Demeter / Ceres
Goddess of corn or of the earth and fertility. Demeter was also known as Deo, while the Romans called her Ceres. Demeter was a daughter of Cronus and Rhea.Demeter was often seen as one of the Olympians, replacing Hades, since the Underworld god was rarely seen outside of his domain.
She became mother of Persephone by her brother Zeus.
One day, while Persephone was playing with her companions, Hades came and abducted her. Hades had fallen in love with Persephone's great beauty. Hades wanted to marry her and make her his queen in the Underworld.
In her grief, Demeter searched the world for nine days, trying to find out how her daughter had vanished. No one knew who abducted her until she met Hecate and Helius.
When she discovered that Hades abducted Persephone, she refused to allow plants and crops to grow. The entire world was facing starvation. Finally Zeus ruled that Persephone would spend two-thirds of a year with her mother on earth, while the rest in the Underworld with her husband.
Demeter was not always a kindly goddess. When she was searching for her daughter, she did cause crops to fail, particularly among those people who were inhospitable toward her, while she wandering the earth as an old woman.
Perhaps the most frightening of all was the story of Erysichthon. Demeter inflicted Erysichthon with unceasing hunger, which he can never satisfy. The agony of hunger caused Erysichthon, in the end, eat himself to death, quite literally – Erysichthon started eating his own flesh.
Demeter was usually depicted in arts, holding ears of corn, sometimes she is holding a scepter or torch.
She became mother of Persephone by her brother Zeus.
One day, while Persephone was playing with her companions, Hades came and abducted her. Hades had fallen in love with Persephone's great beauty. Hades wanted to marry her and make her his queen in the Underworld.
In her grief, Demeter searched the world for nine days, trying to find out how her daughter had vanished. No one knew who abducted her until she met Hecate and Helius.
When she discovered that Hades abducted Persephone, she refused to allow plants and crops to grow. The entire world was facing starvation. Finally Zeus ruled that Persephone would spend two-thirds of a year with her mother on earth, while the rest in the Underworld with her husband.
Demeter was not always a kindly goddess. When she was searching for her daughter, she did cause crops to fail, particularly among those people who were inhospitable toward her, while she wandering the earth as an old woman.
Perhaps the most frightening of all was the story of Erysichthon. Demeter inflicted Erysichthon with unceasing hunger, which he can never satisfy. The agony of hunger caused Erysichthon, in the end, eat himself to death, quite literally – Erysichthon started eating his own flesh.
Demeter was usually depicted in arts, holding ears of corn, sometimes she is holding a scepter or torch.
