Demeter (deity)
Demeter is a significant deity in Greek and Roman mythology, recognized as one of the Twelve Olympian gods. She is primarily revered as the goddess of agriculture, harvest, and fertility, crucial for the sustenance of ancient people through crops such as wheat and barley. Her Roman counterpart is Ceres, from which the term "cereal" is derived. Demeter is also associated with the cycle of life and death, reflecting her importance in agricultural fertility and the survival of communities.
A central aspect of Demeter's mythology involves her daughter, Persephone, and the myth explaining the seasons. When Hades abducted Persephone, Demeter's grief led to barren lands, emphasizing her role in fertility. The cyclical nature of her relationship with Persephone—the reunion in spring and separation in winter—symbolizes the agricultural cycle. Demeter was also associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, a series of secretive religious rites that focused on themes of life, death, and rebirth, highlighting her significance in ancient spirituality. Worship of Demeter was prominent in regions such as Crete, Attica, and Sicily, where her temples served as important centers for agricultural and maternal devotion.
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Subject Terms
Demeter (deity)
Symbols: cornucopia; wheat; bread; torch; corn; winged serpent
Culture: Greco-Roman
Mother: Rhea
Father: Cronos
Siblings: Hades; Hera; Hestia; Poseidon; Zeus
Children: Amphitheus I; Arion; Chrysothemis; Eubuleus; Despoina; Persephone; Philomenus; Plutus
Demeter was one of the major gods of Greek and Roman mythology. She was one of the so-called Twelve Olympian gods. Her parents were the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and with her siblings she was among the most powerful of the Greek gods.
Demeter was primarily known as the goddess of agriculture, the harvest and grain, from which bread—the most important food for the ancient people—was made. Her Roman name, Ceres, is the base for the modern word cereal. In short, she was the goddess of the main sustenance of humanity. It follows that she was also the goddess of the cycle of life and death. Additionally, she was the goddess of sacred law and of one of the oldest mystery cults of ancient Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries, which focused on death and the afterlife.
This cult was based in a small community near Athens called Eleusis, where, according to myth, Demeter taught agriculture to humanity. In ancient artworks, Demeter is often shown with a wreath made of ears of corn. Other plant symbols that appear in representations of Demeter include wheat and barley. She was often described as having golden hair, like the color of ripe wheat, corn, or fields of barley.
In Mythology
Demeter is best known in conjunction with her daughter Persephone and the myth of the origin of the seasons. The myth is not just an explanation of why seasons exist. People in the ancient world often lived on the fine line between life and death. A failed harvest could mean famine. The myth of Demeter and Persephone addresses the importance of the goddess of fertility to the survival of entire communities.
In the myth, Persephone was Demeter’s beloved only daughter. Hades, the lord of the underworld, wished to make Persephone his bride. Zeus, the ruler of the Olympian gods, granted Hades his wish. One day when Persephone was gathering flowers, the earth opened and Hades rushed out. He grabbed the young woman and disappeared beneath the ground.
Two other goddesses, Hecate and Helios, heard Persephone screaming for help, but Demeter was unaware of Persephone’s abduction. Demeter searched for her daughter for nine days. At the end of that time, she met Hecate who said she had heard Persephone’s cries but did not know who had taken the girl. They then learned from Helios that Hades was responsible for the abduction and had done it with the blessing of Zeus.
Enraged, Demeter refused to return to the home of the gods on Mount Olympus. She lived among humans, giving gifts to those who treated her well. Because of Demeter’s rage the land became infertile, and crops withered. Fearing that the entire race of mortals might die, Zeus sent all of the Olympian gods to try to convince Demeter to relent. She refused, saying fertility would not be restored to Earth until her daughter was restored to her.
Finally Zeus sent the messenger god, Hermes, to the underworld in order to bring Persephone back to her mother. Hades agreed, but he gave Persephone a pomegranate to eat. When the young woman ate some seeds from the fruit, it sealed her fate—because she ate while in the underworld, she was required to forever spend part of the year with Hades.
Thus, during the months in which Demeter is reunited with her daughter, the earth is fertile and yields food for humanity. But when Persephone must return to Hades, the earth is cold and hard, and winter freezes the land.
Demeter was reunited with Persephone in the town of Eleusis. Before she left Eleusis, Demeter taught the people how to worship her and instructed them in the mysteries of life and death. She also taught agriculture to Triptolemus, one of the princes there. In the myth she gave him her chariot and seed, telling him to scatter the seed in virgin land and in land that had been fallow—thus teaching humanity how to grow crops.
Origins and Cults
Demeter was an extremely important figure in Greek mythology. This is clear in her place as one of the six original Olympic gods that were children of Cronus. She is the principal fertility or Earth goddess. She was the goddess of agriculture and of wheat and barley; milling; bread; vegetables and fruit orchards; and pig farming. Demeter was the patron of farmers and plowing; sowing and harvesting; flour and flour mills; bread; vegetable gardens; fruit orchards; raising pigs; and of mothers, maternal devotion, and wet nurses.
Demeter was worshipped most avidly in Crete, Delos, Argolis, and Attica in Greece; on the western shore of Asia Minor; and in Sicily and Italy. Shrines and temples dedicated to the goddess are found throughout these regions. Her temples were called Megara and were most often located in wooded groves near towns.
The Eleusinian Mysteries that are associated with Demeter are one of the most famous of the secret religious rituals in ancient Greece. These were so important that the so-called Sacred Way, a fourteen-mile road between Athens and the smaller city of Eleusis, was the only actual road in the central part of Greece until the Romans came.
The Mysteries celebrated the story of Demeter and Persephone. The ceremony took place in two separate stages. The Lesser Mysteries purified the initiates in the spring. The Greater Mysteries were celebrated in the fall. The initiates walked the Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis, imitating Demeter as she searched for Persephone. At Eleusis the initiates fasted and rested, then entered the Telesterion, an underground chamber or hall. There a secret ritual took place which remains a secret to this day. Scholars theorize that the rite involved a reenactment of Persephone’s "death and rebirth," after which the initiates were said to no longer fear death. But the actual ritual is unknown. The Greek philosopher Plato, who was an initiate, said that a person who "has been purified and initiated shall dwell with the gods."
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