ORIGIN: Greek
TYPE: Vegetation and mother goddess
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: From circa 800 bce but probably earlier until Christianization (circa CE 400)
SYNONYMS: Damater (Dorian); Sito; Thesmophoros
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Throughout Greek world including Agrigentum, Cnidos, Priene, Gela, Siris, and Lokroi. Particularly at Eleusis.
ART REFERENCES: Various sculptures; terracottas showing votary priestesses holding piglets
LITERARY SOURCES: Hymn to Demeter and Theogony (Hesiod)
ABODE: Mount Olympus
SYMBOL: Cornucopia, wheat, torch, poppy, bread
FESTIVALS: Thesmophoria, Eleusinian Mysteries
PARENTS: Cronus and Rhea
SIBLINGS: Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, Chiron (half)
CHILDREN: Persephone, Despoina, Eubuleus, Arion, Plutus, Philomelus, Iacchus, Hecate (orphic)
EQUIVALENTS: Ceres (Roman), Isis (Egyptian)
INFORMATION: Demeter displays a complex personality which may be the result of syncretization in prehistoric times between a goddess of the corn and one of the underworld. By Homeric times Demeter was a goddess of vegetation and death. In ancient Athens the dead were titled demetreioi and corn was traditionally scattered on new graves. Demeter undergoes a yearly conflict with Hades and a search for her lost daughter, or arguably her alter ego, since the personality of the missing maiden goddess Persephone or Kore(girl) is virtually inextricable from that of Demeter.
The legends of Demeter and Persephone account for the seasons of death and growth in the fields. Persephone, daughter of Demeter and Zeus, gathers flowers in a meadow surrounded by attendant Okeanides. As she picks one particular bloom the earth opens and the underworld god, Hades, abducts her. Demeter searches the world for her daughter and neglects its prosperity in so doing. The gods, seeing that catastrophe beckons, intervene and Hermes is sent to fetch the girl. There are conditions attached to her release, however, because she has tasted the pomegranate of Hades and is thus bound to the Underworld. She may only enter the air above for nine months of the year. For the remaining three she must return and live as mistress of Hades.
One of the most reasonable interpretations of the legend is that the three months when Persephone or Kore is in absence represent the three dry summer months when vegetation in the Mediterranean region shrivels away and when traditionally the grain was stored in underground silos. When the rains come in autumn the youthful aspect of Demeter returns. There are strong parallels with Mesopotamian and Hittite-Hurrian legend (See Inanna and Dumuzi; Hebat and Telepinu).
The Demeter cult was practiced in many places, often with a high degree of secrecy and with initiation rituals. Arguably the most famous cult center is Eleusis, where the legends provided a stimulus for the Eleusinian Mysteries. There also took place a women's festival of Thesmophoria, when pigs were buried alive in pits or megara. The sacrifice of young virgins to Demeter is reported but unsubstantiated.