Demeter is the Greek Goddess of the harvest and of agriculture. She is the daughter of Rhea and Cronus, and therefore the sister of Zeus and other deities.
She had a daughter through Zeus who was called Persephone. Demeter's brother Hades, ruler of the underworld, kidnapped Persephone and took her away to the underworld to make her his wife. Demeter searched high and low for her missing daughter, and eventually learned what Hades had done. However, whilst she searched she neglected her crops, which caused a famine across the land, causing the death of many mortals. Zeus demanded that Hade's release Persephone so Demeter could once again focus on the crops, but by this point Persephone had already eaten the food of the underworld and thus was bound there. It was agreed that she would spend half of the year with her mother, and the other half of the year in the Underworld with Hades - this half of the year is winter, where Demeter will not let any crops grow until Persephone is returned to her. In this sense, she is also related to death for she is associated with the cycles of both life and death.
Demeter is also said to have bore other children. One source describes how she is the mother of Dionysus, again through Zeus. However, the majority of sources cite Dionysus' parentage as being through either Zeus and Persephone, or Zeus the mortal Semele. Yet another source claims that she has a second daughter named Despoina with Poseidon as well as another son, the horse god Arion. She also had a son with the son God Helios who was named Acheron, God of the river that flows through northwest Greece. In Orphic literature, she is said to be the mother of Hecate.
She also produced offspring with mortals, as many Greek deities did. Through these liaisons she gave birth to the God of wealth Plutus and the God of husbandry Philomelus.
She had a daughter through Zeus who was called Persephone. Demeter's brother Hades, ruler of the underworld, kidnapped Persephone and took her away to the underworld to make her his wife. Demeter searched high and low for her missing daughter, and eventually learned what Hades had done. However, whilst she searched she neglected her crops, which caused a famine across the land, causing the death of many mortals. Zeus demanded that Hade's release Persephone so Demeter could once again focus on the crops, but by this point Persephone had already eaten the food of the underworld and thus was bound there. It was agreed that she would spend half of the year with her mother, and the other half of the year in the Underworld with Hades - this half of the year is winter, where Demeter will not let any crops grow until Persephone is returned to her. In this sense, she is also related to death for she is associated with the cycles of both life and death.
Demeter is also said to have bore other children. One source describes how she is the mother of Dionysus, again through Zeus. However, the majority of sources cite Dionysus' parentage as being through either Zeus and Persephone, or Zeus the mortal Semele. Yet another source claims that she has a second daughter named Despoina with Poseidon as well as another son, the horse god Arion. She also had a son with the son God Helios who was named Acheron, God of the river that flows through northwest Greece. In Orphic literature, she is said to be the mother of Hecate.
She also produced offspring with mortals, as many Greek deities did. Through these liaisons she gave birth to the God of wealth Plutus and the God of husbandry Philomelus.
Demeter wouldn't be a Greek deity if there weren't also some tales of wrath and vengeance associated with her! In one tale, Erysichthon, King of Thessaly ordered the trees in a grove which was sacred to Demeter to be felled so he could extend his palace. There was one particular tree, a great oak, which was adored with tributes to Demeter that his men refused to chop down, so the King grabbed an axe and felled it himself. During this process he killed one of the dryads who cursed the King with her dying breath. Enraged, Demeter called upon the spirit of hunger, Limos, to enter the King's stomach. The King was struck with an insatiable hunger, and the more he ate, the hungrier he became. He ended up selling all of his possessions to buy food, even his own daughter. Eventually, ravished by hunger, he consumed himself.
In another tale the King tore down a temple to Demeter, and she inflicted the same punishment, but as he was nearing the end of his life she sent a snake to torment him. When the King finally died, she placed him among the stars (as the constellation Ophinuchus), as well as the snake, so it could continue its torment for eternity.
However, there are also several myths of her rewarding those who win her favour. She taught Triptolemus agriculture as a thanks to his father who had aided her in her search for Persephone, and instructed him on how to sow crops. Through him, the whole of Greece learned how to plant and harvest crops, bringing agriculture to the populace. When she is received warmly by the town of Pheneus, she gifts them pulses, and to another man who welcomed her into his home, she gifted a fig tree.
As a Goddess of the harvest, we can also equate her with fertility, and she is a great deity to consider in harvest celebrations. Symbols associated with Demeter include the cornucopia, wheat, poppies, and bread.
In another tale the King tore down a temple to Demeter, and she inflicted the same punishment, but as he was nearing the end of his life she sent a snake to torment him. When the King finally died, she placed him among the stars (as the constellation Ophinuchus), as well as the snake, so it could continue its torment for eternity.
However, there are also several myths of her rewarding those who win her favour. She taught Triptolemus agriculture as a thanks to his father who had aided her in her search for Persephone, and instructed him on how to sow crops. Through him, the whole of Greece learned how to plant and harvest crops, bringing agriculture to the populace. When she is received warmly by the town of Pheneus, she gifts them pulses, and to another man who welcomed her into his home, she gifted a fig tree.
As a Goddess of the harvest, we can also equate her with fertility, and she is a great deity to consider in harvest celebrations. Symbols associated with Demeter include the cornucopia, wheat, poppies, and bread.
