Demeter’s ice

impressions of greta thunberg

The Goddess Demeter fell into such profound grief at the loss of her daughter, Persephone, that the seasons ceased and the world fell into an eternal winter.

Greta Thunberg, a Swedish political activist seeking to stop global warming and climate change, started the first school strike for climate, outside the parliament building.

For me, Greta’s years of depression and selective mutism (due to her grief about our looming environmental crisis) parallel Demeter’s grief.

Why Demeter?

In light of Greta’s life story, I see her as the ancient Demeter goddess. Greta’s years of selective mutism (due to her grief about our looming but ignored environmental crisis) parallel Demeter’s grief at the loss of her daughter Persephone and the resultant environmental changes on earth.

In ancient Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture who presides over the grains, the fertility of the earth, sacred law and the cycle of life and death.

Demeter is often considered to be the same figure as the Anatolian goddess Cybele and the Latin goddess Ceres.

In Arcadia, she was known as "Black Demeter" and represented as snake-haired, holding a dove and dolphin, symbolizing her connection to the underworld, the air, and the water.

Demeter was said to have taken the form of a mare to escape the pursuit of her younger brother, Poseidon, who caught and raped her.

Furious at Poseidon's assault she dressed all in black and retreated into a cave in order to purify herself, an act which resulted in a universal famine. In this furious form she became known as Demeter Erinys.

Demeter's absence caused the death of crops, livestock, and finally, the people who depended on them. Later it was said that it was both her rage at Poseidon and the loss of her daughter that caused the famine. Demeter washed away her anger in the River Ladon, renewing her power and becoming Demeter Lousia, the "bathed Demeter".

She is also raped by her brother, Zeus, lord of the gods. The result of that rape is their daughter Persephone.

When Persephone is abducted by Hades and forced to live in the underworld, Demeter searches for her ceaselessly, obsessed with her loss and grief. The seasons halt, all life ceases to grow and the world plunges into a deep winter.

It is only when Zeus intercedes and convinces Hades to allow Persephone to return that Demeter allows life to resume.

Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg (born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish political activist seeking to stop global warming and climate change. She has challenged world leaders to take immediate action against climate change.

In August 2018, she became a prominent figure for starting the first school strike for climate, outside the Swedish parliament building. Greta Thunberg was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2o19 and 2020.

Greta Thunberg fell into a depression at the age of eight, when she first learned about climate change and could not understand why so little was being done about it.

Three years later she had stopped talking and eating. She lost ten kilograms (22 lb) in two months.

Eventually, she was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and selective mutism.

Finally she began protesting by means of her school strike.

Her father said: "[We] respect that she wants to make a stand. She can either sit at home and be really unhappy, or protest, and be happy".

Addressing Parliament to discuss the Climate Law, a proposal seeking to commit the EU to carbon neutrality by 2050, Thunberg criticized the proposal as insufficient.

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