In mid-to-late April, the Roman festival of the Cerealia was held for one week, honoring the Goddess Ceres (Greek: Demeter).
To the Ceralian Mother
"Ceralian Queen, of celebrated name,
From whom both men, and Gods immortal came;
Who widely wandering once, oppressed with grief,
In Eleusina's valley found relief,
Discovering Proserpine thy daughter pure
In dread Avernus, dismal and obscure;
A sacred youth while through the world you stray
Bacchus, attending leader of the way;
The holy marriage of terrestrial Jove
Relating, while oppressed with grief you rove;
Come, much invoked, and to these rites inclined,
Thy mystic suppliant bless, with favoring mind."
From whom both men, and Gods immortal came;
Who widely wandering once, oppressed with grief,
In Eleusina's valley found relief,
Discovering Proserpine thy daughter pure
In dread Avernus, dismal and obscure;
A sacred youth while through the world you stray
Bacchus, attending leader of the way;
The holy marriage of terrestrial Jove
Relating, while oppressed with grief you rove;
Come, much invoked, and to these rites inclined,
Thy mystic suppliant bless, with favoring mind."
The Fumigation from Aromatics
(Hymns of Orpheus, trans. Taylor)
(Painting of the Roman Cerealia entitled "Spring", 1894 by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.)
