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interpreted as a metaphor for planting grain. If correct, Kore’s annual return to the earth’s
surface represents the seasonal growth of the cereal crop (mainly wheat and barley), which
occurs, according to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, “when the earth blooms with spring
flowers.”
Both events, Persephone’s descent into the underworld and her re- emergence on the sur-
face, occur in the spring. But as Burkert pointed out, the temporal cycle implied by the
myth is inconsistent with the growing season in Mediterranean climates, where wheat and
barley germinate shortly after being sown in the autumn and continue to grow throughout
the winter, producing grain in the spring with the onset of the dry season. In Mediterranean
climates, the planting and emergence of grain occur in the autumn rather than in the spring.
Because of the apparent seasonal discrepancy between the narrative and the cereal plant-
ing cycle, Nilsson proposed an alternative interpretation of the myth based on actual Greek
agricultural practices. According to Nilsson, Kore’s descent represents the storing of grain
in underground silos during the dry season, a method practiced by the Greeks to protect
the grain from desiccation. Kore’s return to the surface might symbolize the digging up of
the stored grain for planting in the autumn, when the rains begin. This interpretation is a
better fit with Greek cereal cultivation, but there’s no evidence that the Greeks themselves
understood the myth in this way.
The discrepancies apparent in both interpretations of the Demeter/ Persephone myth
probably derive from the fact that the Greeks of the Iron Age adapted a much older myth
and reinterpreted it in a way that reflected the high value they placed on wheat, which they
regarded as the basis of civilization. Such is the conclusion of Walter Burkert, who specu-
lated that the original meaning of the myth probably lies buried in “pre- Greek, perhaps
Neolithic times.” Because Bronze Age Minoan society exerted such a powerful influence on
the Mycenaeans, it is possible that a precursor of the Demeter/ Persephone myth originated
in Crete. If so, the Phaistos bowl painting could represent an earlier version of the myth.Reimagining Persephone as a Minoan Crocus Goddess
The most important known vegetation deities of the Minoans were not associated with
cereal crops, but with the saffron crocus and other flowers. Indeed, there is little evidence
for a grain goddess in Minoan religion. Of the many goddesses noted in the Linear B
tablets, there are none from Crete identified with grain, although a single reference to a
“Grain Mistress” (sitopotnija) has been found in Mycenae on the mainland.^43 With this
in mind, we propose an alternative explanation for the large central figure often identified
with Persephone in the Phaistos bowl. The large central figure is clearly differentiated from
the two smaller dancers above her— in size, shape, and location. Her internal anatomy is
also distinct. Instead of being fruit- like, containing numerous small seeds, she is painted a
solid color inside. It’s therefore possible that she represents an entirely different botanical
structure from the dancing figures. In our opinion, the triangular central figure could be
interpreted as symbolizing a crocus corm, as illustrated in Figure 6.14C. The orientation is
correct, with the pointed end, from which the shoot emerges, oriented upward. Although
superficially it may also resemble an onion bulb, corms lack bulb scales and are solid inter-
nally, consistent with the painting on the Phaistos bowl. In addition to its triangular shape,
Peter Warren has called attention to the fact that the central figure is surrounded by “a