Persephone question

[starrykitten]

Hi all--

I came across something mentioning the honeybee in Persephone's mythology. Google search just gives me that damn band named Persephone's Bees, so I thought I'd ask here. :) Does anybody know about the bee stuff in Persephone lore?

Thanks!

[Theres]

Hi all--

I came across something mentioning the honeybee in Persephone's mythology. Google search just gives me that damn band named Persephone's Bees, so I thought I'd ask here. :) Does anybody know about the bee stuff in Persephone lore?

Thanks!

Persephone's mother Demeter had a cult at Eleusis, and Her priestesses there were known as mellisae, or 'bees'.

[_Banbha_]

I love Bee symbolism and it has a rich history in Greek myth from the Orphic mysteries(the bee symbolizing the soul...perhaps connected to Demeter and Kore in some way), to Aphrodite (the Melissea), Dephi, Ephesian Artemis, Pan, Hermes and I'm sure more. I've been curious about the bee maidens mentioned in the Homeric hymns

I did a quick search and came up with this from a Masonic Lodge site. So, while I'd recommend taking it a step further to find more original sources, I think this is interesting summation.


Further in the ancient Greek world, for the Orphics the bee symbolized the soul because they migrated in swarms. The second temple built at Delphi was said to be built by bees. The god of love, Cupid, is often pictured with bees or being stung. In the myth it is written that Venus says to her son after he is stung: "Thou too art like a bee, for although a tiny child, yet how terrible are the wounds thou dost inflict!" Periclymenus, one of the Argonauts, was granted by Posidon the power of changing his shape into a lion, a snake, or a bee. Throughout the Mediterranean the bee was also a symbol of Spring because it was associated with the blooming gorse (a broom) that turned the hillsides all over the region bright yellow as soon as the Sun's light increased. As soon as this happened the bee appeared. Here is another connection of the bee with the sun and with the idea of resurrection.

A fascinating connection regards the Rites of Eleusis. These mystery rites were widely regarded as the high point of Greek religion. They centered around the goddess Demeter who was the Great Mother deity. The myth regarded nature's seasonal death and resurrection and represented it in the story of Demeter, her daughter Persephone and her abduction by Hades. Persophone or Kore was sometimes called honey-like and the moon (among other reasons because the moon is also called a bull and Taurus is its exaltation). The rites were conducted by the Hierophant and Hiera, the Hierophantides (2 females) and the Panageis Priestesses or Milissae - meaning bees. The function of these priestesses is still not known.

There are coins from Ephesus from the 5th century B.C. that depict a queen bee as a symbol of the Great Mother. Ephesus was known throughout the ancient world for its temple to the Great Mother Goddess.
Link (http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/worrel/beehive.htm)


While not specifically about Greece, here are two books that may have more information on the subject: The Shamanic Way of the Bee: Ancient Wisdom and Healing Practices of the Bee Masters (http://www.amazon.ca/Shamanic-Way-Bee-Practices-Masters/dp/089281148X/sr=1-4/qid=1162140355/ref=sr_1_4/702-9760865-5829642?ie=UTF8&s=books) and The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore (http://www.amazon.ca/Sacred-Bee-Ancient-Times-Folklore/dp/048643494X/ref=sr_11_1/702-9760865-5829642).

[PoisonIvy]

Goddesses associated with fertility and nature like Ma,Rhea,Cybele,Ceres,Artemis/Diana and Persephone are often associated with the honey bee.

I didn't really find any stories about it but the Kreten Bee Goddess ruled the cycles of life and death,as did Persephone in Greek mythology, and since Persephone(Kore) had Kreten ties and metemorphosed into the Kore Maiden,she is associated with the honey bee.

Here's a website that might help ya a little bit....www.moonspeaker.ca/Athena/persephone.html