Demeter

**Demeter** is the Greek Goddess of the Harvest.

## **Background**

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 Olympians, and which may have its roots in the Mycenaean period c. 1400–1200 BC.

In epic poetry and Hesiod's *Theogony*, Demeter is the goddess who provides grain for bread and blesses its harvesters. This was her main function at Eleusis, and became panhellenic. The main theme in the Eleusinian mysteries was the reunion of Persephone with her mother Demeter, when new crops were reunited with the old seed, a form of eternity.

According to the Athenian rhetorician Isocrates, Demeter's greatest gifts to humankind were agriculture, particularly of cereals, and the Mysteries which give the initiate higher hopes in this life and the afterlife. These two gifts were intimately connected in Demeter's myths and mystery cults. In Hesiod, prayers to Zeus and Demeter help the crops grow full and strong. Demeter's emblem is the poppy, a bright red flower that grows among the barley.

Some of the earliest accounts of Demeter's relationships to other gods comes from Hesiod's *Theogeny*, written 700 BC. In it, Demeter is described as the daughter of Kronos and Rhea. Demeter's daughter Persephone was abducted to the underworld by Hades. Demeter searched for her ceaselessly, preoccupied with her loss and her grief. The seasons halted; living things ceased their growth, then began to die. Faced with the extinction of all life on earth, Zeus sent his messenger Hermes to the underworld to bring Persephone back. Hades agreed to release her if she had eaten nothing while in his realm; but Persephone had eaten a small number of pomegranate seeds. This bound her to Hades and the underworld for certain months of every year, either the dry Mediterranean summer, when plant life is threatened by drought, or the autumn and winter. There are several variations on the basic myth. In the Homeric hymn to Demeter, Hecate assists in the search and later becomes Persephone's underworld attendant. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter Persephone is secretly slipped a pomegranate seed by Hades. In another, Persephone willingly and secretly eats the pomegranate seeds, thinking to deceive Hades, but is discovered and made to stay. Contrary to popular perception, Persephone's time in the underworld does not correspond with the unfruitful seasons of the ancient Greek calendar, nor her return to the upper world with springtime. Demeter's descent to retrieve Persephone from the underworld is connected to the Eleusinian Mysteries.

## **Personality**

Demeter was one of the most temperamental goddesses in Greek mythology. By default she was temperate, calm and nurturing however at a moment's notice her mood could change. A single insult might cause her to fly into a rage, a moment's bad news could cause her to go into hysterics and an endearing sight would instantly send her back into a charitable mood. Demeter is somewhat fussy and very overprotective, but seems to be absent-minded, which goes far into explaining how Persephone could have been kidnapped by Hades.

Demeter is somewhat unique amongst personifications of Mother-Nature, as she is not overly environmental, she cares for the environment but will not punish or proselytizes over things like, animal abuse, pollution or stripping resources; Instead she simply let's disasters befall those who destroy their own environments and is content to let humans either figure out it is in their best interests to maintain their environments or just let them kill themselves off, she views this as the same as any animal who takes too much without stopping to think about their actions and in general takes a very Darwinian stance on the balance of nature.

## **Appearance**

Demeter appears as a motherly figure, she is tall and wears a traditional Greek toga. She also can be seen wearing a crown made of wheat. Her hair is tightly braided on the sides and she sometimes carries an imperial gold sword or a load of wheat.

## **Known Powers and Abilities**

Being one of the oldest of the third generation of Greek gods, Demeter holds immense power over the seasons and the harvest.

* **Super Strength**- Though she rarely gets into conflicts, she possesses extreme levels of strength and can effortlessly overpower any lesser being.
* **Super Stamina**- Like all gods, she cannot tire, but she does need to maintain herself by eating nectar and ambrosia.
* **Immortality**- Even though she is thousands of years old, she possesses the appearance of a middle-aged woman.
* **Nigh Invulnerability** - As a goddess, she cannot be killed. Though she can take much more than younger gods.
* **Nigh Indestructibility** - Only a weapon of divine origin can cause any harm to her.
* **Regeneration**- Like all gods, she can heal herself rapidly in a short period of time.
* **Chlorokinesis** **-**  Demeter had supreme mastery over all plant-life. As the goddess of the harvest, Demeter has divine authority and absolute control over plants. She can also grant fertility to the earth, allowing plants to grow where they could not grow before. She aids plants in growing simply by being near them. She could either grant or enhance the fertility of the earth, turning barren plains into fertile fields, and encourage orchards to bear fruit and flowers to bloom.
* **Weather Manipulation**- Demeter could control the weather to an unlimited extent, such as making it rain, or snow, or cause the temperature to change, however she wished it. Demeter could regulate the seasons altering the over-all environment. She usually allowed other gods like Zeus and Poseidon to make their own weather but had an overriding authority over storms, floods, hurricanes, blizzards and temperature. She could control the seasons, such as annually transforming spring into winter and vice versa.
* **Biokinesis** **-** Demeter cursed Erysichthon to suffer and eventually die an excruciating death from insatiable hunger and thirst. She also used transmutation to alter animals and humans, everything from altering soil to turning animals into humans and vice versa.
* **Shapeshifting**- Demeter could alter her form so casually that she used it as a form of foreplay. Demeter is skilled at shapeshifting, 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), a mare (while trying to escape from Poseidon's advances).
* **Terrakinesis**- Demeter could make soil more fertile, create tremors or unleash outright earthquakes. Often used to increase the output of crops.
* **Power Granting**- Demeter was able to grant the gifts of godhood and immortality to whomever she chooses - had it not been for the untimely interference of Metaneira, she would have successfully made Demophoon an immortal. Later on, she made Triptolemus her immortal lieutenant.
* **Telepathy**- Demeter could talk to any animal and had their loyalty. Demeter can summon and control animals to an extent when she sent numerous ants to help Psyche sort out the grains spilled all over Aphrodite's kitchen.

## **Weaknesses**

* **Other Deities -** Stronger gods could overpower her.
* **Divine Weaponry** - Weapons wielded by a god can harm her.