The Eleusinians were distraught at having angered a goddess, and they wanted to propitiate her. Demeter now revealed herself in her true form she became young and beautiful, and the house was filled with a brilliant light. Demeter took Demophon out of the fire (informing Metaneira that her son would have become immortal) and then she revealed her divinity to the queen. She screamed in alarm, but this angered Demeter, who (being a goddess) did not like her actions questioned. One night, Metaneira, the child’s mother, visited the nursery to see how the old woman was doing with the boy and found him in the fire. She gave him ambrosia to eat (ambrosia is the food of the gods) and every night she would place him in the fire to burn away his mortal parts. As a way of thanking the family for their kindness, Demeter began a process that would make the boy immortal. So Demeter, disguised as Dos, became the nurse for the son of the king, Demophon. (They did not recognize her as a goddess because of her disguise.) In fact, they said that their mother, Metaneira, had just given birth to a baby boy, and that she would probably welcome Dos into her home as a nurse. There, at the town well, she met the daughters of the king, who offered to help her find work as a nurse. The Rape of Proserpina by Bernini in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.Ĭlose up of Bernini’s Rape of Proserpina Demeter in Eleusisĭemeter wandered the earth in the likeness of an old woman named Dos until she came upon the city of Eleusis. Helius encouraged Demeter to accept the situation, but instead she grew so angry that she refused to go back to Olympus . Helius, who sees everything, told the goddesses the information they wished to know, that Zeus had allowed Persephone to be taken by Hades. Together, Hecate and Demeter continued to search for Persephone until they came upon Helius, the sun god. He snatched up the girl and took her down to his kingdom beneath the earth.įor nine days Demeter searched far and wide for her daughter, but no one knew what had happened to Persephone until Demeter happened upon Hecate, a moon goddess who had heard the abduction but could not say who had taken Persephone. When Persephone went to pluck the flower, the earth split open and out came Hades in his chariot. Persephone was out gathering flowers with other young nymphs and goddesses, and she spotted an unusual and beautiful narcissus flower, blooming with the help of Gaia in a particular spot where a trap had been set by Zeus and Hades. With the aid of Gaia (Mother Earth, who is also known as Ge), Hades did just that. Zeus gave his consent for Hades to marry his daughter, but because he believed that Demeter would not approve of the match, he told Hades to abduct Persephone and take her to his realm in the Underworld.

Hades fell deeply in love with Persephone, and the following story about them is told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.

After Zeus rescued his older siblings from their father, Demeter had an affair with her brother Zeus, which resulted in a daughter, Persephone. Epithets: Chthonian (shared with daughter Persephone refers to their status as goddesses associated with the earth, χθών being a Greek word for earth or land)įunctions: goddess of agriculture and grain Demeter and Persephoneĭemeter was a daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and was swallowed by her father (along with the rest of Cronus and Rhea’s children) shortly after her birth.

Demeter persephone hades