Demeter, a sculpture by Dessa Kirk at Purdue North Central Campus, Westville, Indiana

Demeter is the Goddess of grain and fertility. She is the nourisher of children and the green, living earth. She is the center of the cycle of life and death, and preserver of marriage and the sacred law. Demeter is invoked as the "bringer of seasons" in one of the ancient Homeric hymns. Her worship predates Her addition to the ranks of the Olympian Gods, as evidenced by many hymns and inscriptions in Her honor from before the 7th century B.C.E. and indeed from before Mycenean culture on the Greek mainland. Demeter is the central Goddess of the greatest of the Mystery Cults, the Eleusinian Mysteries. Demeter was usually represented in art as a mature woman, crowned and holding sheafs of wheat and and a torch. There is some debate as to the meaning and origins of Her name. One theory states that Her name is derived from gê mêtêr, mother earth, while another theory supposes that Her name comes from the word Deo, which is derived from the Cretan word dêai, barley, so that Demeter would be the mother or giver of barley or of food generally. However, both theories embrace the central idea of Her mystery and power, which is that of the green and fertile Earth and the life-giving food which is grown in the fields. The goddess's titles reveal the range of Her functions in Greek life. Demeter and Kore/Persephone are invoked as to theo, The Two Goddesses, in many Greek texts, and they appear in that form as far back as inscriptions of Linear B graffiti at Mycenaean Pylos in pre-classical times. According to Theocritus, Demeter was also considered a Goddess of the poppies specifically and was brought to mainland Greece from Crete along with Poseidon, who was considered Her consort. Later, Greek colonists in Sicily brought Her worship to Italy, where She was called Ceres by the Romans. Some of Her titles include:

Potnia, Mistress/Lady - one of Her most ancient titles, being found in Minoan and Mycenean Linear B inscriptions
Erinys, implacable
Thesmophoros, giver of customs - this title links Her with the ancient Goddess Themis and the source of the name of Her main festival, The Thesmophoria
Khloe, the green shoot
Khthonia, in the ground
Anesidora, sending up gifts from the Earth
Malophoros, apple-bearer
Lusia, bathing
Thermasia, warmth
Khrysaoros, Lady of the Golden Blade - this title comes from the golden sickle She carried for harvesting the grain

Major sites for the worship of Demeter are found all over the remnants of the classical Greek world. Some of the more notable sites include those in Eleusis, Sicily, Hermion, Crete, Megara, Celeae, Lerna, Aegila, Munychia, Corinth, Delos, Priene, Akragas, Iasos, Pergamon, Selinus, Tegea, Thorikos, Dion, Lykosoura, Mesembria, Enna, and Samothrace. Since Demeter taught humanity the arts of agriculture: sowing seeds, ploughing, and harvesting, She was especially popular with country folk. Demeter was a central Goddess of the pre-Mycenean religion of Greece. Relics unique to Her worship, such as votive clay pigs, have been found that date from Neolithic times. The pig was so closely associated with Demeter that even into Roman times a sow was sacrificed to Her following a death in the family.

Demeter was one of the deities to whom first fruits of various sorts were sacrificed. According to Ovid, Demeter received the first corn, Dionysos the first grapes, and Athene the first olives. The following description by Ovid is very interesting for its observations of the worship of Demeter. "The time of Ceres’ festival had come, in duty kept by mothers every year, when, robed in white, they bring their first fruit gifts of wheat in garlands, and for nine nights count love and the touch of men forbidden things." - Ovid, Metamorphoses. Priestesses of Demeter were called by the title Melissa, Bee, which once again points to the central nature of agriculture and growing things as things which concerned Her.

Demeter was also associated with horses, and was addressed as "Mother of Mares" in Sarmatia and other areas around the Black Sea and the Balkans. In Arcadia, on the Peloponnesian peninsula, Demeter was worshipped as a woman with a mare's head into classical times. Pausanias makes reference to a shrine to Demeter in Arcadia near the city of Phigalia where an image of Demeter with a mare's head had been the center of the shrine until it was damaged by fire. More interesting is what Pausanias states happened after the image was damaged. "The second mountain, Mt. Elaios, is about 30 stades from Phigaleia, and has a cave sacred to Demeter Melaine ["Black"]... the Phigalians say, they accounted the cave sacred to Demeter, and set up a wooden image in it. The image was made in the following fashion: it was seated on a rock, and was like a woman in all respects save the head. She had the head and hair of a horse, and serpents and other beasts grew out of her head. Her chiton reached right to her feet, and she held a dolphin in one hand, a dove in the other. Why they made the xoanon like this should be clear to any intelligent man who is versed in tradition. They say they named her Black because the goddess wore black clothing. However, they cannot remember who made this xoanon or how it caught fire; but when it was destroyed the Phigalians gave no new image to the goddess and largely neglected her festivals and sacrifices, until finally barrenness fell upon the land." – Pausanias, Description of Greece.

The serpent was the animal most sacred to Demeter, since it represents rebirth in nature and the fertility of the earth. A pair of winged-serpents also drew Her chariot. The Pelasgian peoples of the Greek mainland would not eat pork because of the association of the pig with Demeter. It was considered a sacreligious act to kill a pig for food in parts of Bronze age Greece where the Pelasigan culture was dominant. The pig was also an animal offered to Demeter as a sacrifice at certain festivals and when there was a death in the family. The red-mullet was a fish regarded sacred to Demeter as part of Her worship in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Due to Demeter's role in farming, both wheat and barley were considered to be sacred to Her, and both were offered to Her as sacrifices, especially during the harvest festivals. Barley was also used with mint and honey in a sacred drink of the Mysteries. Demeter's flower was the poppy, which grows wild in grain fields in Greece and the near east, and Her priestesses wore poppies as part of their regalia.

The central theme of the legends of Demeter, which are at the heart of the Eleusinian Mysteries, concern Her relationship with her daughter, Persephone. In this familiar tale, Persephone, the Spring Maiden, was abducted by Hades because he desired Her for his consort. Demeter heard Persephone's cries as She was carried away, but was too late to save Her. Distraught, Demeter wanders the Earth, searching frantically for Her beloved child. After nine days of endless searching, denying Herself rest or sustenance, She finally finds the shepherd Eumolpus and the swineherd Eubuleus, who tell Her that they saw a girl screaming as she was carried away in a black chariot that came out of a chasm that suddenly opened in the ground. Later Hekate finds Demeter and tells Her of hearing Persephone's screams crying for help from the Underworld. From this, Demeter gathers that Her daughter was abducted by Hades. Furious, She goes to Hades to demand Her daughter's return. Hades refuses to acknowledge Her authority as Persephone's mother, stating that he has taken Persephone as his bride as he and Zeus agreed to it, and that since Zeus is Persephone's father, his permission overrules Her objections. Demeter then goes to Olympus and confronts Zeus. When Zeus backs up Hades account of things and declines to rescind his permission, Demeter vows that none of the Gods shall have sacrifice since Her daughter was offered up in such a heinous manner. To this end, She leaves Olympus and disguises Herself as an old woman, then withdraws Her blessing from the Earth. The world is plunged into a famine as all crops die and wither and farm animals become barren and have no offspring. Finally, as the Earth and the people cry out, and the altars are bare of sweet offerings, Zeus realizes the importance of Demeter to all the world and Her power as giver of fertility and life. He send Hermes to the Underworld to retrieve Persephone and to tell Hades that the deal is off. When Hermes arrives at the dread palace, Hades tells Hermes that Persephone may leave only if She has taken no food or drink during Her time there. Unfortunately, Persephone had taken four seeds from a pomegranate and sucked their juice. Thus the Fates decreed that She must spend one month of each year in the Underworld for each seed She took. So while Demeter rejoices to have Her daughter back, for four months of the year, She is in mourning and the Earth is barren.

A side tale of this story concerns Demeter in Her wanderings and is a source for what knowledge we have of the Eleusinian Mysteries and their significance. In this story, it is said that Demeter disguised herself as an old woman. She came upon the house of King Keleus at Eleusis, who greeted Her with honor. As a guest of the palace, Queen Metaneira offered the disguised Demeter a chair, but She refused a seat until a servant girl named Iambe placed a ram's fleece on the chair. Then She was offered something to drink, but She would only accept some barley water, which is the drink of threshers during the harvest. Then Queen Metaneira asked Demeter to be a nurse for her son Demophoon. Once everyone had gone to bed, Demeter went to the boy and placed him in some flames, which would be used to burn away his mortality. She did this for several nights, until one night when the infant's mother came in and misunderstanding what was happening, screamed at Demeter to stop. Demeter removed Her disguise and stood before the astonished queen in all Her glory. Demeter then scolded her while explaining what She had been about to do and letting the Queen know that once interrupted, the process could not be completed. She then told the Queen that She would still give special gifts to the boy as a sign of Her favor. She bestowed upon Demophoon the knowledge of using efficient farming techniques, including the use of the plow. King Celeus proclaimed that a temple should be built in honor of the great Goddess, where many secret rites would be performed in Her honor.

I have researched alot of material concerning the Eleusinian Mysteries, and I have chosen not to go into detail here, even though these rites are some of the most famous of the ancient world and are deeply rooted in Demeter's worship. My reason for this is the realization that to truly give it the attention it deserves would require much more space than would be reasonable to use in this format. I may at some other time do a whole section on nothing but the Mysteries.

Thesmophoria was a festival held in Greece in honor of Demeter and Persephone. The name comes from thesmoi, the laws by which men must work the land. Thesmophoria was one of the most important festivals of the Greek year as well as one of the main rites in the worship of Demeter, aside from the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Thesmophoria marked the end of the hot, harsh summer months when nothing would grow and the beginning of the fall planting season in the Greek month of Pyanopsion, which is roughly during the middle of October to the middle of November. In Athens and some other places the festival lasted three days, from the 11th to the 13th of the month. On the night before the festival, there was a preparatory festival called the Stenia. At the Stenia women insulted each other and using foul language. This commemorated Iambe's successful attempts to make the grieving mother Demeter laugh.

The Stenia and the Thesmophoria proper were women's festivals, and no man was allowed to participate. The women of Athens, for example, would leave their homes and set up makeshift shelters somewhat apart from the center of the city. Only women who were the wives of Athenian citizens could attend the festival; no unmarried women were present. The men of Athens were faced with severe consequences if they attempted to spy on the proceedings. Unfortunately, because the women left few written records of what they did, we have only a sketchy idea of what took place. The first day of the Thesmophoria proper was Anodos, the ascent. On this day the women departed their homes, carrying whatever they would need for the 2 nights and 3 days they were gone. The women ascended a hill outside the city, and set up camp on the Thesmophorion, which was the hillside sanctuary of Demeter Thesmophoros. They then slept on the ground with partners in small leafy huts. The second day of the Thesmophoria was the Nesteia, the Fasting, when women fasted and mocked one another using the foul language in commemoration of Iambe and Demeter. From some accounts they are said to have whipped each other with scourges. The third day of the Thesmophoria was Kalligeneia, Fair Birth. Commemorating the torch-light search of Demeter for her daughter, Persephone, there was a night-time torch-lit ceremony. The Antletriai, Bailers were ritually purified, then descended to the megaron to remove the decayed matter thrown down earlier: pigs, pine cones, and dough that had been formed in the shape of male genitals. They would make noise to scare the sacred snakes away long enough to bring back the material and placed it on the altars for later use as potent fertilizer in the sowing of the crops.

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