as having come to Attica either as a bard, a warrior, or a priest of Demeter and Dionysus.

Pluto was the ruler of the underworld in classical mythology. The earlier name for the god was Hades, which became more common as the name of the underworld itself. In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pluto represents a more positive concept of the god who presides over the afterlife. Ploutōn was frequently conflated with Ploutos, the Greek god of wealth, because mineral wealth was found underground, and because as a chthonic god Pluto ruled the deep earth that contained the seeds necessary for a bountiful harvest. The name Ploutōn came into widespread usage with the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which Pluto was venerated as both a stern ruler and a loving husband to Persephone. The couple received souls in the afterlife and are invoked together in religious inscriptions, being referred to as Plouton and as Kore respectively. Hades, by contrast, had few temples and religious practices associated with him, and he is portrayed as the dark and violent abductor of Persephone.

Fertility rites are religious rituals that are intended to stimulate reproduction in humans or in the natural world. Such rites may involve the sacrifice of "a primal animal, which must be sacrificed in the cause of fertility or even creation".

H.D. American Imagist poet, novelist and memoirist

Hilda Doolittle was an American poet, novelist, and memoirist, associated with the early 20th-century avant-garde Imagist group of poets, including Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington. She published under the pen name H.D.

Baubo Old woman character from Greek mythology

Baubo is an old woman in Greek mythology which appears particularly in the myths of the early Orphic religion. Known as the goddess of mirth, she is depicted as bawdy and sexually liberated, and is said to have jested with Demeter when that god was mourning the loss of her daughter, Persephone.

Melinoë is a chthonic nymph or goddess invoked in one of the Orphic Hymns and represented as a bringer of nightmares and madness. The name also appears on a metal tablet in association with Persephone. The hymns are of uncertain date but were probably composed in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. In the hymn, Melinoë has characteristics that seem similar to Hecate and the Erinyes, and the name is sometimes thought to be an epithet of Hecate. The terms in which Melinoë is described are typical of moon goddesses in Greek poetry.

Despoina Greek goddess of Arcadian mystery cults

In Greek mythology, Despoina was the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon and sister of Arion.

Haloa Festival in honour of Demeter / Persephone

Haloa or Alo (Ἁλῶα) was an Attic festival, celebrated principally at Eleusis, in honour of Demeter, protector of the fruits of the earth, of Dionysus, god of the grape and of wine, and Poseidon, god of the seashore vegetation. In Greek, the word hálōs (ἅλως) from which Haloa derives means “threshing-floor” or “garden.” While the general consensus is that it was a festival related to threshing—the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain after harvest—some scholars disagree and argue that it was instead a gardening festival. Haloa focuses mainly on the “first fruits” of the harvest, partly as a grateful acknowledgement for the benefits the husbandmen received, partly as prayer that the next harvest would be plentiful. The festival was also called Thalysia or Syncomesteria.

Cult of Dionysus

The cult of Dionysus was strongly associated with satyrs, centaurs, and sileni, and its characteristic symbols were the bull, the serpent, tigers/leopards, the ivy, and the wine. The Dionysia and Lenaia festivals in Athens were dedicated to Dionysus, as well as the phallic processions. Initiates worshipped him in the Dionysian Mysteries, which were comparable to and linked with the Orphic Mysteries, and may have influenced Gnosticism. Orpheus was said to have invented the Mysteries of Dionysus.

Aura (mythology) Divine personification of the breeze in Greek and Roman mythology

In Greek and Roman mythology, Aura is a minor deity, whose name means "breeze". The plural form, Aurae is sometimes found. According to Nonnus, Aura was the daughter of the Titan Lelantos and the mother, by Dionysus, of Iacchus, a minor deity connected with the Eleusinian mysteries, while Quintus Smyrnaeus makes the Aurae daughters of Boreas, the North-wind. Aurae was the title of a play by the Athenian comic poet Metagenes, who was contemporary with Aristophanes, Phrynichus, and Plato.

In the Dionysiaca of Nonnus, Lelantos, or Lelantus is the Titan father of the nymph Aura ("Breeze"), who was the mother, by Dionysus, of Iacchus, a minor deity connected with the Eleusinian Mysteries. Lelantos was married to the Oceanid Periboia, whom Nonnus seems to imply was Aura's mother, although elsewhere, he calls Aura the "daughter of Cybele".

<i>The Exaltation of the Flower</i> Ancient Greek marble fragment

The Exaltation of the Flower is the modern title given to an early Classical Greek marble fragment of a funerary stele from the 5th century BCE. It was discovered in 1863 by Léon Heuzey and Henri Daumet at a church in Farsala, Thessaly, Greece. Carved in bas-relief in the severe style, the extant upper fragment of the marble relief stele depicts two women holding what appear to be flowers or other objects. The work is held by the Louvre museum in the Department of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Doolittle 1986, p. 305.
  2. ↑ Morris 1986, p. 511.
  3. 1 2 Sword 1995, p. 144.
  4. ↑ Holland 1989, p. 8.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Sword 1995, p. 147.
  6. ↑ Seed 1995, p. 17.
  7. ↑ Engel 1969, p. 518.
  8. ↑ Burnett 1989, p. 142.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Martz 1998, p. 87.
  10. ↑ Martz 1998, p. 88.
  11. ↑ Sword 2002, p. 121.
  12. ↑ Sword 2002, p. 120.
  13. ↑ Sword 2002, p. 125.
  14. ↑ Rosenmeier 1992, p. 80.
  15. ↑ Collecott 1999, p. 208.
  16. ↑ Burnett 1989, p. 138.
  17. ↑ "Eleusinian Mysteries: Secret ceremonies promising happiness". BBC. 28 January 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  18. ↑ Laster 2005, p. 183.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.