Hermes guides Persephone out of the underworld, bell-krater 440 BCE

November 30, 2019

Hermes guides Persephone out of the underworld, bell-krater 440 BCE

"he sent to Erebos [Hadês] the one with the golden wand, the Argos-killer [Hermes]

so that he may persuade Hadês, with gentle words,

that he allow holy Persephone to leave the misty realms of darkness

and be brought up to the light in order to join the daimones [the Gods in Olympus], so that her mother may

see her with her own eyes and then let go of her anger.

Hermes did not disobey, but straightaway he headed down beneath the depths of the earth,

rushing full speed, leaving behind the abode of Olympus.

And he found the Lord inside his palace,

seated on a funeral couch, along with his duly acquired bedmate,

the one who was much under duress, yearning for her mother, and suffering from the unbearable things

inflicted on her by the will of the Blessed Ones."

-Homeric Hymn to Demeter, lines 335-345 (translation by Gregory Nagy)

Persephone, the daughter of the Goddess Demeter, was condemned to spend half of each year with Hades, the ruler of the underworld. In this grandiose representation, Persephone ascends to earth through a rocky outcrop. She is guided by Hermes, the divine messenger, and Hekate, a Goddess of fertility, magic, and dark things who typically carries torches. At the far right stands the regal Demeter, waiting to receive her daughter and the renewal of life that her return engendered. Current location: Met Museum.

The Goddess Persephone returns from the underworld. She wears a crown and is depicted partially risen from the earth. Hermes, standing beside her, wears a petasos cap and chlamys cloak, and holds a herald's wand (kerykeion) in his hand. Hecate carries a pair of orches and gazes backwards over her shoulder at the Goddess. Demeter, on the far right, holds a royal sceptre.