A Song for the Eleusinian Goddesses

lionofchaeronea:

Anonymous scolion (drinking song), PMG 885 = Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 15.694c

 In the season of garland-wearing I sing

Of Demeter, Wealth’s Olympian mother,

And of you, child of Zeus, Persephone-

Hail to you both, and guard this city well.

 Πλούτου μητέρ’ Ὀλυμπίαν ἀείδω

Δήμητρα στεφανηφόροις ἐν ὥραις

σέ τε παῖ Διὸς Φερσεφόνη·

χαίρετον, εὖ δὲ τάνδ’ ἀμφέπετον πόλιν.

Terracotta plaque bust of Demeter.  Artist unknown; early 5th cent. BCE.  Found on Naxos; now in the Archaeological Museum of Naxos.  Photo credit: Zde/Wikimedia Commons.