71-718: For the asteroid, see 308 Polyxo . Greek deities series Primordial deities Titans and Olympians Chthonic deities Personified concepts Water deities Amphitrite Ceto Glaucus Nereus Oceanus Phorcys Pontus Poseidon Potamoi Proteus Tethys Thetis Triton Water nymphs Crinaeae Eleionomae Hyades Limnades Naiads Nereids Oceanids Pegaeae Pegasides Potamides v t e Polyxo ( / p ə ˈ l ɪ k s oʊ / ; Ancient Greek : Πολυξώ Poluxṓ )
142-582: A Linear B ( Mycenean Greek ) inscription ( PY En 609); the word 𐀅𐀔𐀳 , da-ma-te , probably refers to "households". On the other hand, 𐀯𐀵𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊 , si-to-po-ti-ni-ja , " Potnia of the Grain", is regarded as referring to her Bronze Age predecessor or to one of her epithets . Demeter's character as mother-goddess is identified in the second element of her name meter ( μήτηρ ) derived from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *méh₂tēr (mother). In antiquity, different explanations were already proffered for
213-453: A period of 4.56 yr. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 4.36° to the plane of the ecliptic . 308 Polyxo is classified as a rare T-type asteroid , with a spectrum that bears some similarity to the Tagish Lake meteorite . A spectral feature at a wavelength of 3.0 μm suggests aqueous alteration of some surface materials. Photometric measurements reported in 1983 give
284-732: A rotation period of 12.03 hours and a brightness variation of 0.20 in magnitude . The adaptive optics instrument at the W. M. Keck Observatory shows an oblate object with a diameter of 130 km. The size ratio between the major and minor axes is 1.26 ± 0.11. Light curves for this object suggests it has a very irregular shape. Stellar occultation events were observed for this asteroid during 2000 and 2004. The resulting chords provided cross-section diameter estimates of 144.4 and 117.1 km, respectively. Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology , Demeter ( / d ɪ ˈ m iː t ər / ; Attic : Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr [dɛːmɛ́ːtɛːr] ; Doric : Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr )
355-417: A Greek interpretation, but not necessarily an Indo-European one. Demeter was frequently associated with images of the harvest, including flowers, fruit, and grain. She was also sometimes pictured with her daughter Persephone. However, Demeter is not generally portrayed with any of her consorts; the exception is Iasion , the youth of Crete who lay with her in a thrice-ploughed field and was killed afterward by
426-505: A boar during hunt. The truth was that Erysichthon was dealing with the insatiable hunger sent upon him by the angry Demeter . Polyxo, a Lemnian , nurse of Hypsipyle and a seeress. She advised that the Lemnian women conceive children with the Argonauts , as all the men on the island had previously been killed. Polyxo , a native of Argos , who married Tlepolemus . She received Helen after
497-485: A cave to mourn and to purify herself. She was consequently depicted with the head of a horse in this region. A sculpture of the Black Demeter was made by Onatas . In the earliest conceptions of Demeter she is the goddess of grain and threshing, however her functions were extended beyond the fields and she was often identified with the earth goddess ( Gaia ). Some of the epithets of Gaia and Demeter are similar showing
568-467: A field while she was picking flowers, with Zeus' leave. Demeter searched everywhere to find her missing daughter to no avail until she was informed that Hades had taken her to the Underworld. In response, Demeter neglected her duties as goddess of agriculture, plunging the earth into a deadly famine where nothing would grow, causing mortals to die. Zeus ordered Hades to return Persephone to her mother to avert
639-567: A form of agrarian magic. Theocritus described one of Demeter's earlier roles as that of a goddess of poppies: For the Greeks, Demeter was still a poppy goddess Bearing sheaves and poppies in both hands. Karl Kerényi asserted that poppies were connected with a Cretan cult which was eventually carried to the Eleusinian Mysteries in Classical Greece . In a clay statuette from Gazi,
710-409: A horse's head holding a dove and dolphin, perhaps to symbolize her power over the Underworld, the air, and the water. The cult of Demeter in the region was related to Despoina , a very old chthonic divinity. Demeter shares the double function of death and fertility with her daughter Persephone. Demeter and Persephone were called Despoinai (the mistresses) and Demeters . This duality was also used in
781-625: A jealous Zeus with a thunderbolt. Demeter is assigned the zodiac constellation Virgo, the Virgin, by Marcus Manilius in his 1st-century Roman work Astronomicon. In art, the constellation Virgo holds Spica, a sheaf of wheat in her hand and sits beside constellation Leo the Lion. In Arcadia, she was known as "Black Demeter". She was said to have taken the form of a mare to escape the pursuit of her younger brother, Poseidon, and having been raped by him despite her disguise, she dressed all in black and retreated into
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#1732852351387852-478: A new plant arises from buried seed. This was most likely a belief shared by initiates in Demeter's mysteries, as interpreted by Pindar : "Blessed is he who has seen before he goes under the earth; for he knows the end of life and knows also its divine beginning." In Arcadia Demeter had the epithets Erinys (fury) and Melaina (black) which are associated with the myth of Demeter's rape by Poseidon. The epithets stress
923-403: A single woman, Europe , also daughter of Nilus. In some accounts, he married Melia , daughter of his uncle Agenor , king of Tyre . Polyxo, mother of Antiope and possibly Nycteis by Nycteus . Polyxo, mother of Actorion . She came to invite Triopas and Erysichthon to her son's wedding, but Erysichthon's mother had to answer that her own son was not coming, as he had been wounded by
994-683: Is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture , presiding over crops , grains , food , and the fertility of the earth. Although Demeter is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld . She is also called Deo ( Δηώ Dēṓ ). In Greek tradition, Demeter is the second child of the Titans Rhea and Cronus , and sister to Hestia , Hera , Hades , Poseidon , and Zeus . Like her other siblings except Zeus, she
1065-437: Is the mother and the giver of food generally. This view is shared by British scholar Jane Ellen Harrison , who suggests that Démeter's name means Grain-Mother , instead of Earth-Mother . An alternative Proto-Indo-European etymology comes through Potnia and Despoina , where Des- represents a derivative of PIE *dem (house, dome), and Demeter is "mother of the house" (from PIE *dems-méh₂tēr ). R. S. P. Beekes rejects
1136-874: Is the name of several figures in Greek mythology : Polyxo, one of the 3,000 Oceanids , water-nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and his sister-wife Tethys . Polyxo, one of the Hyades . Polyxo, a Naiad of the river Nile , presumably one of the daughters of the river-god Nilus . She was one of the wives of King Danaus of Libya and bore him twelve daughters: Autonoe , Theano , Electra , Cleopatra , Eurydice , Glaucippe , Anthelea , Cleodora , Euippe , Erato , Stygne , and Bryce . They married twelve sons of King Aegyptus of Egypt and Caliadne , Polyxo's sister, and murdered them on their wedding night. According to Hippostratus , Danaus had all of his progeny by
1207-538: The Edict of Thessalonica and banned paganism throughout the Roman Empire , people throughout Greece continued to pray to Demeter as "Saint Demetra", patron saint of agriculture . Around 1765–1766, the antiquary Richard Chandler , alongside the architect Nicholas Revett and the painter William Pars , visited Eleusis and mentioned a statue of a caryatid as well as the folklore that surrounded it, they stated that it
1278-617: The Great Mother Rhea - Cybele who was worshipped in Crete and Asia Minor with the music of cymbals and violent rites. It seems that poppies were connected with the cult of the Great Mother. In epic poetry and Hesiod 's Theogony , Demeter is the Grain-Mother, the goddess of cereals who provides grain for bread and blesses its harvesters. In Homer 's Iliad , the blonde Demeter with
1349-610: The Minoan poppy goddess wears the seed capsules, sources of nourishment and narcosis, in her diadem. According to Kerényi, "It seems probable that the Great Mother Goddess who bore the names Rhea and Demeter, brought the poppy with her from her Cretan cult to Eleusis and it is almost certain that in the Cretan cult sphere opium was prepared from poppies." In an older tradition in Crete
1420-402: The "queens" (wa-na-ssoi). Both Homer and Hesiod, writing c. 700 BC, described Demeter making love with the agricultural hero Iasion in a ploughed field during the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia . According to Hesiod, this union resulted in the birth of Plutus . According to Diodorus Siculus , in his Bibliotheca historica written in the 1st century BC, Demeter and Zeus were also
1491-570: The Argonautica Mythology of Argos, Peloponnese Theban mythology Thessalian mythology Hidden category: All set index articles 308 Polyxo 308 Polyxo is a main-belt asteroid that was discovered by A. Borrelly on 31 March 1891, in Marseilles . It is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.75 AU with a low orbital eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.04 and
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#17328523513871562-567: The Athenian rhetorician Isocrates , Demeter's greatest gifts to humankind were agriculture which gave to men a civilized way of life, 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. Demeter is the giver of mystic rites and the giver of the civilized way of life (teaching the laws of agriculture). Her epithet Eleusinia relates her with
1633-540: The Eleusinian mysteries, however at Sparta Eleusinia had an early use, and it was probably a name rather than an epithet. Demeter Thesmophoros (law-giving) is closely associated to the laws of cereal agriculture. The festival Thesmophoria was celebrated throughout Greece and was connected to a form of agrarian magic. Near Pheneus in Arcadia she was known as Demeter- Thesmia (lawfull), and she received rites according to
1704-599: The Homeric "Mother Earth arοura " who gave the gift of cereals ( zeai or deai ). Most of the epithets of Demeter describe her as a goddess of grain. Her name Deo in literature probably relates her with deai a Cretan word for cereals. In Attica she was called Haloas (of the threshing floor) according to the earliest conception of Demeter as the Corn-Mother. She was sometimes called Chloe (ripe-grain or fresh-green) and sometimes Ioulo (ioulos : grain sheaf). Chloe
1775-566: The Illyrian god Dei-paturos ( dei- , "sky", attached to - paturos, "father"). The Lesbian form Dō- may simply reflect a different colloquial pronunciation of the non-Greek name. Another theory suggests that the element De - might be connected with Deo , an epithet of Demeter and it could derive from the Cretan word dea ( δηά ), Ionic zeia ( ζειά )—variously identified with emmer , spelt , rye , or other grains by modern scholars—so that she
1846-524: The King": wa-na-ssoi , wa-na-ka-te ). The "Two Queens" may be related to Demeter and Persephone or their precursors, goddesses who were no longer associated with Poseidon in later periods. In Pylos potnia (mistress) is the major goddess of the city and "wanax " in the tablets has a similar nature with her male consort in the Minoan cult. Potnia retained some chthonic cults, and in popular religion these were related to
1917-530: The Linear B inscription E-ne-si-da-o-ne , "earth-shaker". John Chadwick also argues that the dā element in the name of Demeter is not so simply equated with "earth". M. L. West has proposed that the word Demeter, initially Damater , could be a borrowing from an Illyrian deity attested in the Messapic goddess Damatura , with a form dā- ("earth", from PIE *dʰǵʰ(e)m- ) attached to - matura ("mother"), akin to
1988-769: The Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca. 3 Vols. W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940–1942. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library . Pausanias , Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4 . Online version at
2059-508: The Perseus Digital Library Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols . Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library . Tzetzes, John , Book of Histories, Book VII-VIII translated by Vasiliki Dogani from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. Online version at theio.com [REDACTED] [REDACTED] This article includes a list of Greek mythological figures with
2130-469: The Perseus Digital Library . Gaius Julius Hyginus , Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at
2201-766: The Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website . Apollonius Rhodius , Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853–1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica . George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library . Callimachus , Callimachus and Lycophron with an English translation by A. W. Mair ; Aratus, with an English translation by G. R. Mair , London: W. Heinemann, New York: G. P. Putnam 1921. Internet Archive Callimachus, Works . A.W. Mair. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1921. Greek text available at
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2272-532: The Pessinuntian Mother of the gods; ... the ancient Eleusinians Actaean Ceres; ... and the Egyptians who excel in ancient learning, honour me with the worship which is truly mine and call me by my true name: Queen Isis. Alongside the rest of her siblings, with the exception of her youngest brother Zeus, she was swallowed as a newborn by her father due to his fear of being overthrown by one of his children; she
2343-473: The Topos Text Project. Gaius Valerius Flaccus , Argonautica translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at theio.com. Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon. Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Nonnus of Panopolis , Dionysiaca translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863–1950), from
2414-562: The Underworld by Hades . At the Aventine, the new cult took its place alongside the old. It did not refer to Liber, whose open and gender-mixed cult played a central role in plebeian culture as a patron and protector of plebeian rights, freedoms and values. The exclusively female initiates and priestesses of the new " greek style " mysteries of Ceres and Proserpina were expected to uphold Rome's traditional, patrician -dominated social hierarchy and traditional morality . Unmarried girls should emulate
2485-413: The ages, highest of the gods, queen of the shades, first of those who dwell in heaven, representing in one shape all gods and goddesses. My will controls the shining heights of heaven, the health-giving sea winds, and the mournful silences of hell; the entire world worships my single godhead in a thousand shapes, with divers rites, and under many a different name. The Phrygians, first-born of mankind, call me
2556-498: The altar were called "ompniai" and in Attica the goddess was known as Ompnia (related to corns). These cakes were oferred to all gods. In some fests big loafs ( artoi ) were offered to the goddess and in Boeotia she was known as Megalartos (of the big loaf) and Megalomazos (of the big mass, or big porridge). Her function was extended to vegetation generally and to all fruits and she had
2627-537: The chastity of Proserpina, the maiden; married women should seek to emulate Ceres, the devoted and fruitful mother. Their rites were intended to secure a good harvest and increase the fertility of those who partook in the mysteries. Beginning in the 5th century BCE in Asia Minor , Demeter was also considered equivalent to the Phrygian goddess Cybele . Demeter's festival of Thesmophoria was popular throughout Asia Minor, and
2698-441: The classical period ( Thesmophoroi , Double named goddesses ) and particularly in an oath: "By the two goddesses". In the cult of Phlya she was worshipped as Anesidora who sends up gifts from the Underworld. In Sparta, she was known as Demeter- Chthonia (chthonic Demeter). After each death the mourning should end with a sacrifice to the goddess. Pausanias believes that her cult was introduced from Hermione , where Demeter
2769-408: The darker side of her character and her relation to the dark underworld, in an old chthonic cult associated with wooden structures (xoana). Erinys had a similar function with the avenging Dike (Justice). In the mysteries of Pheneus the goddess was known as Cidaria . Her priest would put on the mask of Demeter, which was kept secret. The cult may have been connected with both the Underworld and
2840-533: The disaster. However, because Persephone had eaten food from the Underworld, she could not stay with Demeter forever, but had to divide the year between her mother and her husband, explaining the seasonal cycle as Demeter does not let plants grow while Persephone is gone. Her cult titles include Sito ( Σιτώ ), "she of the Grain", as the giver of food or grain, and Thesmophoros ( θεσμός , thesmos : divine order, unwritten law; φόρος , phoros : bringer, bearer), "giver of customs" or "legislator", in association with
2911-469: The earliest Amphictyony centred on the cult of Demeter at Anthele (Ἀνθήλη), lay on the coast of Malis south of Thessaly, near Thermopylae. Mysian Demeter had a seven-day festival at Pellené in Arcadia. The geographer Pausanias passed the shrine to Mysian Demeter on the road from Mycenae to Argos and reports that according to Argive tradition, the shrine was founded by an Argive named Mysius who venerated Demeter. Even after Theodosius I issued
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2982-544: The end of the Second Punic War . The cult originated in southern Italy (part of Magna Graecia ) and was probably based on the Thesmophoria, a mystery cult dedicated to Demeter and Persephone as "Mother and Maiden". It arrived along with its Greek priestesses, who were granted Roman citizenship so that they could pray to the gods "with a foreign and external knowledge, but with a domestic and civil intention". The new cult
3053-414: The epithets eukarpos (of good crop), karpophoros (bringer of fruits), malophoros (apple bearer) and sometimes Oria (all the fruits of the season). These epithets show an identity in nature with the earth goddess. The central 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
3124-519: The first element of her name. It is possible that Da ( Δᾶ ), a word which corresponds to Gē ( Γῆ ) in Attic, is the Doric form of De ( Δῆ ), "earth", the old name of the chthonic earth-goddess, and that Demeter is "Mother-Earth". Liddell & Scott find this "improbable" and Beekes writes, "there is no indication that [ da ] means "earth", although it has also been assumed in the name of Poseidon found in
3195-577: The form of a snake, explaining the origin of the symbol on Hermes ' staff. Their daughter is said to be Persephone, whom Zeus, in turn, mates with to conceive Dionysus . According to the Orphic fragments, "After becoming the mother of Zeus, she who was formerly Rhea became Demeter." There is some evidence that the figures of the Queen of the Underworld and the daughter of Demeter were initially considered separate goddesses. However, they must have become conflated by
3266-676: The goddess Demeter. In Greek religion potniai (mistresses) appear in plural (like the Erinyes) and are closely related to the Eleusinian Demeter. Major cults to Demeter are known at Eleusis in Attica, Hermion (in Crete), Megara , Celeae, Lerna , Aegila , Munychia , Corinth , Delos , Priene , Akragas , Iasos , Pergamon , Selinus , Tegea , Thoricus , Dion (in Macedonia) Lykosoura , Mesembria , Enna , and Samothrace . Probably
3337-457: The goddess of childbirth, who was involved with the annual birth of the divine child. Elements of this early form of worship survived in the Eleusinian cult, where the following words were uttered: "the mighty Potnia had born a strong son." Tablets from Pylos of c. 1400 – c. 1200 BC record sacrificial goods destined for "the Two Queens and Poseidon" ("to the Two Queens and
3408-521: The heart of both festivals were myths concerning Demeter as the mother and Persephone as her daughter. In the Roman period, Demeter became conflated with the Roman agricultural goddess Ceres through interpretatio romana . The worship of Demeter has formally merged with that of Ceres around 205 BC, along with the ritus graecia cereris , a Greek-inspired form of cult, as part of Rome's general religious recruitment of deities as allies against Carthage, towards
3479-462: The help of the wind separates the grain from the chaff. Homer mentions the Thalysia a Greek harvest-festival of first fruits in honour of Demeter . In Hesiod, prayers to Zeus-Chthonios (chthonic Zeus ) and Demeter help the crops grow full and strong. This was her main function at Eleusis , and she became panhellenic. In Cyprus , "grain-harvesting" was damatrizein . Demeter was the zeidoros arοura ,
3550-428: The identity of their nature. In most of her myths and cults, Demeter is the "Grain-Mother" or the "Earth-Mother". In the older chthonic cults the earth goddess was related to the Underworld and in the secret rites (mysteries) Demeter and Persephone share the double function of death and fertility. Demeter is the giver of the secret rites and the giver of the laws of cereal agriculture. She was occasionally identified with
3621-1137: The latter had been driven out of Sparta , but when Helen was bathing, several handmaidens sent by Polyxo, seized her and hanged her from a tree. Polyxo, a Maenad in the retinue of Dionysus who attempted to kill Lycurgus of Thrace . Polyxo (or Polyzo), a sister of Meleager . Notes [ edit ] ^ Hyginus , Fabulae Preface ^ Hyginus, De Astronomica 2.21 ^ Apollodorus , 2.1.5 ^ Tzetzes , Chiliades 7.37 p. 370-371 ^ Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius , Notes on Book 3.1689 ^ Apollodorus, 3.10.1 ^ Callimachus , Hymn to Demeter 77 ff. ^ Apollonius Rhodius, 1.668; Hyginus, Fabulae 15; Valerius Flaccus , 2.315 ff ^ Pausanias , 3.19.9 – 10 ^ Nonnus , 21.69 ^ Scholia on Homer , Iliad 9.584 References [ edit ] Apollodorus , The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at
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#17328523513873692-424: The local version. Demeter's emblem is the poppy, a bright red flower that grows among the barley. In addition to her role as an agricultural goddess, Demeter was often worshipped more generally as a goddess of the earth, from which crops spring up. Her individuality was rooted to the less developed personality of Gaia (earth). In Arcadia Demeter Melaina (the black Demeter) was represented as snake-haired with
3763-450: The myth of Persephone and Adonis in many ways mirrors the myth of Cybele and Attis . Some late antique sources syncretized several "great goddess" figures into a single deity. For example, the Platonist philosopher Apuleius , writing in the late 2nd century, identified Ceres (Demeter) with Isis, having her declare: I, mother of the universe, mistress of all the elements, first-born of
3834-540: The parents of Dionysus. Diodorus described the myth of Dionysus' double birth (once from the earth, i.e. Demeter, when the plant sprouts) and once from the vine (when the fruit sprouts from the plant). Diodorus also related a version of the myth of Dionysus' destruction by the Titans ("sons of Gaia "), who boiled him, and how Demeter gathered up his remains so that he could be born a third time (Diod. iii.62). Diodorus states that Dionysus' birth from Zeus and his older sister Demeter
3905-420: The potnia of the labyrinth da-pu-ri-to-jo po-ti-ni-ja . Poseidon was often given the title wa-na-ka ( wanax ) in Linear B inscriptions in his role as King of the Underworld, and his title E-ne-si-da-o-ne indicates his chthonic nature. He was the male companion (paredros) of the goddess in the Minoan and probably Mycenean cult. In the cave of Amnisos , Enesidaon is associated with the cult of Eileithyia ,
3976-587: The same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific Greek mythology article referred you to this page, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended Greek mythology article, if one exists. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polyxo&oldid=1247209962 " Categories : Set index articles on Greek mythology Oceanids Children of Atlas Children of Nilus Naiads Maenads Companions of Dionysus Queens in Greek mythology Characters in
4047-498: 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. Demeter
4118-723: The time of Hesiod in the 7th century BC. Demeter and Persephone were often worshipped together and were often referred to by joint cultic titles. In their cult at Eleusis, they were referred to simply as "the goddesses", usually distinguished as "the older" and "the younger"; in Rhodes and Sparta , they were worshipped as "the Demeters"; in the Thesmophoria, they were known as "the thesmophoroi" ("the legislators"). In Arcadia they were known as "the Great Goddesses" and "the mistresses". In Mycenaean Pylos, Demeter and Persephone were probably called
4189-471: The vegetation cult was related with the deity of the cave. During the Bronze Age, a goddess of nature dominated both in Minoan and Mycenean cults. In the Linear B inscriptions po-ti-ni-ja (potnia) refers to the goddess of nature who was concerned with birth and vegetation and had certain chthonic apects. Some scholars believe that she was the universal mother goddess. A Linear B inscription at Knossos mentions
4260-433: Was associated with Hades . In a local legend a hollow in the earth was the entrance to the underworld, by which the souls could pass easily. In Elis she was called Demeter- Chamyne (goddess of the ground), in an old chthonic cult associated with the descent to Hades. At Levadia the goddess was known as Demeter- Europa and she was associated with Trophonius , an old divinity of the underworld. The oracle of Trophonius
4331-455: Was considered sacred by the locals because it protected their crops. They called the statue "Saint Demetra", a saint whose story had many similarities to the myth of Demeter and Persephone, except that her daughter had been abducted by the Turks and not by Hades . The locals covered the statue with flowers to ensure the fertility of their fields. This tradition continued until 1865, when the statue
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#17328523513874402-461: Was famous in the antiquity. Pindar uses the rare epithet Chalkokrotos (bronze sounding). Brazen musical instruments were used in the mysteries of Demeter and the Great-Mother Rhea - Cybele was also worshipped with the music of cymbals. In central Greece Demeter was known as Amphictyonis (of the dwellers-round), in a cult of the goddess at Anthele near Thermopylae (hot gates). She
4473-578: Was forcibly removed by Edward Daniel Clarke and donated to the University of Cambridge . The statue is now located in the Fitzwilliam Museum , the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. Demeter's two major festivals were sacred mysteries . Her Thesmophoria festival (11–13 October) was women-only. Her Eleusinian mysteries were open to initiates of any gender or social class. At
4544-472: Was installed in the already ancient Temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera , Rome's Aventine patrons of the plebs ; from the end of the 3rd century BC, Demeter's temple at Enna, in Sicily , was acknowledged as Ceres' oldest, most authoritative cult centre, and Libera was recognized as Proserpina, Roman equivalent to Persephone. Their joint cult recalls Demeter's search for Persephone after the latter's abduction into
4615-492: Was later freed when Zeus made Cronus disgorge all of his children by giving him a special potion. Demeter is notable as the mother of Persephone, described by both Hesiod and in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter as the result of a union with her younger brother Zeus. An alternate recounting of the matter appears in a fragment of the lost Orphic theogony, which preserves part of a myth in which Zeus mates with his mother, Rhea , in
4686-502: Was often considered to be the same figure as the Anatolian goddess Cybele , and she was identified with the Roman goddess Ceres . Demeter may appear in Linear A as da-ma-te on three documents ( AR Zf 1 and 2, and KY Za 2), all three dedicated to religious situations and all three bearing just the name ( i-da-ma-te on AR Zf 1 and 2). It is unlikely that Demeter appears as da-ma-te in
4757-412: Was said to be the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon. According to Pausanias, a Thelpusian tradition said that during Demeter's search for Persephone, Poseidon pursued her. Demeter turned into a horse to avoid her younger brother's advances. However, he turned into a stallion and mated with the goddess, resulting in the birth of the horse god Arion and a daughter "whose name they are not wont to divulge to
4828-430: Was somewhat of a minority belief, possibly via conflation of Demeter with her daughter, as most sources state that the parents of Dionysus were Zeus and Persephone, and later Zeus and Semele. Hesiod's Theogony (c. 700 BC) describes Demeter as the second daughter of Cronus and Rhea , and the sister of Hestia , Hera , Hades , Poseidon , and Zeus . In Arcadia, a major Arcadian deity known as Despoina ("Mistress")
4899-428: Was swallowed by her father as an infant and rescued by Zeus. Through her brother Zeus, she became the mother of Persephone , a fertility goddess and resurrection deity . 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. When Hades, the King of the Underworld, wished to make Persephone his wife, he abducted her from
4970-452: Was the goddess of young corn and young vegetation and "Iouloi" were harvest songs in honour of the goddess. The reapers called Demeter Amallophoros (bringer of sheaves) and Amaia (reaper). The goddess was the giver of abundance of food and she was known as Sito (of the grain) and Himalis (of abundance ). The bread from the first harvest-fruits was called thalysian bread ( Thalysia ) in honour of Demeter. The sacrificial cakes burned on
5041-400: Was the patron goddess of an ancient Amphictyony . Thermopylae is the place of hot springs considered to be entrances to Hades , since Demeter was a chthonic goddess in the older local cults. The Athenians called the dead "Demetrioi", and this may reflect a link between Demeter and the ancient cult of the dead, linked to the agrarian belief that a new life would sprout from the dead body, as
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