Thanksgiving in Ancient Greece

 

         In Greek mythology, Persephone was the beautiful daughter of the king of the gods and Demeter, the goddess fertility. Hades, who was the god of death, saw Persephone from afar and immediately fell deeply in love. One day while her caretakers were distracted, Hades swept in and captured Persephone to take her to his abode in the Underworld. When Demeter discovered her daughter was missing, she was so distraught that she refused to feed the earth. When Persephone was found, she gifted mankind with agriculture because she was so relieved. Humans were so grateful that they created a festival to honor Demeter, known as Thesmophoria. 

         This celebration took place around the same time as our Thanksgiving, between October and November. Thesmophoria was a women only festival, and men weren’t even allowed to know the specifics of the rituals. One of them included burning pig intestines on an altar, along with figures of men and snakes, symbols of fertility. Greeks nowadays celebrate normal Thanksgiving but with a special Greek flair!

                        Written by Liv