Despoina - Tumblr Posts

Rambling about Despoina, because I have a lot of questions about her and my brain is broken.

Despoina is probably one of the most obscure Goddesses from Greek Mythology. She's considered the Goddess of Arkadian Mysteries, yet at the same time people doubt wheter or not she's a stand-alone deity or just another epithet for another goddess (usually Persephone). To make things even more complicated now, her name isn't actually one. It's an epithet, and "her true name and function were revealed only to the intitiates". "Despoina" was also an epithet used for Demeter and Persephone as well.

Now, there have been made a lot of speculations and assumptions based on the few things that we know about her. The most common theory is that Despoina was in fact the Arcadian equivalent of Persephone, and that Mycenaean Poseidon later got divided into Poseidon and Hades. On short: many people believe that back in the Mycenaean Greece there were Two Goddesses worshipped together as the Two Queens, later refferred to as the Two Mistresses: Demeter and Despoina. It is very likely that both of them are two later versions of two pre-Greek Goddesses of Arcadia. At the same time we have Mycenaean Poseidon, who was not only the god of the sea, but had strong associations with the Underworld as well. He also seemed to be in close connection with the Two Queens and form some sort of a divine trio with them, since he was refferred to as the King. Later, Despoina slowly became Persephone, whereas some of the attributes that were initially associated with Poseidon were taken away from him and used in order to create another god, Hades, because ancient people considered that it's better to have two separate deities for these two different realms. Finally, we're reaching Classic Greek Mythology, where Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, Hades is her husband, and Poseidon is the only one of the Big Three who didn't bang her.

This theory is highly accepted because it seems the most plausible one (plus the fact that there aren't enough surviving sources from that time leaves an open door for whatever thoughts could cross people's minds), yet at the same time highly criticized for rightful reasons, such as the fact that there's a chance that Hades might've been an already existing deity in Mycenaean Mythology, but because there are no surviving written works about him from that time there's nothing certain. Another reason is because not everyone considered Despoina to be just an epithet or an older version of Persephone. And by "not everyone" I mean Pausanias:

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 25. 5 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :

"When Demeter was wandering in search of her daughter [Persephone], she was followed, it is said, by Poseidon, who lusted after her. So she turned, the story runs, into a mare, and grazed with the mares of Onkios (Oncius) [in Arkadia (Arcadia)]; realising that he was outwitted, Poseidon changed into a stallion and enjoyed Demeter. At first, they say, Demeter was angry at what had happened, but later on she laid aside her wrath and wished to bathe in the Ladon . . . Demeter, they say, had by Poseidon a daughter [Despoine (Despoena)], whose name they are not wont to divulge to the uninitiated, and a horse called Areion (Arion)."

According to him Despoina and Persephone aren’t the same goddess, but two different deities. On top of that, Despoina was conceived during the time when Demeter was searching for Persephone, being youger than her, and has a horse twin brother. Which is very weird, considering the fact that Pausanias wrote this about 800 years after Homeric Hymns to Demeter, and this is the only source that states that Despoina and Persephone are two different goddesses.

Here's another fragment:

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 37. 1 - 8. 38. 2 :

Despoine the Arkadians worship more than any other god, declaring that she is a daughter of Poseidon and Demeter. Despoine (Mistress) is her surname among the many, just as they surname Demeter's daughter by Zeus Kore (Core, the Maid). But whereas the real name of Kore (the Maid) is Persephone, as Homer and Pamphos before him say in their poems, the real name of Despoine (the Mistress) I am afraid to write to the uninitiated.

Here he states that Despoina is her surname (just how Kore is a surname for Persephone). But while we do know that Kore is Persephone, Despoina's real name still remains a secret. What is really weird here is... why would they be afraid to say her real name in the first place? We know for a matter of fact that Ancient Greeks were usually scared of saying the real names of the Underworld deities. Hades for example is always refferred to by lots of epithets and euphemisms, because people believed that by saying or writing his real name they would arouse his wrath. In this case then Despoina could be a chtonic deity as well, yet her affiliations with the Underworld are unclear, if they really exist.

But then, if Despoina would be a chtonic goddess, and she isn't Persephone, then who else could she be?

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 37. 1 - 8. 38. 2 :

"From Akakesion (Acacesium) [in Arkadia (Arcadia)] it is four stades to the sanctuary of Despoine (Despoena, the Mistress). First in this place is a temple of Artemis Hegemone (Leader) [probably Hekate (Hecate)], with a bronze image, holding torches, which I conjecture to be about six feet high. From this place there is an entrance into the sacred enclosure of Despoine.

[...]

Demeter carries a torch in her right hand; her other hand she has laid upon Despoine. Despoine has on her knees a staff and what is called the box, which she holds in her right hand. On both sides of the throne are images. By the side of Demeter stands Artemis [probably here identified with Hekate] wrapped in the skin of a deer, and carrying a quiver on her shoulders, while in one hand she holds a torch, in the other two serpents; by her side a bitch, of a breed suitable for hunting, is lying down.

Judging by these two experts, there is a small, vague chance that Despoina might be strongly identified with Hecate. Besides the fact that Despoina was one of Hecate's epithets as well, she was sometimes considered to be the daughter of Demeter. Hecate also plays a major role in Homeric Hymns to Demeter, and near the end of the myth she becomes Persephone's attendant and substitute queen. On top of that, Hecate shares some similarities with Poseidon, especially in Hesiod's Theogeny: ". . . and to those whose business is the in the gray discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the loud crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch and easily she gives it away. . .”

Another possibility is that Despoina was supposed at one point to have a symbolic value above it all and/or to be a concept rather than a physical goddess, since "Despoina" literally means "Mistress", Persephone was refferred to as Kore ("Maiden") during her time with her mother, and while we don't know for sure what is "Demeter" supposed to mean, the "'-meter" part most probably means "mother". Which suggests that Persephone, Despoina and Demeter were probably supposed to be some sort of a Maiden/Mistress/Mother trio.

if I was better at drawing I'd make a comic of Despoina, Persephone, Prosperina, and Kore (different versions of "persephone") but im not good at drawing sooo,

someone else go do this instead

We want to risk our lives with Minthe, are we? And money for Plutos not Hades, we're mixing different divinities.

Overall cool set up to honest.