Demeter, Goddess of fruit, crops and vegetation
Demeter, the daughter of Cronos and
Rhea, was the Goddess of the Harvest, Earth, Fertility and
Agriculture. Demeter was one of the great divinities (or
Olympians) to the Greeks and was worshipped widely. Demeter was
swalloed by her father Cronos, but rescued by her brother Zeus
when the Olympian Gods overthrew the Titans. She is also
identified with the Roman Goddess Ceres, the Egyptian Goddes
Isis, and the Phrygian Cybele.
Demeter was the mother of Plutus and Philomelus by Iasion, Arion, the horse, by Poseidon, an unnamed goddess referred to as "mistress' (Despoena), and possibly Iacchus.
Demeter also had a daughter, Persephone, by her brother Zeus. One of the oldest Greek myths, as told by Homer in 'Hymn to Demeter' tells of how Demeter personified the seasonal cycle of death and regeneration. After Zeus sanctioned Hades' abduction of Persephone, because he knew Demeter would not agree to Hades and Persephone wedding, Demeter wandered the earth for a year searching for her daughter. She was kind and bestowed gifts on those that helped her, but after a time she took refuge in a tempel built for her by the King of Eleusis and withdraws the gift of fertility from the earth.
Zeus soon realized that if Demeter was not appeased the earth would become barren and mankind would die out, thus leaving the Gods with no source for the sacrifices they needed. Zeus finally agreed that as long as Persephone had eaten nothing in Hades she could return to her mother, but Persephone had already eated pomegranate seeds, so she was only allowed to return to the earth's surface for six months out of the year. Persephone is allowed to spend the winter and spring in Hades, and the summer and fall with her mother. Demeter is so happy that she once again bestows fertility on the earth, and even gives Triptolemus an ear of corn, with instructions on how to propigate it throughtout the world.
The temple of Eleusis, where Persephone had returned to the earth, becomes Demeter's principal shrine. The Eleusinian Mysteries, secret rites, were performed there, celebrating the death and rebirth of the grain and the purification and mystic rebirth of the celebrants. As Doso, she was also nursemaid to Demophon. Demeter also gave Pelops an ivory shoulder after accidentally eating part of his.
Demeter Today
Demeter was portrayed by Sarah Wilson on Hercules.
The Demeter Episodes
Xena: Warrior Princess
Season 1: "A Fistful of Dinars", Xena goes to Demeter's Temple to find 'the Heart of Demeter', a ruby that is one of the clues to finding the Ambrosia.
Season 5: "Succession", Mavican finds Gabrielle and Xena in Demeter's Temple.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
Season 2: "The Other Side", played by Sarah Wilson, Demeter asks Hercules to save Persephone from Hades.
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