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Among the multiple literary allusions that envelop the epic structure of Nabokov's novels, mythology plays an important role.1 Lolita is one of the best examples of how the web of overt or hidden citations transforms the meaning by enlarging the background of associations connected to heroes and their motives. Images that are closely attached to some Greek or Roman mythological patterns or archetypes are the object of investigation in this article. They form only one layer of the polygenetical2 system of the Nabokovian novel. Nabokov said in an interview that this nymphet is "mythical."3 What then is mythical in Lolita14 The most striking of all the mythological allusions is Lolita's parallel with Diana, a parallel that was discussed in a previous paper of mine (Hetényi, "Rimskiie siostry Lolity"). The present article aims to consider some hidden motifs of Demeter and Persephone appearing in Lolita's character and the events or objects around her.
Demeter is the Mother Goddess of the Earth and fertility in Greek mythology. The best-known tale from Homer's Hymn to Demeter tells the story of Persephone, Demeter's daughter by Zeus.5 Initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries revealed the profound significance that lay behind their rituals. Persephone, Demeter's only daughter, grew up among nymphs in company with Artemis, whose references also enrich Lolita's character. Artemis is also identified by the Romans with Diana (Grimal 60; see also both Hetényi works cited). Hades, the King of Underworld (brother of Zeus, and so Persephone's uncle), fell in love with her and abducted her.6 While Persephone was picking up a lily (according to some myths, the lily, or narcissus, was put there by Zeus, as an accomplice of Hades), the ground opened and Hades dragged her down to the Underworld. Demeter wandered for nine days and nights over the world with a lighted torch in her hands to find Persephone. Only Helios could tell her the truth. Demeter decided to abandon her divine role until her daughter was returned to her, and went to Eleusis to work as a wet nurse. Demeter's exile made the earth sterile, so Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone, but, as in the meantime she had eaten a pomegranate seed that tied her to Hades forever, she was now his wife. Therefore, a...