Demeter

Demeter is the Greek goddess of the harvest, grain, and fertility. Her Roman counterpart is Ceres.
==History==
===Birth and Rescue===
Demeter was the second child of Kronos, the Titan King of Mount Othrys, and his sister-wife, Rhea. Since Demeter was a goddess (a member of a more beautiful and powerful race of immortals than the Titans), Kronos, fearing that Demeter would one day overpower him and his father's prophecy will be true, he quickly proceeded to swallow her whole, to the horror of Rhea. Demeter, thus, spent her childhood undigested in her father's stomach along with four of her other siblings: her older sister, Hestia, her younger sister, Hera, and her younger brothers, Hades and Poseidon, all of whom were also swallowed shortly after their birth. As a result, Kronos became known as "King Cannibal." Rhea pleaded with Kronos to spare their children but with no success. However, Rhea soon gave birth to her final child, Zeus, whom she secretly raised on Crete (this was advised by Gaea), far away from Mount Othrys.
After growing up, Zeus successfully infiltrated Kronos' palace on Mount Othrys as the Titan King's royal cup bearer. Demeter was finally released during the final drinking competition that Kronos had with his Titanic brothers and nephews. Zeus poured an extremely powerful emetic (made from nectar mixed with mustard) into Kronos' goblet, which caused the Titan King to disgorge all of the contents of his stomach, in reverse order of swallowing: first the boulder, then Poseidon, followed by Hades, Hera, Demeter, and finally Hestia. Zeus also prepared powerful knock out potions to the other titans so they could flee unopposed. Since they were immortal gods, they were unable to die despite being trapped in their father's stomach, and therefore had grown to their maturity undigested.
Zeus quickly introduced himself to his elder siblings, and all of them (including Demeter) promptly escaped Mount Othrys, before their Titanic uncles and cousins came to their senses. Shortly thereafter, Demeter and the other gods accepted Zeus as their leader as he was the one to release them, and reached a unanimous consensus on declaring war against their tyrannical father. Demeter was particularly bitter towards Kronos, and vowed that she would never forgive her father. However, since the Titans were well-armed and the gods still had no weapons, Demeter agreed to help Zeus release their Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheire uncles from Tartarus first.
===Rescuing the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires===
Demeter's brother, Hades, was very skilled in navigating under the earth, and therefore was able to lead them all into Tartarus (through a network of Underworld tunnels). There, imprisoned in the maximum-security zone, surrounded by huge bronze walls, and a lava moat, guarded by fierce demons, were the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires. Their guardian, Kampê, was the most ferocious and fearsome monster in all of Tartarus, and even Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades initially shuddered with horror when they saw the infernal monster for the first time. However, the gods overcame their fear, and were able to sneak in. Zeus managed to talk to the Cyclopes Brontes, and convinced him to forge powerful weapons for him and his siblings behind Kampê's back. The three Elder Cyclopes forged three incredibly powerful weapons: the Master Bolt (for Zeus), the Trident (for Poseidon), and the Helm of Darkness (for Hades). With these new weapons, Zeus killed Kampê using his Master Bolt, and Poseidon shattered the chains of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, releasing them. Afterwards, Hades safely guided his siblings and uncles back out of Tartarus. In return, for their release, all six of Demeter's uncles agreed to fight on her side in the upcoming war with the Titans.
===The First Titan War===
Shortly after their return from Tartarus, Demeter and her siblings officially declared war on Kronos and the other Titans, which resulted in the terrifying 11-year-long Titanomachy. The Elder Cyclopes soon forged a mighty golden sword for Demeter, which she bravely wielded in battle against the Titans. The Titans initially had the upper hand, since they were well-armed and much more experienced and skilled warriors. However, as the years of the war passed, the gods quickly became skilled warriors as well, and with the help of their new extremely powerful weapons, as well as the aid of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires (their huge strength and excellent forging skills proved to be very helpful), the gods finally prevailed.
While preparing for the final battle of the war, Demeter and her siblings ascended to Mount Olympus (the tallest mountain in Greece after Mount Othrys. During the final battle, Zeus used his Master Bolt to shear off the top of Mount Othrys, and hurl Kronos from his black throne, defeating the Titan King. Shortly thereafter, the gods invaded the ruins of Mount Orthys, and finally overwhelmed Atlas, Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios, and Koios.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Elder Cyclopes chained up all of the defeated Titans, while the Hekatonkheires forced them to kneel before Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Zeus took his father's Scythe, and sliced Kronos into a thousand pieces, before casting him into Tartarus, along with the rest of his followers (except for Atlas, who was forced to hold the Sky).
===After the War===
The gods chose Mount Olympus as their official residence, and the Elder Cyclopes build magnificent palaces there for them all. As a result, the gods started to call themselves the Olympians. Shortly thereafter, Demeter's brothers (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) divided the world between themselves: Hades received the Underworld, Poseidon seized the seas, and Zeus claimed the skies as his domain, becoming the King of Mount Olympus as well as the Olympians.
As for Demeter herself, she became the Goddess of Agriculture, Harvest, and Fertility, and would often visit mortals and teach them the necessary skills of agriculture. She traveled in a golden chariot pulled by twin dragons, and she also carried a gleaming gold sword (which she either used to cut wheat or to fight if need be) at her side. Since her older sister, Hestia, chose to remain an eternal virgin, she was the first goddess who caught the romantic attentions of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, especially since she was beautiful in her own right, kind-hearted, and was an excellent cook.
However, Demeter turned down all their proposals of marriage (though she still had children with Zeus and Poseidon), for she preferred to devote herself to her duties as the goddess of the harvest and fertility. She also presided over the foremost of the Mystery Cults, which promised its initiates the path to a blessed afterlife.
===Relationship with Zeus===
However, there came a time where Zeus (who had just ended his marriage with the Titaness Themis) was determined to court Demeter. Despite a shape-shifting struggle between the two, Zeus successfully seduced Demeter after transforming into a serpent. They enjoyed a relationship that resulted in Demeter's first child: a very beautiful daughter named Persephone. Though the affair later ended, Demeter was still happy, for she loved her daughter dearly.
Persephone grew up without want, always by the side of her mother, who shared some of her power over the earth with her, and she eventually became the Goddess of Springtime and Flowers. In fact, Demeter loved Persephone so dearly that she viewed her as the light of her life, and took to spending all of her time with her.
===Relationship with Poseidon===
A few years after Persephone's birth, Demeter decided to take a vacation to the beach. As she walked along the beach, she was noticed by her brother, Poseidon.
The god of the sea appeared before her, dressed in his best green robes, with a crown of seashells on his head and his trident in his hand, and tried to court her. Spurning his advances, Demeter tried to hide herself among a nearby herd of wild horses by transforming herself into a white mare. However, Poseidon not only possessed the power of shape-shifting as well, but was also "The Father of Horses", and therefore had perfect knowledge of and divine control over them. He quickly transformed into a strong white stallion himself, and galloped after her. He caught up with the herd, and made the horses part before him and surround Demeter, after which he successfully impregnated her.
Shortly thereafter, Demeter gave birth to twins: Despoina (a goddess), and Arion (an immortal stallion who could run faster than anything in the world). Despoina would later become a minor goddess of fertility, and looked after Demeter's temples as a high priestess after reaching maturity. However, her twin brother, Arion, played a far more prominent role in mythology, given how he often come to the aid of demigod heroes (such as Hercules).
===Relationship with Iasion===
Shortly thereafter, Demeter fell head-over-heels in love with Iasion, a handsome and well-mannered mortal prince of Crete. Iasion had a great respect for agriculture, and always looked out for the local farmers of Crete, which touched Demeter's heart. They enjoyed an intense and passionate love affair which, unfortunately, ended in abrupt tragedy. Upon seeing the mutual love shared between Demeter and Iasion, Zeus was overcome with jealousy, and promptly killed him with a thunderbolt.
A devastated Demeter proceeded to lock herself in her Olympian private chambers for months. By the time that she had chosen to come out again, she had given birth to Ploutos, a minor god who presided over aricultural wealth. Ploutos would often travel all over Greece, and would reward the most hard-working farmers with sacks of money.
===Punishing Erisikhthon===
Erisikhthon, an arrogant Prince of Thessaly, intended to build himself a magnificent mansion. However, the only building materials that he deemed fitting were the massive trees from Demeter's sacred grove. While Erisikhthon and fifty of his burly friends set out to chop down the trees, Demeter herself appeared before them, in the guise of a maiden. While she tried to reason with them, Erisikhthon completely disregarded her advice, and mocked Demeter. However, before he could chop down a single tree, the infuriated goddess removed her disguise, and grew over 100 feet tall. As the Goddess of Harvest and therefore the Mistress of Food, Demeter inflicted Erisikhthon with insatiable hunger and thirst. After a couple of weeks, Erisikhthon's hunger induced him to exhaust his riches and even sold his own daughter into slavery. However, the girl was saved by Poseidon, who took her to Atlantis, and made her his housekeeper. Erisikhthon himself finally perished in poverty and excruciating pain.
===Pandora===
When Zeus decided to create the irresistible Pandora (in order to punish the titan Epimetheus for his brother Prometheus's actions), Demeter taught the girl how to successfully tend to a garden.
===Athena's Flute===
When a proud Athena performed with her newly invented flute before Demeter, Hera, and Aphrodite, the goddesses began giggling and whispering to each other, with Demeter being the one to point out that Athena's facial features comically contort while she plays. An embarrassed Athena fled in humiliation, and hurled the flute off of Olympus, cursing it to give the worst fortune to the next person to play it, which ended up being the satyr Marsyas.
===Abduction of Persephone===
While Demeter loved all of her children dearly, Persephone remained her favorite child of all, the one whom she took to spending whatever free time she had with. Due to her great beauty, Persephone was often desired by many gods, but Demeter would never allow it.
However, Persephone came to be noticed by Hades himself. Although he was distanced from his Olympian family, Hades was lonely and desired a wife to fill the void. After seeing the beautiful young goddess, Hades fell madly in love with her, to the point that, for the first time, he became sloppy in his duties as Lord of the Dead. However, he knew that Persephone's overprotective mother, Demeter, would refuse to even consider the marriage, so decided to speak with her father instead. Zeus sympathized with his lovesick brother, and agreed to help him kidnap Persephone behind Demeter's back. One day, while Demeter was busy, leaving Persephone in the care of her companion nymphs, Hades managed to abduct her. Persephone's terrified scream was only heard by the minor goddess, Hecate.
Demeter eventually realized that her beloved daughter was missing, and started an epic tale of searching for her. Her search would have been fruitless, had not Helios (who saw everything due to his' being the Titan of the Sun) ultimately told her of what had happened. As a result of this, a grief-stricken and wrathful Demeter commanded the earth to become barren and infertile until her daughter was returned to her (this in turn induced autumn, and then winter). Upon seeing the starvation and anguish of the mortals due to Demeter's curse on the earth, Zeus was forced to order Hades to return Persephone to her mother.
Hades complied with his brother's wish, but before Persephone was taken back up by Hermes (the only god who can go freely to the Underworld), Hades' gardener gave her a pomegranate, and persuaded her to eat six seeds. Hence, Persephone has to stay within the Underworld for six months out of the year. This came at a cost, as Demeter never could accept that her daughter had married Hades, and left her. Demeter's nagging increased with this action, but Persephone got to stay with her husband (with whom she had fallen in love) this way.
===Rewarding Triptolemus===
Triptolemus, a prince of Eleusis who directed Demeter to Helios (and subsequently, helped her find Persephone), was justly rewarded by the goddess: she gifted him with a beautiful red-and-gold winged chariot (pulled by two pythons), and taught him the arts of agriculture. Afterwards, Demeter sent him on a mission to educate the whole of Greece. When Triptolemus taught Lynkos, king of Scythia (and demigod son of Hades), the arts of agriculture, Lynkos refused to teach it to his people and then tried to murder Triptolemus. As a result, Demeter turned him into a lynx, and made Triptolemus the immortal God of Farming.
==War of the Gods==
==Appearance==
In The Titan's Curse, Demeter was described as an exceptionally beautiful and radiant dark-haired woman in green robes.
In The Last Olympian, Demeter was described to be an older and sterner version of her daughter Persephone, with the same lustrous black hair and warm brown eyes, and her golden dress being the color of a wheat field. Demeter's hair was woven with dried grasses and reminded Percy of a wicker basket.
In The Blood of Olympus, when Demeter arrives in Athens to help the Seven Heroes of Olympus battle the Giants, she is described as wearing green and gold robes.
According to Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, she had long blond hair the color of ripe wheat, and wore a bright green dress with a dark cape, which gave her the appearance of fresh plant shoots breaking through fertile earth whenever she moved. She also wore a crown of woven corn leaves and adornments of poppies and had a sweet distinctive scent of a rainstorm over a field of jasmine. Wherever she went, Demeter was said to cut a surprisingly warlike figure, given that she rode a golden chariot pulled by twin dragons, and at her side gleamed a curved Imperial Gold sword.
In Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, Demeter appears before Psyche wearing green-and-brown robes, a crown of wheat on her head, and her golden sword in her hand.
The differences in Demeter's physical description throughout the novels could be attributed to the fact that, as a goddess, she has the ability to assume any shape she desired, though it must be noted that she retains her stunning beauty and dignity no matter what physical manifestation she adopts.
==Personality==
Demeter is somewhat fussy and has overprotective maternal instincts which could potentially make her an ideal mother, but seems to be absent-minded, which goes far into explaining how Persephone could have been kidnapped by Hades. In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Persephone says she is kind and caring.
She is also a stereotypical mother-in-law, never missing an opportunity to chastise and criticize Hades' work and marriage to her daughter. Possessing a very caring nature and an obsession for cereal, Demeter insists upon advising eating healthy and hard work as every mother would (as shown when she talks to Nico). While Demeter always rewards everyone who shows her kindness (like Triptolemus and Metanira), she is extremely severe to those who disrespect her and agriculture (like Erysichthon).
In The Hidden Oracle, Apollo says she is kind and loving. Demeter is also described as being unexpected and temperamental as the seasons. Before they got into conflict, Apollo was close enough to Demeter to consider her his favorite aunt. According to Apollo, the only times that Demeter isn't kind and loving is when she is destroying mankind through pestilence and famine, but Apollo suggests that it's merely the goddess having a bad day rather than a defining aspect of her personality. However, due to Hades' kidnapping of Persephone, Demeter becomes "a little touchy" about her children dating gods. This led to her and Apollo having a rather destructive family argument before they settled into an uneasy truce.
According to Apollo, it's rare that Demeter falls in love with a mortal and has children, causing Apollo to wonder who Meg's father was to have attracted the goddess' interest.
==Ceres==
Ceres is Demeter's Roman aspect. she becomes more disciplined, militaristic, and warlike. While Greeks envisioned Demeter as the one who gave mankind the gift of agriculture, Romans believed that the laws and rites of Ceres protected all the activities of the agricultural cycle. She has children or descendants at Camp Jupiter near San Francisco, including Leila.
It is mentioned by Apollo that Demeter is far more powerful than her Roman aspect, this could be due to the Romans have less of a connection to Nature then the Greeks, which is the source of Demeter's and Ceres' power. As a result, Demeter's children are more powerful than Ceres'.
==Abilities==
As an Elder Olympian and the Goddess of Agriculture, Demeter is more powerful than her older sister, Hestia, as powerful (some say she’s even more powerful) than her sister Hera, but less so compared to her younger brothers (Big Three). Due to her having divine authority over agriculture and the harvest, she wields tremendous power over the forces of nature, and could weave them to her will: she could command the trees of the forest to grow, vegetation to spring forth from the ground, and even punish those who offend her with famine, hunger and thirst, cause she the goddess of food and nourishment. Since the seasons also fall under her jurisdiction, she could change the climate and manipulate the state of the earth as well.
The legendary tale of Hades and Persephone is just one of the numerous instances where Demeter's powers could affect the state of nature itself: when she is with her most beloved daughter, Persephone, the earth is warm and fertile, but when Persephone is away with her husband, Hades, the world is cold, dark, and barren.
*Chlorokinesis: As the Goddess of Agriculture, Demeter has divine authority and absolute control over all plants and the harvest. She has the same plant-manipulation powers as her demigod children, only to an infinitely greater extent.
**Plant Teleportation (presumably): Her demigod daughter, Meg McCaffrey, teleported away from her guards by touching a plant growing in a crack in a sidewalk. It can be assumed that Demeter also possesses this ability.
**Taphokinesis: As the Goddess of Agriculture, Demeter has the ability to make plants rot and decay.
*Fertility Manipulation: As the Goddess of Fertility, Demeter has divine authority and absolute control over all fertility. Demeter has the power to manipulate fertility, the natural capability for living beings to reproduce (in terms of animals) or grow (in terms of plants). She could either grant or enhance the fertility of the earth, turning barren plains into fertile fields, encourage orchards to bear fruit, and flowers to bloom. She could also render things infertile, making them unable to reproduce or grow. As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, she permitted the crops of Eleusis to continue growing even as she rendered the rest of the earth barren and infertile.
*Transfiguration: As demonstrated in the Battle of Manhattan, Demeter has the power to transform, or alter, or transmute objects or beings into anything else - she transformed numerous Dracaenae into barley.
*Geokinesis: As the Goddess of the Earth, Demeter has absolute control and divine authority over the earth, though less so compared to her grandmother, Gaea, but greater than her brother Hades.
**Ferrokinesis (presumably): As the Goddess of the Earth, It can be assumed that Demeter has the ability to summon, control and manipulate all metals. In Greek Myth, Demeter gave birth to Plutus, the god and personification of wealth (i.e. precious gems and metals),
*Seasons Alteration: As the Goddess of the Seasons, Demeter has divine authority and absolute control over all the seasons, such as annually transforming spring into winter (when her daughter Persephone is with Hades), and vice versa (when her daughter returns).
**Cryokinesis: Demeter is responsible for winter, granting her divine authority over the cold, ice, and snow.
*Thermokinesis: As the Goddess of Agriculture, Demeter has divine authority and absolute control over the temperatures of the atmosphere, which is also the basis of her control over the seasons.
**Atmokinesis: As the Goddess of the Seasons, Demeter has the power to create, shape, and manipulate the weather to it's fullest extent, although her ability to do so is inferior to that of her brother, Zeus.
*Shapeshifting: As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Demeter has the power to transform and reshape the form of her body, though she hardly ever utilizes this ability. She has transformed into an eagle (while escaping from Kronos' palace on Mount Othrys), a bat (while sneaking into Tartarus' maximum-security zone with her siblings), a snake (while trying to escape from Zeus' advances), and a mare (while trying to escape from Poseidon's advances).
*Swordsmanship: According to Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Demeter always wore a curved and menacing Imperial Gold sword (forged for her by the Elder Cyclopes) on her belt. While she usually uses it to cut wheat, it was stated that Demeter was also capable of skillfully wielding it in combat against those who anger her, which reveals her to be an expert swordswoman.
*Body Length Manipulation: As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Demeter has the power to manipulate the height of her body - when provoked to breaking point by Erysichthon, she grew to a massive height greater than even the trees of her sacred grove. Percy describes her as "Grainzilla" in this state.
*Nourishment Manipulation: As the Mistress of All Nourishment, Demeter has absolute control and divine authority over all nourishment. An example of an ability she derived from this province is:
**Gluttony Inducement: As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Demeter had the power to induce excessive eating or gluttony, rendering one unable to focus on anything else than fulfilling their hunger - she cursed Erysichthon to suffer and eventually die an excruciating death from insatiable hunger and thirst.
*Deification: As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Demeter has the power to transform whomever she chooses into immortal deities - had it not been for the untimely interference of Metaneira, she would have successfully made Demophoon an immortal god. Later on, she made Triptolemus her immortal lieutenant as the God of Farming after he helped her find her daughter.
*Cursing: As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Demeter has the power to place a curse on anyone or anything - upon learning of how Askalaphos had helped Hades to trick Persephone, she furiously sent a powerful curse straight into the Underworld, transforming him into a gecko.
*Culinary Arts: In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Demeter was said to be an excellent cook, knowing how to bake delicious bread and cookies.
*Ant Manipulation: As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, Demeter has the power to summon and control ants - she sent numerous ants to help Psyche sort out the grains spilled all over Aphrodite's kitchen.
==Symbols==
The goddess Demeter's symbols are the following:
*Her general symbols are the cornucopia, (sheaves of) wheat, bread, a torch, acorns, honey.
*Her sacred animals are the cats and dogs (all domestic pets), lions, snakes, lizards, pigs and the crane.
*Her sacred plants are the poppies, the sunflower, the cypress, the foxglove, the daisy, the columbine, the ash and the oak trees.
*Her sacred colours are the green (which represent the florescence of the spring), dark brown (which represents the soil and the earth) and gold (which represents wheat and fields of grain).
==Family==
===Immortal Children===
Partner 	Children
Iasion 	
Poseidon	Arion and Despoina
Zeus 	Persephone
===Mortal Children===
Partner 	Children
Mr Collins 	David Collins
Lord William Smith	Lord Arthur Smith and Alyssa Smith
Mr Adams 	Sophie Adams
Mr Firth 	Amy Firth
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*After Hestia stepped down from the Olympian Council and hereby gave the position to Dionysus, Demeter is the oldest Olympian to have a throne in Olympus.
**Aphrodite's age is somewhat vague, meaning she might be older. Piper describes her as "the most ancient Olympian", though Percy Jackson's Greek Gods claims she only arose from the sea foam after the Titans were defeated.
*She is the only Olympian female to have blonde hair (Apollo is the only male Olympian with blonde hair)
*Out of her and her sisters (Hestia and Hera), she is the only one to have demigod children.
*Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt (located between Mars and Jupiter), is named after Demeter's Roman aspect.
*Demeter is one of the twelve Olympians who doesn't make a major appearance in a book, aside from her minor role in The Last Olympian. However, Demeter does have a much larger role in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods.
*As shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Demeter (who was distraught about her daughter, Persephone), was the only one to touch the food prepared for the Olympians by Tantalus. Hence, Demeter unknowingly ate Pelops' shoulder. However, when Zeus brought him back to life, Hephaestus was able to make a replacement shoulder for Pelops out of ivory.
*In The Last Olympian, Demeter kept on telling Persephone to eat more cereal, which is named after her Roman counterpart, Ceres.
*She appears to have chosen her lovers for humorous reasons as two of her known children — Miranda Gardiner and Katie Gardner — have names that sound like gardener, for she is the goddess of agriculture and farming.
*Due to her curved Imperial Gold sword, Demeter is sometimes referred to as Demeter Chrysaoros, or "Demeter of the golden sword".
*1108 Demeter, a main belt asteroid 26km in diameter, is named after her.
*Hades, her brother, is also her son-in-law.
*Some stories say that her weapon was actually moulded from Kronos' scythe to her own choice of a weapon.
*Her Norse equivalent would be Sif.
*Her name possibly means "Mother-Earth" or "Earth-Mother".
*In the film version of The Lightning Thief the actress who performs her is the more similar to the real appearance in the books, despite almost all other actors.
*During the Pact of the Big Three, she was the only child of Kronos and Rhea that had who had demigod children allowed to do so.
*Her Roman form Ceres is depicted on the Seal of New Jersey as a symbol of prosperity.
*According to Apollo in The Hidden Oracle, Demeter's children usually aren't very powerful, unable to do little more than make crops grow and keep bacterial fungus at bay. However, this is an error, as not only in The Last Olympian, members of Demeter's cabin were powerful enough to have turned the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel "into a jungle" when defending the area, but Demeter is also an Elder Olympian so her children would naturally be quite strong.
*Her Egyptian equivalent would be Isis.
Category:Characters
Category:Greek Goddesses
Category:Olympians
Category:Children of Kronos
Category:Children of Rhea
Category:Harvest Gods
Category:Immortals