Demeter and Persephone

This volume provides a comprehensive, accessible and up to date analysis of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone. The book covers all aspects of their myth, worship and cult, from their origins and functions, to the key narratives about their deeds and relationships, and also their diverse worship and ritual across the Greek world, at Eleusis and beyond. The final part examines their reception and influence, in ancient Rome, but also in western art and literature, film, and the appropriation of their myths in psychoanalytic theory. Drawing on literary and archaeological sources, this volume fills a significant gap in the study of these complex and mysterious goddesses.