As far as she is concerned, the world is unkind to him. It should make exceptions for him, as she does. His thoughtlessness often hurts and angers her—but if he then tells her how much he appreciates her, or how she’s the only person in his life that really cares about him, all is again forgiven. Like a mother of a handsome son, who wonders how she could have given birth to such a young god, the Demeter woman playing Great Mother to his son-lover role may also be in awe of his appearance (or his talent). She may say, as one Demeter woman said to me, “He looked to me like Michelangelo’s statue
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