Demeter

Potnia Theron, Legislator, Sender of Gifts, Fruit Bearing, Lady of Corn-Sheafs, Black One, Avenging One, Grieving One, New Gaia, New Mother Nature, New Mother Earth Goddess

## Relationships

### Ancestors

Khaos (Progenitor)
Ouranos (Grandfather)
Gaia (Grandmother)

### Parents

Kronos (Father)
Rhea (Mother)

### Siblings

Hestia (Eldest Sister)
Hera (Older Sister)
Hades (Younger Brother)
Poseidon (Younger Brother)
Zeus (Younger Brother)
Chiron (Half-Brother)

### Romances

Zeus, Poseidon, Odin, Iasion, Carmanor...

### Children

**Immortal Children**
Plutus, Philomelus, Iacchus, Eubuleus, Corybas
**Immortal Daughters**
Persephone, Chrysothemis
**Mortal Children**
Lityerses, Katie Gardner, Miranda Gardiner, Alice Longbottom, Meg McCaffrey

## Personal Status

### Ranking

Principal God
Transcended One

### Affliations

Mount Olympus
Olympian Deities
Greco-Roman Deities
Greco-Roman Pantheon

### Abilities

**Ethereal Energy*** Cycle Manipulation
* Plant Manipulation
* Nature Manipulation
* Fertility Manipulation

### Power Scale

**Rank**: B-Ranked
**Class**: Primordial-Class

## Portrayal

### English VA

Kelly Manison

**Demeter**, also called **Ceres**, is the Goddess of Plants, Agriculture, and the Harvest from Greco-Roman Mythology. As an Elder Olympian, she is one of the top-ranked gods of Mount Olympus with an immense authority over the Greco-Roman Pantheon.

## Overview

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, **Demeter** is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding 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, "giver of customs" or "legislator", in association with the secret female-only festival called the Thesmophoria.

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, a religious tradition that predated the Olympian pantheon, and which may have its roots in the Mycenaean period c. 1400–1200 BC. One of the most notable Homeric Hymns, the *Homeric Hymn to Demeter*, tells the story of Persephone's abduction by Hades and Demeter's search for her.

## Appearance

Demeter appears as a beautiful woman with healthy tanned skin, a welcoming smile, and a voluptuous body. She has wavy light-brown hair tied into a side-ponytail and crimson-colored eyes, akin to that of ripe pomegranate seeds.

Like other Elder Olympians, excluding Zeus, she has numerous and severe burn marks scattered across her body, painted on her back and on her stomach, as the result of centuries sealed within Kronos' stomach.

## Personality

Demeter is generally described as a kind, caring, and loving goddess. She is hard-working, strong-willed, and protective, especially when it comes to her family. She has overprotective maternal instincts which could potentially make her an ideal mother, though at times, her presence can make her children feel smothered and overwhelmed.

Despite her positive traits, she isn't perfect as she is also obstinate and headstrong, refusing to acknowledge her wrongs and mistakes until after the consequences are made. Her personality is described to be as unexpected and temperamental as the seasons.

While she always rewards everyone who shows her kindness, she is extremely severe to those who disrespect her. She is known for destroying entire civilizations through pestilence and famine, though this is suggested to merely be her on "bad day" rather than a defining aspect of her personality.

As the [God of Sacred Laws], she is a fair and orderly goddess who does *not* tolerate any injustice before her, and her punishment is noted to be harsh and ruthless. She believes in the importance of old customs and traditions, though she acknowledges how something needs to be forgotten for society to advance.

Due to her own history and Hades' "abduction" of Persephone, she becomes "a little touchy" about her children dating gods or immortals. In 441 BCE, after a destructive family argument that inadvertently caused the first famine in ancient Rome, the Olympians learned not to touch her children without her permission, demigod or otherwise.

## Quotes

**Demeter**: "*I warned you, daughter. This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could've married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers, but noooo. You had to eat the pomegranate.*"
**Persephone**: "*Mother-*"
**Demeter**: "*And get stuck in the Underworld!*"
**Persephone**: "*Mother, please-*"
**Demeter**: "*And here it is August, and do you come home like you're supposed to? Do you ever think about your poor lonely mother?*"
— Demeter to Persephone

## Trivia

* Her name "Demeter" means "Earth Mother".
* Her attributes are the Cornucopia, (sheaves of) wheat, bread, a torch, acorns, and honey.
	+ Her sacred animals are the cats and dogs (i.e. 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 colors are green, dark-brown, and gold.
* Her favorite drink is "barley water", i.e. beer.
* Out of her and her sisters (Hestia and Hera), she is the only one to have demigod children
* 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.
* Because of Thesmophoros, her Imperial Gold *harpe*, Demeter is sometimes referred to as "Demeter Chrysaoros", or "Demeter of the golden sword".
* In Norse mythology, as the Earth Goddess Jörð, she is associated with the Vanir god Fjörgynn, who is the father of Frigga.
* As Ceres, she appears as a character in Shakespeare's play *The Tempest*, along with Juno and Iris.
* As Ceres, she is depicted on the Seal of New Jersey as a symbol of prosperity.
* The Cerealia festival was held in honor of Ceres and was connected with the growth of corn.
* Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt (located between Mars and Jupiter), is named after her Roman alias.
	+ 1108 Demeter, an asteroid, is named after her.
	+ Cerium, the chemical element, is named after her.
	+ The word *cereal* derives from her name.
* Statues of Ceres top the domes of the Missouri State Capitol and the Vermont State House, serving as a reminder of the importance of agriculture in the states' economies and histories.
	+ There is also a statue of her on top of the Chicago Board of Trade Building, which conducts trading in agricultural commodities.