Demeter and Persephone: The Message and Meaning of a Myth From Ancient Greece to Modern America

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Wilton Library
Rimer Room

Event Details

Please join us for a special 8-week literature seminar series bringing together two of our favorite teachers: Judson Scruton and Gerald Weiss. This teaching tag-team will combine their talents to cover an ancient Homeric hymn juxtaposed against several more modern poets. Poetry packet available at front desk one week before the seminar begins.

No charge for the program. This seminar is made possible with the support of the Literary Series in Memory of Amy Quigley. Advance registration required. Register online or call 203-762-6334. By registering for the first session you will automatically be registered for all eight sessions.

The course will deal with the Homeric Hymn #2 To Demeter and its impact on subsequent poets who used the Hymn as the basis for their own interpretations of the story of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. This myth offers a unique perspective on the relationship between women as well as between women and men and between humans and gods. Although the Hymn illuminates these relationships in the context of ancient Greece, it also has symbolic meaning for today’s culture and society. Another interesting point of contrast and comparison is that Demeter dominates the ancient Hymn whereas many modern poetic reinterpretations of the myth have shifted the focus to Persephone. In either case, the story of the abduction of Persephone by Hades and the journey of her grieving mother, Demeter, to get her daughter back is representative of our own struggle to come face to face with the pain of loss, our own anger and rage, the limits of our humanity, and death itself.

Judson Scruton M.A (The Johns Hopkins University, The Writing Seminars, specializing in poetry) has taught creative writing and literature at prep schools and universities. In his career as an educator Judson has also directed publications, communications, public relations, and development at a variety of educational institutions in the U.S. and U.K. including the Newberry Library in Chicago. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of English at Fairfield University.

Dr. Gerald Weiss earned both a B.A and an M.A. in Classical Languages from St. Louis University. He pursued graduate studies in Philosophy and Theology at Innsbruck University (Austria) and later at the Gregorian University (Rome, Italy) where he received his Ph.D. While writing his dissertation he taught for a year at the Rome Center of Loyola University of Chicago. Upon returning to the United States he taught Philosophy/Theology/Religious Studies at Seton Hall, St. Louis and various other universities. He has had one book published and written numerous articles for educational, religious and spiritual periodicals and journals. Since retiring he has devoted most of his free time to painting and has exhibited some of his works at the Wilton Library.


Event Type(s): Literature Program
Age Group(s): Adults

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