emeter was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and sister to Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera and Hestia. Demeter was the goddess of corn, fruit and agriculture in general and a goddess of fertility. As such she was, in many regions, associated with Poseidon as the god of fertilising water.

After Hades had carried off Persephone to the underworld, to be his wife, Demeter wandered all over the world for nine days searching for her beloved daughter, but without success, until Helios, the sun, told her what had happened. Furious at Zeus for allowing her daughter, and his, to be married against her wishes, she quit Olympus and decided to pay a visit to the earth to see how she would be received and treated by mortals.

While Demeter was carrying on her search for Persephone, her duties were completely neglected and as a result the land became barren and produced nothing. In the course of her travels, she finally came to Eleusis in Attica where, disguised as an old woman, Deo, the seeker, she was welcomed by King Celeus and his wife, Metanira. As a reward for their kindness she sought to confer the gift of immortality on their newborn son, Demophoon, by burning his mortal parts, but did not succeed because she was interrupted during the process by his mother’s startled scream, as a result of which the baby died in the flames. Demeter made up for the loss as far as possible, by teaching agriculture and all of its benefits to another son, Triptolemus (which means three-times ploughed), who became her favourite son. She gave him seeds of wheat, and a chariot drawn by dragons and serpents. In his carriage, Triptolemus covered the earth and, acting under Demeter’s instructions, brought to men the lessons of law and order, the blessings of agriculture and civilisation, of living permanently in one place, and of settling down to marrying.

Having dischargd her debt of gratitude to her mortal friends, and still smarting from Zeus’ heavy handed treatment, Demeter commanded the earth not to bare any fruit, food, or flowers. In order to prevent a universal famine, Zeus had to admit his mistake, and send Hermes down to the lower regions to get Persephone, and reunite her with her mother. Hades was perfectly willing to let her go, under one condition; that because Persephone had partly eaten a pomegranate, that Hades had given her, she was to marry him. Persephone married Hades, and it was arranged that she should spend eight months of the year on Olympus with her mother, and the remaining four with Hades. Demeter, being happy with this arrangement, lifted the ban on growth in earth.

Demeter’s wrath was also felt by,

Stelio, a youth that she changed into a lizard when he made a jesting remark about her eating habits.

Erysichthon, son of Triopas, king of Thessaly, whom she afflicted with a terrible hunger, in which he ate his own flesh, because he cut down some trees in a grove that was dedicated to her.