Demeter

DEMETER By: ALLICK

In ancient Greece, hundreds of years ago, they believed in gods with extraordinary powers no humankind could ever have. The god’s powers are what makes any living thing live, but this one goddess is probably the most important goddess of all, her name is Demeter. This paper is going to be about the tragic incidents that happened to Demeter, her family, and her amazing powers. Demeter is the god of agriculture. She grows food such as grains, fruit, vegetables and more. She provides food for every living thing, without Demeter there would be no food to consume. Mankind could not survive nor animals without her. She is also called mother earth because of her amazing powers to be able to provide food for all mankind(Graves, Atsma). There are many things that Symbolizes Demeter. Some things that symbolize her are plants such as wheat, barley, poppy, and mint. They are all edible plants that the Greeks would use to put flavor in there food. Also fruits and vegetables symbolize her because she provides food for mankind and mankind would mainly eat fruits and vegetables(Atsma).

Demeter’s father’s name is Cronus and her mother’s name is Rhea. Cronus and Rhea have six children, Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, and Demeter. Hestia is the goddess of hearth and home, and is a very gentle and clam goddess. Hera, another sister of Demeter is the goddess of marriage and is probably the most beautiful god of all. Her brother Hades is the God of the underworld and is known to had kidnap Persephone, the daughter of Demeter. Demeter’s other brother Poseidon is the god of the sea and earthquakes. Lastly her bother Zeus who also is the father of her child, Persephone, is king of all gods and is the god of lighting(Atsma). Hades was the god of the underworld and lived in a dark place under the earth. He had fallen in love with Demeter and Zeus’s daughter, Persephone, and wanted to marry her daughter. Hades went to meet Zeus in Greece because he is forbidden to visit Olympus and asked Zeus for his permission to marry his daughter, Persephone. Zeus was afraid to offend his brother by saying no. He also did not want to say yes because he did not want Demeter to be in raged. So not knowing what to do, he winked at Hades. Hades was happy with that answer and went to Colonus because that’s where he would find Persephone picking flowers. When Persephone was picking flowers he kidnapped her and took her to the underworld before Persephone’s friends could have a chance to help her. The girls that were friends with Persephone told her mother, Demeter, what had happen. Horrified and worried she disguised herself as an old woman and rambled through Greece. For nine days and nine nights she searched for her daughter but couldn't find her. She headed towards Athens where the king and queen treated her well and offered her to be a nurse for the princes. The oldest prince, Tremulous, knowing that she was the goddess Demeter and told her that his brother saw a dark faced king and immediately Demeter guessed it was Hades who had taken Persephone to the underworld. She was so angry that she denied growing food for the people and without food mankind would die. Zeus pleaded her to grow food for the people but she would not do it unless her daughter was back from the underworld. Sadly, once you eat something from the underworld you would not be able to escape it. Persephone had eaten 7 pomegranate seeds and was told that she could reunite with her mother but would have to stay in the underworld for seven months out of the year and be married to Hades. When 7 months came Demeter wouldn’t grow food for the people and when she was reunited with her daughter food would grow again(Graves, Keenan). Another story involving Demeter was a man named Erysichthon. Erysichthon and his servants needed to get some wood, they went for the search to find a tree that they could they could cut down. One day they were strolling through the forest and found a grove of oak trees. Erysichthon wanted the biggest and most finest oak tree but that oak tree was the goddess, Demeter, oak tree. Erysichthon did not care that it was Demeter’s oak tree and was not afraid of her but the servants new that it was a horrible idea to cut that tree down, and refused to do cut it down. So Erysichthon took the ax and cut into the oak tree releasing something that looked like blood. When Demeter found out he cut down her tree she punished him. His punishment was no matter how much he ate he would always be hungry. So the next day and so on he could not stop eating and he had sold everything and anything he could to buy food. Eventually he was broke and could not buy any food. He started to eat himself and eventually died a slow and painful death(Atsma, "The Tale of Erysichthon." ). <span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,&#39;serif&#39;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Demeter is one of the most important gods of Olympus. She has one of the most powerful powers of all. Having the ability to determine life or death of every living thing is a very extraordinary power. She is not only a god but is a very loving mother who would do anything for her daughter, Persephone.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,Times,serif;">Works Cited

Atsma, Aaron J. "Demeter: Greek Goddess of Agriculture & Grain." //Theoi Greek Mythology, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art//. Web. 15 Dec. 2010. <http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Demeter.html>.

<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,&#39;serif&#39;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Graves, Robert. //Greek Gods and Heroes.// Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1960. Print. <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,&#39;serif&#39;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Keenan, Sheila. //Gods, Goddesses, and Monsters: an Encyclopedia of World Mythology//. New York: Scholastic, 2000. Print. <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,&#39;serif&#39;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Topic, Anguier, Michel Victoria Albert Museum. "Demeter." //Untitled Document//. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. []. <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;,&#39;serif&#39;; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">"The Tale of Erysichthon." //Web School//. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. [].