Caryatid Kistophoric from the Lesser Propylaea of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis. Around 50 BC., Eleusis Museum, Greece.
“Sleep Persephone in the arms of the Earth, never re-emerge on the balcony of the world” wrote the Greek poet Nikos Gatsos in his poem “The Nightmare of Persephone” wanting to convey his grief and indignation against the environmental catastrophe that took place in modern Eleusis. Eleusis, once center of the worship of Demeter and her daughter Persephone and their sacred mysteries (both deities of earth, agriculture and vegetation) ended up an industrial wasteland due to the indifference, omissions and twisted economical interests of the “modern” mindset. The poetic yet realistic documentary “Agelastos Petra” (Mourning Rock, 2000) shows the contemporary decadence and oblivion, while also trying to find some links with a glorious past now long forgotten for most. It was in Eleusis that Demeter instructed the hero Triptolemus in the ways of the earth after refinding her daughter, and also gave him a flying chariot to spread the knowledge of the wheat throughout the world. A holy mission indeed, one we should all rethink in our era of genetically modified grains and “plastic” food. What happened to Eleusis the previous decades is most relevant as we see the environmental issues demanding more and more of our attention everyday. Obviously, some wouldn’t comprehend or accept the common worship and significance of two female deities, a mother and a daughter, if we think the prevailing patriarchal structure of world affairs. Eleusis was an easy target. Memory is a difficult and complicated thing; one thing is for sure though, we need to establish a new relationship with nature, with our earth mother (Δη+Μήτηρ), a more wise and grateful one. Time’s up.
