Demeter

Demeter is the goddess of harvest and agriculture and the staple foods of Greece which were
grain and bread.
Demeters titles include Sito or she of the grain because she is the goddess of harvest and
grants her worshipers food. Her second title includes Thesmophoros or Law Bringer because
Demeter would look over the sacred laws.
Demeters roman equivalent is Ceres
Demeters symbols include Wheat-ears and Cornucopia
Demeter is the goddess of cornfields, planting, harvesting and growing things. Her name
means Barley-Mother. Zeus was quite fond of Demeter so he would always grant her fields
with rain and he gave her two children a son and a daughter named Persephone. One day
Persephone went deeper into the fields across a stream and through a grove of trees with her
paint pot than saw a strange bush and decided to uproot the bush, then a hole formed and Hades
appeared from the hole with his golden chariot and black horses then snatched Persephone and
took her to the underworld. Demeter was frantic when her daughter didnt come home so she set
out to find Persephone and only found her paint pot. Demeter called for the birds to tell her what
happened and was told everything, how a woman uprooted a bush, then a hole formed and black
riders snatched the woman away. This drove Demeter into sadness while weeping a young boy
laughed at Demeter, so she turned him into a lizard and then a hawk swooped and ate the lizard.

After her depression Demeter marched for Olympus in cries for, Justice! Zeus told her no,
Please, go back to earth and give yourself a chance to be intelligent about this. Demeter took
this information and blighted the earth, having no harvest basically killing the crops. After seeing
the destruction of agriculture, Zeus called for Demeters return for Olympus and tried to create a
compromise. Both agreed that Demeter will continue to blight the earth and will end when her
daughter, Persephone is returned to her. Zeus sent Hermes to carry the message to Hades about
Persephones release. While this is happening Hades is trying to coarse Persephone through
rubies and diamonds, but she made herself difficult to please and Hades was desperate to please
her. He gave her a little garden with rare seeds magical blooms that doesnt require sunlight. She
even received a little assistance who was the boy that became the lizard and fed to a hawk.
Persephone didnt realize but he was still mad about what went down with him. One afternoon
Persephone was quite hungry and the reason why she didnt eat anything was because if you eat
in the underworld you are stuck there. She saw the boy eating that afternoon and he offered her
some pomegranate and promised her no one was watching so she ate it. While she was eating
Hermes came to the underworld lightning fast and took Persephone back to her mother. Before
Persephone ascended away she was the little boy showing Hades the proof of Persephone eating
the fruit. Hades presented his case to Zeus and the verdict was Persephone had to be with Hades
for 6 months out of the year and the rest of the months with her mother. For the months that you
spend with that scoundrel, no grass will grow, no flowers blow, no trees will bear. So long as you
are below, there will be desolation everywhere. This is why we have winter, the dreaded 6
months of desolation and then the rest of time for planting.