The descent of Inana and the rape of Persephone: a study of two literary sources on the myths of death and resurrection

The article deals with two literary works originating from two highly distinct traditions: ancient Sumerian and Greek. Despite their different origins, the two works in question, “The Descent of Inana to the Underworld” and Homeric Hymn “To Demeter”, share several key features, which thematically connect them to Greek Mystery cults: topics of death and possibility of salvation, mysteries of the underworld, which can be transcended by means of initiation rites, aetiological connection between the death and rebirth of a fertility deity and agricultural fertility of the land. Based on the assumption that these two sources can be identified as apocalypses and given the widespread correlation between formal literary complexity and philosophical (or theological) depth found in apocalyptic literature (especially in Judeo-Christian tradition), this paper seeks to establish the same correlation in Greco-Sumerian and, more precisely, Eleusinian milieu. However, the final analyses proves the opposite of the initial hypothesized conclusion.