The Myth Of Demeter, The Blonde Goddess
The myth of Demeter was one of the most important myths for the ancient Greeks. This goddess was indeed venerated in many regions because her name meant “mother earth”. She was therefore above other goddesses who were in principle more important than her, such as Gaia or Rhea.
Demeter is the goddess who watches over cereals, crops and the fertility of the land. She is also the keeper of marriage, the sacred law, and the cycles of life and death. She is the daughter of Cronos, the divinity of time, and of Rhea, titanid of the universe. Her grandparents are Ouranos and Gaïa. She is part of the main group of the gods of Olympus.
In the myth of Demeter, the goddess is represented as a beautiful woman with blond hair. The most common version says that she had a daughter with her brother Zeus. Another version points out that this girl is the fruit of her union with her nephew, Iason, who is the son of Zeus and Electra. Either way, the goddess gave birth to a gorgeous girl who fascinated everyone who looked at her.
The myth of Demeter and Persephone
The myth of Demeter says that the goddess loved her daughter dearly, whose name was Persephone. When Persephone roamed the fields, she fertilized everything in her path and brought forth life wherever she walked. Hades, the ruler of the dead, often looked at her and ended up falling in love with her beauty. In secret, Zeus then gave him Persephone for his wife without however telling his mother.
One day, Persephone was walking in the fields as usual. She roamed the lands of Sicily cutting flowers, with her friends the Océanides. Suddenly the earth began to shake, and from the bottom of the ground came Hades in his chariot. Persephone called her mother for help, but it was pointless. Hades kidnapped her and brought her with him to his kingdom.
The Demeter myth goes that when the goddess realized that her daughter was missing, she got angry and turned the Oceanids into mermaids. She wanted to punish them for not having known how to protect Persephone. She then wandered for nine days in search of her daughter, without eating or drinking and uttering terrible moans.
A new adventure
After these nine days of quest, Hecate, goddess of magic and witchcraft, heard her cries and was seized with her great pain. The myth of Demeter says that she then brought the blonde goddess to see Helios, the sun, who saw and knew everything. The latter informed her that Hades was keeping his daughter in the world of the dead.
Desperate and not knowing how to get to the underworld, Demeter decided not to return to Olympus and set about wandering aimlessly around the Earth. She disguised herself as an old woman and thus arrived in Eleusinian land to sit near a well. The daughters of King Celeos and Queen Metanira met her as they came to fetch water. The goddess in disguise then decided to lie to them.
She told them that she was from Crete and that pirates had kidnapped her before releasing her. She let them know that she was capable of doing any domestic work and was therefore engaged in the service of King Celeos as a nanny to his youngest son, Demophon. Demeter became attached to it and decided to confer immortality on it. For this, she had to perform a series of rites, including that of burning her skin in a bonfire.
When the child’s mother caught her performing this ritual, she panicked. The myth of Demeter says that the goddess then had to reveal her true identity. Since she failed to make Demophon immortal, she instead taught him the secrets of agriculture so that he in turn transmits this knowledge to Men.
A happy reunion
While Demeter was looking for her daughter, she forgot her duties as a crop protector, so that the land began to become barren. Everything that was sown ended up withering away and people began to starve. Worried about the situation, Zeus decided to make a deal with Hades.
They finally agreed that Persephone would spend 6 months in the Land of the Dead with Hades and the other 6 months on Olympus with her mother. While Persephone was in the company of Hades, the earth produced nothing. However, when she found her mother on Olympus, the fields became fertile again. This is how the seasons were born!
Demeter asked to be worshiped in Eleusis, where she had been warmly received. This cult was secret and none of those who practiced it were to reveal its insiders. Thus, Melissa, one of the priestesses was tortured to death to reveal its secrets, but she was silent.
When the blonde goddess realized it, she sent a plague in this region and from Melissa’s body she caused bees to spring up, the great allies of the fertility of the fields.
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