The Olympian gods
Demeter
Greek Goddess of Agriculture, Fertility, Sacred Law and the Harvest
Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and presides over grains and the fertility of the earth. Although she was most often referred to as the goddess of the harvest, she was also goddess of sacred law and the cycle of life and death.
Her virgin daughter Persephone was abducted by the god of the underworld, Hades, and Demeter endlessly searched for her, preoccupied with loss and grief. The seasons halted and living things stopped growing and died. At this point, Zeus had to intervene and send his messenger Hermes to the underworld to bring Persephone back and prevent the extinction of all life on Earth.
Hades agreed to Persephone’s relief but gave her a pomegranate as she left. When she ate the pomegranate seeds, she was bound to him for one third of the year, either the dry Mediterranean summer, when plant life is threatened by drought, or the autumn and winter.
Demeter and Persephone were also the central figures to the Eleusinian Mysteries – a series of large and secretive concerts held every five years. These mysteries represented the abduction of Persephone by Hades in three phases. The “descent” (loss), the “search” and the “ascent”. The main theme is the “ascent” of Persephone and the reunion with her mother.
Facts about Demeter
Demeter was the daughter of Cronos and Rhea.
She was the goddess of harvest and fertility.
She had one daughter, Persephone; Zeus was Persephone’s father.
After Hades abducted Persephone, Demeter grieved. The earth became barren through her neglect; thus, the winter season and its manifestations were a reflection of
Demeter’s emotional state during Persephone’s absence.
She revealed to man the art of growing and using corn.
Only women attended the Thesmophoria, a fertility festival held in honor of Demeter.
The fields of grain and the threshing-floor were under her protection. They were temples at which she could occupy at any moment.
Her chief festival came at the harvest time. It began as a humble feast and over time morphed into a mysterious worship. This great festival occurred only every five years.
Demeter and Dionysus were worshipped at Eleusis, a little town near Athens. Their worship was referred to as the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Demeter was older than Dionysus. They were the two great gods of the Earth.
Metaneira, a mother herself, comforted Demeter in Persephone’s absence. In fact, Demeter nursed one of Metaneira’s children. She doted on the child and anointed him with ambrosia on a daily basis. Demeter’s attachment to the child alarmed Metaneira, and the two ultimately went their separate ways.
Still angry over the abduction of Persephone, Demeter subjected the world to famine. Zeus sent the gods to Demeter one by one to try and bring her out of her despondency. Demeter and Persephone were ultimately reunited at Zeus’s decree.
Demeter was granted four months per year with Persephone; her daughter would remain with Hades for the remaining months.
Men called Demeter the “Good Goddess” despite the desolation she had brought about as a result of her grief.
She named Triptolemus her ambassador to men.
She taught Triptolemus and Celeus her sacred rites.
In ancient art, Demeter was pictured wearing a wreath made of ears of corn.
The snake and the pig were sacred to her.
The torch is often depicted in connection with Demeter because of her persistent search for Persephone.
Demeter came to Eleusis during the reign of King Erechtheus of Athens.
goddess of : Agriculture, Fertility, the Seasons, Nature
Symbols: Winged Serpent, Gecko, Swine, Wheat, Poppy, Cornucopia
Sacred Animals: Cats and dogs (all domestic pets), lions snakes, crane, and lizards
Parents: Cronus and Rhea
Consort: Zeus, Poseidon, Carmanor, Lasion
Children: Persephone, Khrysothemis, Ploutos, Despoine, Areion
Mare
Poseidon had come one day to attempt to make her lay with him. She, in an attempt to escape him, turned herself into a Mare. Poseidon was confused at first, but then turned into a Stallion, then as result was Arion and Despoina
Sphere of Control
She has control over crops and agriculture, and will often punish those she dislikes with famine. She is also the Goddess of the seasons, so she can change the climate and state of the earth. She is also the Goddess of Motherhood, and she can bestow a good or bad pregnancy upon mortals. When she is with Persephone, the earth is warm and ripe, but when she is away with Hades, the world is dark and bare. The story is just one of the instances where Demeter's powers can affect the earth itself. She also has various mystical power primarily to control the harvesting of plants especially, but not limited, to grain. It has been theorized that her emotions are in tune to the harvest and that they are bountiful when she is happy, and drought occurs when she is unhappy. She can also cross dimensional barriers between worlds and alter her form to appear as an elderly woman. She can invoke curses, such as when she cursed King Erysichthon in ancient times with insatiable hunger and endow mystical ability in sorcerers and mystics that know how to call upon her. She can also cross-dimensional barriers between worlds and alter her form to appear in an immaterial state to present herself to mortals. On Earth, she sometimes takes a gigantic physical stature to appear intimidating to mortals. Her powers to control the weather are not as proficient as that of Zeus or Poseidon; she can cause rain to fall, but she cannot create storms or thunder showers. Demeter’s physical appearance is somewhat affected by the harvest. Under the most prosperous time of the year, she appears as a beautiful goddess with all her godly powers of eternal youth and immortality very evident. During the fall and winter, she can take the form of an older woman, but one still in command of her full power. In the spring and summer, she returns to her true condition. Likewise, when she visits areas suffering by drought or blight or inflicted by pollutants, her visage is likewise affected. By channeling powerful primal energies from Gaea, she can restore or resuscitate conditions affecting the fertility of the earth
As the goddess of agriculture, she has divine authority and absolute control over plants. She can also grant fertility to the earth, allowing plants to grow where they could not grow before. Also, she aids plants in growing simply by being near them.
Demeter and Persephone
The goddess Demeter is best known for her fierce defense of her daughter, Persephone, who was also known as the child, Kore (or Cora). Persephone's father was Zeus, the mighty ruler of the Olympians. The goddess Demeter had been one of his early consorts, long before his marriage to Hera.
Persephone was an obedient, cheerful girl who had a happy childhood, playing with her cousins, Artemis and Athena. Reaching adolescence, she was carefree and spirited, often dancing playfully and picking wildflowers in the meadow near her home.
Persephone's youthful beauty drew the attention of Hades, the god of the underworld, and he could not help falling in love with her. One day as Persephone reached over to pick a flower, the earth opened and the arm of Hades reached up from the underworld.
And so Hades abducted her, dragging her back to his kingdom.
Hearing Persephone's screams, the goddess Demeter rushes to the meadow, but cannot find Persephone. Carrying a torch, Demeter traveled the world day and night, never eating or resting, searching futilely for her daughter.
When Demeter continued her journey in search of her daughter, she met an old and poor man who was gathering firewood who invited her to return to his home to eat supper with his family and to rest on her journey. When she told him that she was searching for her daughter, he wished her success and told her that he understood her suffering since his son lay dying at home. Demeter, goddess of compasion, changed her mind and went with the kindly man, stopping only once to gather some poppies by the path. Entering his humble home, Demeter went straight away to the boy's bedside and kissed the boy lovingly on the cheek. Immediately the pallor left his face and his breathing eased, as Demeter's love had restored the son to full health.
Resuming her search, she soon encountered Hecate, goddess of the crossroads, who advised her to speak with Helio, goddess of the sun . . . reasoning that, since she had been riding her chariot (the sun) through the sky that day, she had surely seen what had happened to Persephone. Helio told the goddess Demeter what she had seen and that Persephone was now ensconced as Hades' wife and Queen of the Underworld. She also gave her the shocking news that Zeus himself had sanctioned the marriage, giving Hades permission to abduct Persephone.
Understandably, the goddess Demeter felt betrayed. Renouncing her divine duties that included bringing fertility to the land, Demeter left Mount Olympus swearing that the earth would remain barren until her daughter was returned to her. She took refuge in the city of Eleusis. Disguised as an old woman, the goddess Demeter was met the city rulers two young daughters at the well, and they, liking her immensely, invited her to return to their home to meet their mother. There she met their mother who was cuddling her infant son. This must have stirred Demeter's longing for her abducted daughter horribly. Demeter became profoundly depressed, almost catatonic, eyes gazing off into the distance and unwilling or unable to even speak.
Everyone tried to all that they knew to cheer their guest; but it was to no avail. Eventually one of the household servants, a middle-aged maid named Baubo, came and sat in front of Demeter and started talking, mostly making humorous comments (most likely of the "male-bashing" sort), some of them quite risque. Encouraged when she saw the beginnings of a smile forming on Demeter's grief stricken face, Baubo hiked up her skirt and "mooned" the goddess. Demeter responded with a deep belly laugh that brought her out of the deep depression. Her good nature now restored, Demeter was soon hired to work as a nursemaid to the infant son of the city's ruler.
Caring for him lovingly, feeding him on the nectar and ambrosia of the gods, Demeter grew very attached to the young Demophoon and decided to make him immortal. But, just as Demeter was holding his feet over the fire (the ritual which would transform him into an Olympian god, Demophoon's mother entered the room.
Mistakenly believing that Demeter was about to burn her son, she began to scream. The goddess Demeter then dropped her disguise, revealing the beautiful goddess that she truly was, and berated the mother for her stupidity in stopping the ritual that would have given her son immortality.
In addition, Demeter demanded that a temple be built in her honor. This was done, and the goddess Demeter remained there, sitting alone in the darkness, once again depressed and grieving for her lost daughter.
All this time, with the goddess Demeter refusing to function, the land grew barren and the harvests ceased . . . the earth saw a winter that did not end. Zeus finally opens his eyes to what was happening and sent messengers to apologize and coax the goddess Demeter to return.
Demeter, however, remained adamant that she would not return until Persephone was rescued. Finally, Zeus gave in and sent Hermes to command Hades to release Persephone.
ersephone, upon hearing the news, rejoiced for she had missed her mother sorely. As she was leaving, Hades offered her a pomegranate to eat. Persephone had refused all food while she had been in the underworld, and was surely hungry.
Although she undoubtedly knew that those who ate anything in the underworld were not allowed to return to the earth, Persephone accepted Hades' gift, eating only the seeds. Hermes borrowed Hades chariot and stallions and flew Persephone home to her mother as Zeus had ordered.
Demeter was not pleased that Persephone had eaten the pomegranate seeds and would have to return to the underworld for four months during each year, but was otherwise overjoyed to be reunited with her daughter.
Happily, Demeter resumed her divine duties and restored the fertility of the earth. Each year the goddess Demeter longs for her absent daughter and withdraws her favors from the earth for a period we know as winter, but Persephone returns each spring to end her desolation.