DEMETER AND THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES 309
distressed. But the peaks of the mountains and the depths of the sea echoed with
her immortal voice, and her lady mother heard her.
DEMETER'S GRIEF, ANGER, AND RETALIATION
Sharp pain seized Demeter's heart, and she tore the headdress about her am-
brosial hair with her own dear hands and threw off the dark covering from both
her shoulders; and she rushed in pursuit, just like a bird, over land and water.
But no one—either of gods or mortals—wished to tell what had really
happened—not even a bird came to her as a messenger of truth. For nine days,
then, lady Demeter roamed over the earth holding burning torches in her hands
and in her grief did not eat any ambrosia or drink sweet nectar, nor did she
bathe her body. But when dawn brought on the light of the tenth day, Hecate,
a torch in hand, met her and gave her some news as she exclaimed: "Lady Deme-
ter, bringer of goodly gifts in season, who of the heavenly gods or mortals car-
ried off Persephone and troubled your dear heart? For I heard her voice but did
not see with my eyes who it was. I am telling you the whole truth quickly."The Abduction of Persephone. By Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640); oil on canvas, 1639, 71 X
IO6V4 in. Rubens follows the narrative of Book 2 of the epic poem De Raptu Proserpinae,
of Claudian (late fourth century A.D.). Hades emerges from the Underworld in a chariot
drawn by black horses and accompanied by two Cupids. He seizes Persephone, who has
been gathering flowers in the basket that has fallen to the ground. To the left Artemis
(distinguished by the small crescent on her forehead) and Athena (wearing her helmet)
try to restrain Hades, while Aphrodite, who in Claudian's narrative had conspired with
Zeus to arrange the abduction and had persuaded Persephone to go into the meadow to
pick flowers, is caught in the middle. Madrid, Prado.