The Forgotten Sister of Hera and Zeus
The life of Demeter
Many Greek gods and goddesses are very well-known, such as Zeus, Hades, Hera, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Athena, and Apollo.
However, many are less well-known, while their stories are usually just as interesting. One life story I recently discovered, which I thought was interesting, was the life of Demeter.
She is the sister of Hera, and compared to her sister, is almost unknown. So in this article, we will explore the life of Demeter.
Who is Demeter?
Demeter was the child of Titans Cronus and Rhea. She was the , thus, she farmed a lot for the people. She is also the sister of Hera.
Demeter . Yet, she did love. In fact, she fell in love with a mortal man, Iasion.
Stories remark how, upon Zeus discovering the relationship, he struck Lasion with a thunderbolt for sleeping with a Goddess, while others remark how he and Demeter lived a long life together until his death.
Nevertheless, they had two sons, Plutus and Philomelus. Plutus was ‘a god of riches under the earth’, while Philomelus was a lowly mortal farmer, but he invented the wagon which pleased his mother.
Persephone
Demeter is most recognized for what happened to her daughter, Persephone. She is the daughter of Demeter and Demeter’s brother, Zeus.
The story goes that one day, while Persephone was gathering flowers, she noticed an exceptionally beautiful one. As she bent down to pick it, a massive ‘chasm opened in the ground before her.’ Hades flew out of it, and he grabbed her, while she tried to stop him and yell her Zeus for help, but she wasn’t heard. He flew back into the earth with his kidnapee, and took her to the underworld where Hades ruled.
Every day, Persephone cried, wanting to be back in her life on earth. Her mother began to worry, and she searched everywhere for her for 9 days. However, Hades left no trace, and no one could figure out where she was.
Demeter’s first lead, although very minor, was when the goddess Hecate told her how she heard Persephone, and did not see who had taken her, informing her at least that her daughter was indeed taken.
Next, she visited Helios, the sun god. He told her the truth, stating:
“Daughter of Rhea, I am moved by your sorrow. It is none other than Zeus who is to blame for her disappearance. He allowed his brother hades to seize the maiden while she gathered flowers. The lord of the dead now holds her in his underworld kingdom and will not let her go. She is there by the will of Zeus and there is nothing you can do to help her.”
Demeter, who allegedly had a temper, was enraged at the discovery of this information. She was angry at both Zeus and Hades for the roles they played in Persephone’s kidnapping. This event made Demeter swear to never return to Olympus.
She took the appearance of an elderly woman and explored the mortal earth, ever regretful that she would never see her beloved daughter again.
One day, Demeter visited the town of Eleusis. She spotted a well and sat down in a shaded area. All women of the town visited this well to gather water.
Before long, the 4 daughters of Celeus came to fill their pitchers. They greeted Demeter friendly and asked what brought her to Eleusis. She made up a story that she had been kidnapped from Crete by some pirates and had escaped from a port in the area. Now she wanted a peaceful life to live until her death. She wondered if perhaps they knew a household where she could watch over a child?
The ladies told her their mother had recently had a son, and their parents would be joyful to have a woman to care for him. Naturally, they took her to their castle, where their mother enthusiastically gave her the job.
Every night while the residents of the palace slept, Demeter “nursed the baby on — a food for gods which granted immortality and eternal youth — and buried him in the hearth fire to burn away his mortality.”
However, her plan was foiled when his mother walked in on Demeter performing her nightly routine, and screamed.
Demeter reached the baby from the fire and left in anger after yelling at his mother.
She would not be stopped, though. Demeter wanted to establish her cult in the city, thus, she ordered the people of Eleusis to build her a temple, to show her loyal followers “how to escape the dismal land of Hades after death.” The King of Eleusis and the people happily obliged and commissioned her temple. Demeter spent much time in her temple mourning Persephone. Due to this, crops stopped growing, seeds didn’t ripen, and famine spread, leading to many people starving.
No one but Demeter could solve their world's hunger. Finally, at the cries of people’s hunger, Zeus urged Demeter to return, yet no change. Even when all the gods visited her temple to plead, she said she would never set foot on Olympus again or harvest and grow crops until she saw her daughter once again.
At last, Zeus sent Hermes to beg Hades to bring Persephone back. He agreed, and Demeter and her daughter were together at last. Although she still had to spend 1/3 of each year with Hades, they agreed to the arrangement. So that they could be together in the end.
Other Children of Demter
Demeter is recorded among different texts as having more or fewer children. Yet, it is undisputed that she and Zeus had Persephone and her two children with Iasion — Zeus’s son —, Plutus and Philmous. However, according to a , she is recorded as having two children with her brother, Zeus— Persephone, and a son, Iacchus — as well as her children with Iasion, listed above, and she bore a son, Areion, unwillingly to Poseidon.
All in all, Demeter is an extremely interesting Greek Goddess who is very underrated. Many people do not learn about her, yet I hope you did from reading this article. Her story is intriguing but forgotten in the stories of her many siblings, especially Hera.
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