Claim: Artemis was a goddess.

In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology , Demeter -LRB- -LSB- dᵻˈmiːtər -RSB- Attic : Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr , -LSB- dɛːmɛ́ːtɛːr -RSB- ; Doric : Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr -RRB- is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture , who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth . Her cult titles include Sito , `` she of the Grain '' , as the giver of food or grain , and Thesmophoros -LRB- θεσμός , thesmos : divine order , unwritten law ; φόρος , phoros : bringer , bearer -RRB- , `` Law-Bringer , '' as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society .   Though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest , she presided also over the sacred law , and the cycle of life and death . She and her daughter Persephone were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon . In the Linear B Mycenean Greek tablets of c. 1400 -- 1200 BC found at Pylos , the `` two mistresses and the king '' may be related with Demeter , Persephone and Poseidon . Her Roman equivalent is Ceres .