Demeteris
Demeter is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she also presided over the sacred law and the cycle of life and death.
Demeter's most famous myth (represented in the Eleusinian Mysteries) is a shared story. Her daughter Persephone is stolen by Hades, the god of the underworld. Demeter, in her sadness, neglects to cultivate the earth, plunging the world into a deadly famine where nothing grows. Only the return of Persephone to her mother alleviates Demeter's grief and returns life to the world. Demeter's story is first and foremost an allegory of the seasons.
Demeter's primary narrative role is her inaction but Disney princesses are all about action. Except for the princess who appears on screen for about 18 minutes of the 75-minute film,1 speaks a total of 18 lines, and sleeps for most of her own movie. And while we're at it, let's make it so that when she sleeps, the world sleeps with her, and the viewers too.
Demeter is Aurora, nicknamed Briar Rose, a suspiciously botanical name. Aurora was protected by three fairies — Flora (Plants), Fauna (Animals) and Merryweather (Climate), key components of the harvest and agriculture.
Aurora pricked her finger on the spinning wheel. Spinning involves taking a clump of fibres and teasing a bit of them out, then twisting it into a basic string shape. What were folks spinning when the Sleeping Beauty tale was told in 1697? Flax. An agricultural product. When were folks spinning it? After the harvest, just as winter approached.
Extra-diegetic. The original Sleeping Beauty (1959) was a box office bomb in its initial release. Many employees from the animation studio were laid off. This led to a 30 year winter before Disney had a successful princess movie again.2
Footnotes
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It contributed to Walt Disney Productions' first annual loss in a decade. See Sleeping Beauty (1959 film). ↩
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Exact tag matches
- DOM
- seasons
- TMP
- melancholy
Manual override — the algorithm originally paired this god with Moana (30.1). Why →