A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

9(iO DEMETER.
of the goddess, but leave it essentially the same.
Demeter was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea,
and sister of Hestia, Hera, A'Ydes, Poseidon, and
Zeus. Like the other children of Cronus she was
devoured by her father, but he gave her forth
again after taking the emetic which Metis had
given him. (Hesiod. Theog. 452, &c.; Apollod.
i. 2. ~ 1.) By her brother Zeus, Demeter became
the mother of Persephone (Proserpina) and Dionysus (Hesiod. Theog. 912; Diod. iii. 62), and by
Poseidon of Despoena and the horse Arion. (Apollod. iii. 6. ~ 8; Paus. viii. 37. ~ 6.) The most
prominent part in the mythus of Demeter is the
rape of her daughter Persephone by Pluto, and
this story not only suggests the main idea embodied in Demeter, but also directs our attention
to the principal seats of her worship. Zeus, without the knowledge of Demeter, had promised Persephone to Pluto, and while the unsuspecting maiden was gathering flowers which Zeus had caused
to grow in order to tempt her and to favour Pluto's
scheme, the earth suddenly opened and she was
carried off by A'doneus (Pluto). Her cries of
anguish were heard only by Hecate and Helios.
Her mother, who heard only the echo of her voice,
immediately set out in search of her daughter.
The spot where Persephone was believed to have
been carried into the lower world is different in
the different traditions; the common story places
it in Sicily, in the neighbourhood of Enna, on
mount Aetna, or between the wells Cyane and
Arethusa. (Hygin. Fab. 146, 274; Ov. Met. v.
385, Fast. iv. 422; Diod. v. 3; Cic. in Verr. iv.
48.) This legend, which points to Sicily, though
undoubtedly very ancient (Pind. Nean. i. 17), is
certainly not the original tradition, since the
worship of Demeter was introduced into Sicily by
colonists from Megara and Corinth. Other traditions place the rape of Persephone at Erineus on
the Cephissus, in the neighbourhood of Eleusis
(Orph. Hymn. 17.15), at Colonus in Attica (Schol.
ad Soph. Oed. Col. 1590), in an island of the
Atlantic near the western coast of Spain (Orph.
Argon. 1190), at Hermione in Peloponnesus
(Apollod. i. 5. ~ 1; Strab. viii. p. 373), in Crete
(Schol. ad Hesiod. Theog. 914), or in the neighbourhood of Pisa. (Paus. vi. 21. ~ 1.) Others
again place the event at Pheneus in Arcadia
(Conon, Narr. 15), or at Cyzicus (Propert. iii. 21.
4), while the Homeric hymn on Demeter places
it in the plain of Nysa in Asia. In the Iliad and
Odyssey the rape of Persephone is not expressly
mentioned. Demeter wandered about in search of
her daughter for nine days, without taking any
nectar or ambrosia, and without bathing. On the
tenth she met Hecate, who told her that she had
heard the cries of Persephone, but did not know
who had carried her off. Both then hastened to
Helios, who revealed to them that Pluto had been
the ravisher, and with the consent of Zeus. Demeter
in her anger at this news avoided Olympus, and
dwelt upon earth among men, conferring presents
and blessings wherever she was kindly received,
and severely punishing those who repulsed her or
did not receive her gifts with proper reverence.
In this manner she came to Celeus at Eleusis.
[CELEUS.] As the goddess still continued in her
anger, and produced famine on the earth by not
allowing the fields to produce any fruit, Zeus,
anxious that the race of mortals should not become
extinct, sent Iris to induce Demeter to return to

DEMETER.
Olympus. (Comp. Paus. viii. 42. ~ 2.) But in
vain. At length Zeus sent out all the gods of
Olympus to conciliate her by entreaties and presents; but she vowed not to return to Olympus,
nor to restore the fertility of the earth, till she had
seen her daughter again. Zeus accordingly sent
Hermes into Erebus to fetch back Persephone.
Ai'doneus consented, indeed, to Persephone returning, but gave her a part of a pomegranate to eat,
in order that she might not always remain with
Demeter. Hermes then took her in Pluto's
chariot to Eleusis to her mother, to whom, after a
hearty welcome, she related her fate. At Eleusis
both were joined by Hecate, who henceforth remained the attendant and companion of Persephone.
Zeus now sent Rhea to persuade Demeter to
return to Olympus, and also granted that Persephone should spend only a part of the year (i. e.
the winter) in subterraneous darkness, and that
during the rest of the year she should remain with
her mother. (Comp. Ov. Met. v. 565, Fast. iv.
614; Hygin. Fab. 146.) Rhea accordingly descended to the Rharian plain near Eleusis, and
conciliated Demeter, who now again allowed the
fruits of the fields to grow. But before she parted
from Eleusis, she instructed Triptolemus, Diodes,
Eumolpus, and Celeus in the mode of her worship
and in the mysteries.
These are the main features of the mythus
about Demeter, as it is contained in the Homeric
hymn; in later traditions it is variously modified.
Respecting her connexions with Jasion or Jasius,
Tantalus, Melissa, Cychreus, Erysichthon, Pandareus, and others, see the different articles.
Demeter was the goddess of the earth (Eurip.
Bacch. 276), and more especially of the earth as
producing fruit, and consequently of agriculture,
whence human food or bread is called by Homer
(II. xiii. 322) the gift of Demeter. The notion
of her being the author of the earth's fertility was
extended to that of fertility in general, and she
accordingly was looked upon also as the goddess of
marriage (Serv. ad Aen. iv. 58), and was worshipped especially by women. Her priestess also
initiated young married people into the duties of
their new situation. (Plut. de Of. conj. 1.) As
the goddess of the earth she was like the other
Seol XOodvioi, a subterraneous divinity, who worked
in the regions inaccessible to the rays of Helios.
As agriculture is the basis of a well-regulated
social condition, Demeter is represented also as the
friend of peace and as a law-giving goddess. (eowoo' pos, Callim. Hymn. in Cer. 138; Orph. Hymn.
39. 4; Virg. Aen. iv. 58; Honm. II. v. 500; Ov.
Met. v. 341; Paus. viii. 15. ~ 1.) The mythus of
Demeter and her daughter embodies the idea, that
the productive powers of the earth or nature rest
or are concealed during the winter season; the
goddess (Demeter and Persephone, also called Cora,
are here identified) then rules in the depth of the
earth mournful, but striving upwards to the allanimating light. Persephone, who has eaten of
the pomegranate, is the fructified flower that returns in spring, dwells in the region of light during
a portion of the year, and nourishes men and
animals with her fruits. Later philosophical writers,
and perhaps the mysteries also, referred the disappearance and return of Persephone to the burial
of the body of man and the immortality of his
soul. Demeter was worshipped in Crete, Delos,
Argolis, Attica, the western coast of Asia, Sicily,