- Born by the Titans
- Demter was the sister of Zeus and the other children of Cronus and
Rhea. Demeter: Her name means "barley-mother" or "mother earth". and
goddess of fertility. She is also known as Ceres (Roman) and sometimes
Deo. Demeter is often seen holding a stalk of grain or corn, sometimes a
torch, a crown, or sceptre. Sacred to her are livestock and agricultural
products (with the emphasis on corn), poppy, narcissus and the crane.
- Had many lovers
- She had various lovers, including her brother Zeus. One of her
children was Persephone (by Zeus), who was carried off by Hades. Iasion
was among the most handsome. Demeter fell in love with him and they lay
in a thrice-plowed field. Many say that because of this Zeus killed him
with a thunderbolt, but others say that he was destroyed by his horses.
However some say that Demeter could regret his graying hairs.
- Hades abducts Persephone
-
Persephone and Demeter were gathering flowers in a meadow. when Hades
snatched Persephone up in his chariot brought her down with him to the
underworld. It all happened so fast that Demeter has no idea where
Presephone went. Hades (god of the underworld), tricked her. Hades
offers Persephone the seeds of the pomegranate, which she accepts. The
act of ingesting pomegranate seeds symbolizes the consummation of their
relationship and is regarded as the spouse of Hades.
- Demeter, grief strucken
- Demeter, grief strucken over her daughter's loss, searched all
over the world for her in vain. Demeter in her grief, Demeter let the
earth grow barren (winter) Moreover, she refused to make the seeds
sprout in the dark earth, and all the world began to suffer famine.
Even the gods suffered from the lack of gifts and sacrifices. Zeus sent
Iris and other gods to intercede with her, yet Demeter would not relent.
Finally, with the help of Hekate and Helios, she learned of her
daughter's abduction and discovered that it had been approved
in advance by Zeus himself.
- Return of Persephone
-
Finally, Zeus dispatched Hermes down to Hades, bidding the lord of the
underworld to give Persephone up and return her to her mother.
Hades reluctantly agreed, but first he contrived to make Persephone
taste a small morsel of food--consisting of a single pomegranate
seed--just enough to ensure, by a kind of divine symmetry, that she
would always have to spend one third of every year with him (during the
winter).
And so Persephone was able to leave the underworld and return to the
light, where she was reunited at last with her mother. and only when
Persephone was returned to her, six months of the year, did she let the
earth become fruitful again (summer).
- Some were punished by Demeter...
- To Erysichthon Demeter sent Famine for having cut down a sacred
oak. As much as he ate, so much he desired again. So at the end he ate
himself and died.
Triopas: king of the Thessalians tore down the temple of Demeter, built
by the men of old. So, for having destroyed the temple of Demeter,
hunger was brought on him and he could never afterwards be satisfied by
any amount of food.
- Eleusinian Mysteries
- There was religious
movement in ancient Greece, held at ELEUSIS. The secret rites, which
celebrated the abduction of PERSEPHONE and her return to her mother
DEMETER, symbolized the annual cycle of death and rebirth in nature, as
well as the immortality of the soul. DIONYSUS was also much honored at
the festival. Her worship involved fertility rites and rites for the
dead, and her chief festival was the Cerealia. joy at her daughter's
return, Demeter caused the earth to bring forth flowers, fruit, and
grain in the spring. Her sorrow returned each fall when Persephone had
to go to Hades. Winter was regarded as the yearly manifestation of
Demeter's grief.
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