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DEMETER
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DEMETER , in See also:Greek See also:mythology, daughter of. Cronus and See also:Rhea and See also:sister of See also:Zeus, goddess of See also:agriculture and civilized See also:life. Her name has been explained as (I) "See also:grain-See also:mother," from &rlai, the Cretan See also:form of i-etat, "See also:barley," or (2) "See also:earth-mother," or rather " mother earth," OE being regarded as the Doric form of A. She is rarely mentioned in See also:Homer, nor is she included amongst the Olympian gods. The central fact of her cult was the See also:story of her daughter Persephone (See also:Proserpine), a favourite subject in classical See also:poetry. According to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Persephone, while gathering See also:flowers on the Nysian See also:plain (probably here a purely mythical locality), was carried off by Hades (See also:Pluto), the See also:god of the See also:lower See also:world, with the connivance of Zeus (see also PROSERPINE). The incident has been assigned to various other localities—Crete, See also:Eleusis, and Enna in See also:Sicily, the last being most generally adopted. This See also:rape is supposed to point to an See also:original tepls X6. os, an See also:annual See also:holy See also:marriage of a god and goddess of vegetation. Wandering over the earth in See also:search of her daughter, Demeter learns from Helios the truth about her disappearance. In the form of an old woman named Deo (=the seeker," or simply a diminutive form), she comes to the See also:house of Celeus at Eleusis, where she is hospitably received. Having revealed. herself to the Eleusinians, she departs, in her wrath having visited the earth with a See also:great dearth. At last Zeus appeases her by allowing her daughter to spend two-thirds of the See also:year with her in the upper. world. Demeter then returns to See also:Olympus, but before her final departure from earth, in token of her gratitude, she instructs the rulers of Eleusis in the See also:art of agriculture and in the solemnities and See also:rites whereby she desires in future to be honoured. I The form " See also:demesne " is an Anglo-See also:French spelling of the Old Fr. demeine or demaine, belonging to a See also:lord, from Med. See also:Lat, domiisicus, See also:dominus, lord; dominicum in Med. Lat. meant proprietas (see Du Cange). From the later Fr. domaine, which approaches more nearly the original Lat., comes the other Eng. form " domain," which is chiefly used in a non-legal sense of any, See also:tract of See also:country or See also:district under the See also:rule of any specific See also:sovereign See also:state, &c. " Domain " is, however, the form kept in the legal phrase " Eminent Domain " (q.v.). Those who were initiated into the mysteries of Eleusis found a deep meaning in the myth, which was held to See also:teach the principle of a future life, founded on the return of Persephone to the upper world, or rather on the See also:process of nature by which See also:seed sown in the ground must first See also:die and rot before it. can yield new life (see See also:MYSTERY). At Eleusis, Demeter was venerated as the introducer of all the blessings which agriculture brings in its train—fixed dwelling-places, See also:civil See also:order, marriage and a peaceful life; hence her name Thesmophoros, " the bringer of See also:law and order," and the festival Thesmophoria (q.v.). J. G. Frazer takes the epithet to mean " See also:bearer of the sacred See also:objects deposited on the See also:altar "; L. R. Farnell (Cults. of the Greek States, iii. Io6) suggests "the bringer of treasure or riches," as appropriate to the goddess of See also:corn and of the lower world; others refer the name to " the law of wedlock " (See also:Nay& Xho-pow, Odyssey, See also:xxiii. 296, where, however, D. B. See also:Monro translates " See also:place, situation "). At Eleusis also, See also:Triptolemus (q.v.), the son of Celeus, who was said to have invented the plough and to have been sent by Demeter See also:round the world to diffuse the knowledge of agriculture, had a See also:temple and threshing-See also:floor.
In the agrarian legends of Iasion and Erysichthon, Demeter also plays an important See also:part. Iasion (or Iasius), a beautiful youth, inspired her with love for him in a thrice-ploughed See also: It seems to point to the supersession of a See also:primitive See also:local Cretan divinity by Demeter, and the See also:adoption of agriculture by the inhabitants, bringing wealth in its See also:train in the form of the fruits of the earth, both See also:vegetable and See also:mineral. Some scholars, identifying Iasion with See also:Jason (q.v.), regard See also:Thessaly as the original See also:home of the See also:legend, and the union with Demeter as the tepos yaµos of mother earth with a See also:health god. Erysichthon (" tearer up of the earth " ) son of Triopas or Myrmidon, having cut down the trees in a See also: The name 'IovXcb (? at See also:Delos), from iovXos, " corn-sheaf," has been regarded as identifying the goddess with the sheaf, and as proving that the cult of Demeter originated in the worship of the corn-mother or corn-spirit, the last sheaf having a more or less divine character for the primitive husbandman. According to this view, the prototypes of Demeter and Persephone are the corn-mother and harvest See also:maiden of See also:northern See also:Europe, the corn-fetishes of the field (Frazer, Golden Bough, 2nd ed., ii. 217, 222; but see Farnell, Cults, iii. 35)• The See also:influence of Demeter, however, was not limited to corn, but extended to vegetation generally and all the fruits of the earth, with the curious exception of the See also:bean, the use of which was forbidden at Eleusis, and for the See also:protection of which a See also:special See also:patron was invented. In this wider sense Demeter is akin to Ge, with whom she has several epithets in See also:common, and is sometimes identified with Rhea-See also:Cybele; thus See also:Pindar speaks of Demeter xaXxouporos (" See also:brass-rattling "), an epithet obviously more suitable to the See also:Asiatic than to the Greek earth-goddess. Although the goddess of agriculture is naturally inclined to See also:peace and averse from See also:war, the memory of the See also:time when her See also:land was won and kept by the See also:sword still lingers in the epithets xpvQaopos and Ectlyr74opos and in the name Triptolemus, which probably means " thrice fighter " rather than " thrice plougher." Another important aspect of Demeter was that of a divinity of the under-world; as such she is xOovia at See also:Sparta and especially at Hermione in Argolis, where she had a celebrated temple, said to have been founded by Clymenus (one of the names of Hades-Pluto) and his sister Chthonia, the See also:children of Phoroneus, an Argive See also:hero. Here there was said to be a descent into the lower world, and local tradition made it the See also:scene of the rape of Persephone. At the festival Chthonia, a cow (representing, according to Mannhardt, the spirit of vegetation), which voluntarily presented itself, was sacrificed by three old See also:women. Those joining in the procession wore garlands of See also:hyacinth, which seems to attribute a chthonian character to the ceremony, although it may also have been connected with agriculture (see S. Wide, De Sacris Troezeniorum, Hermionensium,Epidauriorum, See also:Upsala, x888). The striking use of the See also:term ar7µi77-pecoc in the sense of " the dead " may be noted in this connexion. The remarkable epithets, 'Epiv6s and MEAacva, as applied to Demeter, were both localized in See also:Arcadia, the first at Thelpusa (or rather Onkeion See also:close by), the second at See also:Phigalia (see W. Immerwahr, Die Kulte and Mythen Arkadiens, 1891). According to the Thelpusan story, Demeter, during her wanderings in search of Persephone, changed herself into a See also:mare to avoid the persecution of See also:Poseidon. The god, however, assumed the form of a stallion, and the fruit of the union was a daughter of mystic name and the See also:horse Areion (or Erion). Demeter, at first enraged, afterwards calmed down, and washed herself in the See also:river Ladon by way of See also:purification. Demeter " the angry " (ipevis) became Demeter" the bather "(Aovcia). An almost identical story was current in the neighbourhood of Tilphossa, a Boeotian See also:spring. In the Phigalian legend, no mention is made of the horse Areion, but only of the daughter, who is called Despoina (See also:mistress), a See also:title common to all divinities connected with the under-world. Demeter, clad in See also:black (hence p.iXauva) in token of See also:mourning for her daughter and wrath with Poseidon, retired into a See also:cave. During that time the earth See also:bore no fruit, and the inhabitants of the world were threatened with See also:starvation. At last See also:Pan, the old god of Arcadia, discovered her hiding-place, and informed Zeus, who sent the Moirae (Fates) to fetch her out. The cave, still called Mavrospelya ("black cave"), was ever afterwards regarded as sacred to Demeter, and in it, according to See also:information given to See also:Pausanias, there had been set up an See also:image of the goddess, a See also:female form seated on a See also:rock, but with a horse's See also:head and mane, to which were attached See also:snakes and other See also:wild animals. It was clothed in a black garment reaching to the feet, and held in one See also:hand a See also:dolphin, in the other a See also:dove. The image was destroyed by See also:fire, replaced by the sculptor See also:Onatas from See also:inspiration in a See also:dream, but disappeared again before the time of Pausanias.
Both iAXcuva and ipev6s, according to Farnell, are epithets of Demeter as an earth-goddess of the under-world. The first has been explained as referring to the gloom of her See also:abode, or the blackness of the withered corn. The second, according to Max See also: Of the latter the most noteworthy are: Havaxaia at Aegium in See also:Achaea, pointing to some connexion with the Achaean See also:league; 'Axaia,l " the Achaean goddess," unless it refers to the" sorrow "of the goddess for the loss of her daughter (cf. 'Axia in See also:Boeotia); and, most important of all, 'A.z LKTvovis, at Anthela near See also:Thermopylae, as patron-goddess of the Amphictyonic league, subsequently so well known in connexion with the temple at See also:Delphi. The Eleusinia and Thesmophoria are discussed elsewhere, but brief mention may here be made of certain agrarian festivals held in See also:honour of Demeter. 1. Haloa, obviously connected with aAws (" threshing-floor "), begun at See also:Athens and finished at Eleusis, where there was a threshing-floor of Triptolemus, in the See also:month Poseideon (See also:December). This date, which is confirmed by See also:historical and epigraphical See also:evidence, seems inappropriate, and it is suggested (A. See also:Mommsen, Feste der Stadt Athen, p. 365 See also:foil.) that the festival, originally held in autumn, was subsequently placed later, so as to synchronize with the See also:winter See also:Dionysia. See also:Dionysus, as the god of vines, and (in a special procession) Poseidon ~5vraAµcos (" god of vegetation ") were associated with Demeter. In addition to being a harvest festival, marked by the See also:ordinary popular rejoicings, the Haloa had a religious character. The avrapxal (" first fruits ") were conveyed to Eleusis, where See also:sacrifice was offered by a priestess, men being prohibited from undertaking the See also:duty. A TEAsrii (" initiatory ceremony ") of women by a woman also took place at Eleusis, characterized by obscene jests and the use of phallic emblems. The sacramental See also:meal on this occasion consisted of the produce of land and sea, certain things (pomegranates, See also:honey, eggs) being forbidden for mystical reasons. Although the offerings at the festival were bloodless, the ceremony of the presentation of the airapxai was probably accompanied by animal sacrifice (Farnell, Foucart); Mommsen, however, considers the offerings to have been pastry imitations. Certain See also:games (See also:Tar pins ayc,v), of which nothing is known, terminated the proceedings. In See also:Roman imperial times the See also:ephebi had to deliver a speech at the Haloa. 2. Chloeia or Chloia, the .festival of the corn beginning to sprout, held at Eleusis in the See also:early spring (Anthesterion) in honour of Demeter Chloe, " the See also:green," the goddess of growing vegetation. This is to be distinguished from the later sacrifice of a See also:ram to the same goddess on the 6th of the month Thargelion, probably intended as an See also:act of propitiation. It has been identified with the Procharisteria (sometimes called Proschaireteria), another spring festival, but this is doubtful. The scholiast on Pindar (01. ix. 150) mentions an Athenian harvest festival Eucharisteria. 3. Proerosia, at which prayers were offered for an abundant harvest, before the land was ploughed for See also:sowing. It was also called Proarcturia, an indication that it was held before the rising of See also:Arcturus. According to the traditional See also:account, when Greece was threatened with See also:famine, the Delphic See also:oracle ordered first-fruits to be brought to Athens from all parts of the country, which were to be offered by the Athenians to the goddess Deo on behalf of all the contributors. The most important"part of the festival was the three sacred ploughings--the Athenian biro noXcv, the Eleusinian on the Rharian plain, the Scirian (a oompromise between Athens and Eleusis). The festival itself ' O. Gruppe (Griechische Mythologie, ii. 1177, See also:note 1) considers it " certain " that 'Axala='AxeXmta, although he is unable to explain the form. took place, probably some time in See also:September, at Eleusis. In later tirnes the ephebi also took part in the Proerosia. 4. Thalysia, a thanksgiving festival, held in autumn after the harvest in the See also:island of See also:Cos (see See also:Theocritus vii.). 5. The name of Demeter is also associated with the Scirophoria (see See also:ATHENA). It is considered probable that the festival was originally held in honour of Athena, but that the growing importance of the Eleusinia caused it to be attached to Demeter and Kore.
The attributes of Demeter are chiefly connected with her character as goddess of agriculture and vegetation—ears of corn, the See also:poppy, the mystic See also:basket (calathus) filled with flowers, corn and fruit of all kinds, the See also:pomegranate being especially common. Of animals, the cow and the See also:pig are her favourites, the latter owing to its productivity anal the cathartic properties of its See also:blood. The See also:crane is associated with her as an See also:indicator of the See also:weather. As a chthonian divinity she is accompanied by a snake; the See also:myrtle, See also:asphodel and See also:narcissus (which Persephone was gathering when carried off by Hades) also are sacred to her.
In Greek art, Demeter is made to resemble See also:Hera, only more matronly and of milder expression; her form is broader and See also:fuller. She is sometimes See also:riding in a See also:chariot See also:drawn by horses or dragons, sometimes walking, sometimes seated upon a See also:throne, alone or with her daughter. The Demeter of See also:Cnidus in the See also:British Museum, of the school of See also:Praxiteles, apparently shows her mourning for the loss of her daughter. The See also:article GREEK ART, fig. 67 (pl. iv.), gives a probable See also:representation of Demeter (or her priestess) from the See also: See also:Preller, Demeter and Persephone (1837); P. R. See also:Forster, Der Raub and die Rsickkehr der Persephone (1874), in which consider-able space is devoted to the representations of the myth in art; W. Mannhardt, Mythologische Forschungen (1884); J. E. See also:Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek See also:Religion (1903) ; L. See also:Dyer, The Gods in Greece (1891); J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough (2nd ed.), ii. 168-222 ; L. Preller, Griechische Mythologie (4th ed., by C. See also:Robert) ; 0. See also:Kern in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopddie, iv. pt. 2 (1901); L. See also:Bloch in Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie; O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie and Religionsgeschichte, ii. (1907) ; L. R. Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, iii. (1907) ; article " Ceres " by F. See also:Lenormant in Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionnaire See also:des antiquites. (J. H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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