The Return of Persephone and the Establishment of the Cycles This disturbed DemeterвЂ™s strategy, so she revealed herself at once and told Metanira that the only way that the Eleusinians will ever win her kindness back is by building a temple and establishing a festival in her glory. However, one day, Metanira witnessed the ritual and, not realizing what was happening, started screaming in panic and alarm. In gratitude for the kindness, Demeter devised a plan to make Demophon immortal, so she started bathing him in fire each night, thus, burning away his mortality. Iambe, the old servant woman of the house, cheered her with her jokes, and Demeter laughed for the first time in many weeks. She ended up at the court of King Celeus of Eleusis, where his wife Metanira hired her to be the nurse to her baby son, Demophon. So, Demeter left Mount Olympus and went to grieve her daughter among the mortals, disguised as an old woman.

The Institution of the Eleusinian Mysteries And with everybody! Especially with Zeus who, the rumors claimed so, had approved the whole operation and even aided Hades throughout. Demeter wasnвЂ™t just brokenhearted anymore. And then, on the tenth day, Hecate told her what she had seen and Helios, the All-Seeing God of the Sun, confirmed her story. Inconsolable, Demeter walked the earth far and wide for nine days to find her daughter вЂ“ but to no avail. So, one day, as she was gathering flowers with her girlfriends, he lured her aside using a fragrant and inexpressibly beautiful narcissus, and then snatched her up with his chariot, suddenly darting out of a chasm under her feet. Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, fell in love with DemeterвЂ™s virgin-daughter and decided to take her into marriage. The most important myth involving Demeter concerns her daughter PersephoneвЂ™s abduction by Hades and DemeterвЂ™s subsequent wanderings. From their union, DemeterвЂ™s most well-known child was born, Persephone. Demeter and ZeusДЇinally, Demeter became ZeusвЂ™ fourth wife. Next, DemeterвЂ™s brother Poseidon forced himself upon her (once transformed into a stallion), and the goddess, once again, became pregnant with two children: Despoena, a nymph, and Arion, a talking horse. But, by then, Demeter was already pregnant with twins: Ploutos and Philomelus, the former the god of wealth, and the latter, the patron of plowing. Zeus didnвЂ™t think appropriate for such a respected goddess to have a relationship with a mortal, so he struck Iasion with a thunderbolt. She seduced him at the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia and lay with him in a thrice-plowed field. Demeter and IasionД®arly in her life, Demeter fell in love with a mortal named Iasion. The mortal Iasion and her brothers Poseidon and Zeus are the most noteworthy вЂ“ if not the only вЂ“ exceptions. Other epithets include: вЂњGreen,вЂќ вЂњThe Giver of Gifts,вЂќ вЂњThe Bearer of Food,вЂќ and вЂњGreat Mother.вЂќДemeterвЂ™s Consorts: Iasion, Poseidon, and ZeusДemeter didnвЂ™t have many partners and was rarely portrayed with a male consort. However, since she presided over something as vital as the cycles of plants and seasons, the Ancient Greeks also referred to her as Tesmophoros, or вЂњThe Bringer of Laws,вЂќ and organized a women-only festival called Tesmophoria to celebrate her as such. Demeter's EpithetsДemeter was known mostly as the Giver of Food and Grain, or вЂњShe of the Grain,вЂќ for short ( Sito). The goddesses вЂ“ as they were endearingly called вЂ“ even share the same attributes and symbols: scepter, cornucopia, ears of corn, a sheaf of wheat, torch, and occasionally, a crown of flowers. Sometimes she is depicted riding a chariot containing her daughter Persephone, who is almost always in her vicinity. Demeter's Portrayal and SymbolismДemeter is usually portrayed as a fully-clothed and matronly-looking woman, either enthroned and regally seated or proudly standing with an extended hand.

However, there are still debates over the meaning of the first part ( De-), which most scholars associate with вЂњ Ge,вЂќ i.e., Gaea (making Demeter вЂњMother EarthвЂќ) others, however, prefer to link it with вЂњDeo,вЂќ which is a surviving epithet of Demeter and may have been, in an earlier form, the name of one of few grains. DemeterвЂ™s name consists of two parts, the second of which ( -meter) is almost invariably linked with the meaning вЂњmother,вЂќ which conveniently fits with DemeterвЂ™s role as a mother-goddess.

Demeter hades