This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tucci528 (talk | contribs) at 14:04, 2 September 2002. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 14:04, 2 September 2002 by Tucci528 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Demeter (DEH-MEH-ter) was the Greek goddess of agriculture, health, birth and marriage. She was associated with the Roman goddess Ceres; also, she was the daughter of Cronos and Rhea, and therefore the sister of Zeus.
Demeter had several children; these included Persephone, the consort of Hades, and Plutus, the god of wealth. Persephone became the goddess of the underworld when Hades abducted her from the earth and brought her into the underworld. Life came to a stand still as the depressed Demeter (goddess of the earth) searched for her lost daughter (resting on the stone, Agelasta). Finally, Zeus could not put up with the dying earth and forced Hades to return Persephone. But before she was released, Hades tricked her into eating six pomegranate seeds, which forced her to return six months each year. When Demeter and her daughter were together, the earth flourished with vegetation. But for six months each year, when Persephone returned to the underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm. It was during her trip to retrieve Persephone from the underworld that she revealed the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Demeter was usually portrayed on a chariot, and frequently associated with images of the harvest, including flowers, fruit, and grain. She was also sometimes pictured with Persephone.
She was sometimes referred to with the name Damia as the goddess of growth in nature. As Auxesia, she was the goddess of growth. Chloe ("the young one") was an epithet frequently applied to her.