"the crops and the blessing of the harvest come from below the earth. Persephone (also known as Kore) was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, and Zeus. Persephone was abducted by Hades, who desired a wife. When Persephone was gathering flowers, she was entranced by a narcissus flower planted by Gaia (to lure her to the underworld as a favor to Hades), and when she picked it the earth suddenly opened up. Hades, appearing in a golden chariot, seduced and carried Persephone into the underworld. When Demeter found out that Zeus had given Hades permission to abduct"
"myth of an eponymous Mysius who venerated Demeter. Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ""Dēmḗtēr"", ; Doric: ""Dāmā́tēr"") is the goddess of the grain, agriculture, harvest, growth, and nourishment, 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 (, ""thesmos"": divine order, unwritten law; , ""phoros"": bringer, bearer), ""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"
"Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ""Dēmḗtēr"", ; Doric: ""Dāmā́tēr"") is the goddess of the grain, agriculture, harvest, growth, and nourishment, 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 (, ""thesmos"": divine order, unwritten law; , ""phoros"": bringer, bearer), ""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"
"attribute of several Greek and Roman deities, particularly those associated with the harvest, prosperity, or spiritual abundance, such as personifications of Earth (Gaia or Terra); the child Plutus, god of riches and son of the grain goddess Demeter; the nymph Maia; and Fortuna, the goddess of luck, who had the power to grant prosperity. In Roman Imperial cult, abstract Roman deities who fostered peace ""(pax Romana)"" and prosperity were also depicted with a cornucopia, including Abundantia, ""Abundance"" personified, and Annona, goddess of the grain supply to the city of Rome. Hades, the classical ruler of the underworld in the mystery"
"Opiconsivia The Opiconsivia (or Opeconsiva or Opalia) was an ancient Roman religious festival held August 25 in honor of Ops (""Plenty""), also known as Opis, a goddess of agricultural resources and wealth. The festival marked the end of harvest, with a mirror festival on December 19 concerned with the storage of the grain. The Latin word ""consivia"" (or ""consiva"") derives from ""conserere"" (""to sow""). Opis was deemed a chthonic (underworld, inside the earth) goddess who made the vegetation grow. Since her abode was inside the earth, Ops was invoked by her worshipers while sitting, with their hands touching the ground,"
"carved independently from the body and fixed onto the neck. Demeter is depicted in a serene, timeless manner, that unveils her motherly role in the Greek pantheon of gods. Demeter was the goddess of fertility who created the harvest, the grain and other crops as well as the circle of seasons. At Knidos she was worshipped with Hades and the other underworld deities including her mythical daughter Persephone. The Sanctuary of Demeter at Knidos was laid out in 350 BC, when the city was reestablished. The sanctuary consisted of a long terrace built into the side of an acropolis, overlooking"
"far before it was introduced to Rome via Carthage, and it figures in multiple myths and artworks. In Ancient Greek mythology, the pomegranate was known as the ""fruit of the dead"" and believed to have sprung from the blood of Adonis. The myth of Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, prominently features the pomegranate. In one version of the myth, Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and taken off to live in the underworld as his wife. Her mother, Demeter (goddess of the harvest), went into mourning for her lost daughter; thus all green things ceased to grow. Zeus, the highest-ranking"
"Artemis Artemis (; Artemis, ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals and chastity. Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the patron and protector of young girls, and was believed to bring disease upon women and relieve them of it. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the role of Eileithyia in aiding women during childbirth. Much like Athena and Hestia, Artemis preferred to remain a maiden and is sworn never to marry. Artemis was one of the most widely"
"spring as well as the fertility of vegetation. Similar myths appear in the Orient, in the cults of male gods like Attis, Adonis, and Osiris, and in Minoan Crete. Persephone as a vegetation goddess and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which promised the initiated a more enjoyable prospect after death. In some versions, Persephone is the mother of Zeus' sons Dionysus, Iacchus, or Zagreus. The origins of her cult are uncertain, but it was based on very old agrarian cults of agricultural communities. Persephone was commonly worshipped along with Demeter and with the same"
"the Greek myth of Persephone, who was taken to the Underworld by Hades. Her mother Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, was so sad that she struck the world with fall and winter. While in the underworld Persephone ate six of the twelve pomegranate seeds given to her by Hades; consequently, she was forced to spend half the year, from then on, in the Underworld, representative of autumn and winter, or the death in the death-rebirth myth. The other half of the year Persephone was permitted to be with Demeter in the mortal realm, which represents spring and summer, or"
"Ceres (mythology) In ancient Roman religion, Ceres (; ) was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as ""the Greek rites of Ceres"". Her seven-day April festival of Cerealia included the popular ""Ludi Ceriales"" (Ceres' games). She was also honoured in the May ""lustratio"" of the fields at the Ambarvalia festival, at harvest-time, and during Roman marriages and funeral rites. Ceres is the only one of Rome's many agricultural deities to be listed"
"with the Greek goddess Athena. Her epithet ""hriuwama"", meaning ""the Empowerer"" suggests that she was a goddess of vegetation. The lexicographer Hesychius also equates Malis (Μαλίς) with Athena, Theocritus mentions a nymph of the same name, and on the island of Lesbos, Malis (Μᾶλις) was a spinning goddess like Athena. According to Hellanicus, Malis (Μαλίς) was a slave of the Lydian queen Omphale who had a child, Akeles, with Heracles. Finally, Sophocles refers to the Maliadian nymphes (Μαλιάδες). Maliya Maliya is the Hittite goddess of gardens, often associated with the horse-god Pirwa and the goddess Kamrušepa. All three gods are"
"titled ""Ayashi no Ceres"". A statue of Ceres stands at the top of the dome of the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri. Ceres (mythology) In ancient Roman religion, Ceres (; ) was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as ""the Greek rites of Ceres"". Her seven-day April festival of Cerealia included the popular ""Ludi Ceriales"" (Ceres' games). She was also honoured in the May ""lustratio"" of the fields at the"
"and yellow fruit. Eukarpia (theonym) In ancient Greek religion and myth, Eukarpia (""well-fruited"" or ""She of the rich harvest"") was a divine personification of fertility, or an epithet or cult title for a deity. It is also found as a personal name for women (as Eukarpides for men). In poetry, the name is an epithet of Aphrodite, Demeter, and Dionysus. In Gonnoi, Thessaly, Eukarpia appears as a name for invoking Ge (Earth). In a mosaic from the Tomb of Mnemosyne, Antioch, she is wearing earrings and an arm-baring tunic formed from ""tesserae"" of blue-green glass. On her head is a"
"Eukarpia (theonym) In ancient Greek religion and myth, Eukarpia (""well-fruited"" or ""She of the rich harvest"") was a divine personification of fertility, or an epithet or cult title for a deity. It is also found as a personal name for women (as Eukarpides for men). In poetry, the name is an epithet of Aphrodite, Demeter, and Dionysus. In Gonnoi, Thessaly, Eukarpia appears as a name for invoking Ge (Earth). In a mosaic from the Tomb of Mnemosyne, Antioch, she is wearing earrings and an arm-baring tunic formed from ""tesserae"" of blue-green glass. On her head is a wreath of red"
"(ascent) of Persephone was celebrated at the autumn sowing. Pluto (Ploutos) represents the wealth of the grain that was stored in underground silos or ceramic jars (""pithoi""), during summer months. Similar subterranean ""pithoi"" were used in ancient times for burials and Pluto is fused with Hades, the King of the realm of the dead. During summer months, the Greek ""grain-Maiden"" (Kore) is lying in the grain of the underground silos in the realm of Hades, and she is fused with Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld. At the beginning of the autumn, when the seeds of the old crop are"
"which was discovered by Robert Luther in 1853. Proserpina Proserpina (; ) or Proserpine () is an ancient Roman goddess whose cult, myths and mysteries were combined from those of Libera, an early Roman goddess of wine, and the Greek Persephone and Demeter, goddesses of grain and agriculture. The originally Roman goddess Libera was daughter of the agricultural goddess Ceres and wife to Liber, god of wine and freedom. In 204 BC, a new ""greek-style"" cult to Ceres and Proserpina as ""Mother and Maiden"" was imported from southern Italy, along with Greek priestesses to serve it, and was installed in"
"Aphrodite of the Gardens Aphrodite of the Gardens () is an epithet of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The epithet describes her patronage over vegetation and garden fertility. According to Pausanias, there was a sanctuary of Aphrodite at the Acropolis of Athens. It was said to have held a cult statue of Aphrodite by Alcamenes and a herm of Aphrodite near the temple. It is unsure whether the statue of Aphrodite and the herm of Aphrodite were the same sculpture or two separate sculptures. The herm of Aphrodite may be linked to the later mythological character, Hermaphroditos. There are numerous references"
"Pomona (mythology) Pomona (; ) was a goddess of fruitful abundance in ancient Roman religion and myth. Her name comes from the Latin word ""pomum"", ""fruit,"" specifically orchard fruit. Pomona was said to be a wood nymph. In the myth narrated by Ovid, she scorned the love of the woodland gods Silvanus and Picus, but married Vertumnus after he tricked her, disguised as an old woman. She and Vertumnus shared a festival held on August 13. Her priest was called the ""flamen Pomonalis"". The pruning knife was her attribute. There is a grove that is sacred to her called the"
"Limos Limos (), Roman Fames , was the goddess of starvation in ancient Greek religion. She was opposed by Demeter, goddess of grain and the harvest with whom Ovid wrote Limos could never meet, and Plutus, the god of wealth and the bounty of rich harvests. Hesiod's ""Theogony"" identifies her as the daughter of Eris (""Strife"") and sister of Ponos (""Hardship""), Lethe (""Forgetfulness""), Algae (""Pains""), Hysminai (""Battles""), Makhai (""Wars""), Phonoi (""Murders""), Androktasiai (""Manslaughters""), Neikea (""Quarrels""), Pseudea (""Lies""), Logoi (""Stories""), Amphillogiai (""Disputes""), Dysnomia (""Anarchy""), Ate (""Ruin""), and Horkos (""Oath""). In Ovid's ""Metamorphoses"", Limos is said to make her home in a"
"Nudity in religion This article on nudity in religion deals with the differing attitudes to nudity and modesty among world religions. Hesiod the writer of the poem ""Theogony"", which describes the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods in Ancient Greek religion, suggested that farmers should ""Sow naked, and plough naked, and harvest naked, if you wish to bring in all Demeter's fruits in due season."" Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all recount the legend of the Garden"
"double function as chthonic and vegetation goddess. The surnames given to her by the poets refer to her character as Queen of the lower world and the dead, or her symbolic meaning of the power that shoots forth and withdraws into the earth. Her common name as a vegetation goddess is Kore, and in Arcadia she was worshipped under the title Despoina, ""the mistress"", a very old chthonic divinity. Plutarch identifies her with spring and Cicero calls her the seed of the fruits of the fields. In the Eleusinian mysteries, her return is the symbol of immortality and hence she"
"the autumn sowing, and at full-moon according to the Greek tradition. In some local cults the feasts were dedicated to Demeter. Thesmophoria, were celebrated in Athens, and the festival was widely spread in Greece. This was a festival of secret women-only rituals connected with marriage customs and commemorated the third of the year, in the month Pyanepsion, when Kore was abducted and Demeter abstained from her role as goddess of harvest and growth. The ceremony involved sinking sacrifices into the earth by night and retrieving the decaying remains of pigs that had been placed in the ""megara"" of Demeter (trenches"
"Proserpina Proserpina (; ) or Proserpine () is an ancient Roman goddess whose cult, myths and mysteries were combined from those of Libera, an early Roman goddess of wine, and the Greek Persephone and Demeter, goddesses of grain and agriculture. The originally Roman goddess Libera was daughter of the agricultural goddess Ceres and wife to Liber, god of wine and freedom. In 204 BC, a new ""greek-style"" cult to Ceres and Proserpina as ""Mother and Maiden"" was imported from southern Italy, along with Greek priestesses to serve it, and was installed in Libera and Ceres' temple on Rome's Aventine Hill."
"among the Dii Consentes, Rome's equivalent to the Twelve Olympians of Greek mythology. The Romans saw her as the counterpart of the Greek goddess Demeter, whose mythology was reinterpreted for Ceres in Roman art and literature. Ceres' name derives from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root ""*ḱerh₃-"", meaning ""to satiate, to feed"", which is also the root for Latin ""crescere"" ""to grow"" and through it, the English words ""create"" and ""increase"". Roman etymologists thought ""ceres"" derived from the Latin verb ""gerere"", ""to bear, bring forth, produce"", because the goddess was linked to pastoral, agricultural and human fertility. Archaic cults to Ceres are"
"that she was named for an association with a sieve, and, based on the now discredited lullaby, that her name meant ""bountiful, merciful."" Based on folklore and toponymy, Friedrich Woeste proposed that the name was cognate with German ""zimmern"" and meant ""builder"" or ""nourisher""; based on the season at which the festival and the Roman attack took place, Karl Müllenhoff proposed she was a goddess of harvest plenty, properly *""Tabana"", cognate with Greek words for ""expenditure"" and (hypothetically) ""unthrifty""; others added Icelandic and Norwegian words for ""fullness, swelling,"" ""to stuff,"" and ""large meal."" A. G. de Bruyn, a scholar of"
"are: Diana (mythology) Diana (Classical Latin: ) is a Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature, associated with wild animals and woodland. She is equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, and absorbed much of Artemis' mythology early in Roman history, including a birth on the island of Delos to parents Jupiter and Latona, and a twin brother, Apollo, though she had an independent origin in Italy. Diana was known as the virgin goddess of childbirth and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, along with Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry. Oak groves and"
"Diana (mythology) Diana (Classical Latin: ) is a Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature, associated with wild animals and woodland. She is equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, and absorbed much of Artemis' mythology early in Roman history, including a birth on the island of Delos to parents Jupiter and Latona, and a twin brother, Apollo, though she had an independent origin in Italy. Diana was known as the virgin goddess of childbirth and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, along with Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry. Oak groves and deer"
"Agrotera Agrotera (Gr. , ""the huntress"") was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, and the most important goddess to Attic hunters. At Agrae on the Ilissos, where she was believed to have first hunted after her arrival from Delos, Artemis Agrotera had a temple, dating to the 5th century BC, with a statue carrying a bow. During the Boedromia, on the seventh day of Boedromion (roughly, the beginning of September), an armed procession would take 600 goats to this temple, where they would all be sacrificed by the polemarch in honor of the victory at the Battle of Marathon."
"of marriage; Athena, goddess of wisdom; Poseidon, god of the sea; Demeter, goddess of the harvest; Apollo, god of the sun, law, healing, plague, reason, music and poetry; Artemis, goddess of the moon, the hunt and the wilderness; Aphrodite, goddess of love; Ares, God of war; Hermes, god of commerce and travelers, Hephaestus, god of fire and metalwork, and Dionysus, god of wine and fruit-bearing plants. Worship, like many other activities, was done in community, in the open. However, by 600 BC, the gods were often represented by large statues and it was necessary to provide a building in which"
"July. Consus' feasts were followed by those of the related goddess Ops: the Opiconsivia on 25 August and the Opalia on 19 December. According to Livy, the festival honors Neptune. Consualia The Consuales Ludi or Consualia was the name of two ancient Roman festivals in honor of Consus, a tutelary deity of the harvest and stored grain. ""Consuales Ludi"" were held on August 21, at the time of harvest, and again on December 15, in connection with grain storage. The shrine of Consus was underground, it was covered with earth all year and was only uncovered for this one day."
"Renenutet Renenūtet (also transliterated Ernūtet and Renenet) was a goddess of nourishment and the harvest in ancient Egyptian religion. The importance of the harvest caused people to make many offerings to Renenutet during harvest time. Initially, her cult was centered in Terenuthis. Renenutet was envisioned, particularly in art, as a cobra, or as a woman with the head of a cobra. The verbs 'to fondle, to nurse, or rear' help explain the name Renenutet. This goddess was a 'nurse' who took care of the pharaoh from birth to death. She was the female counterpart of Shai, ""destiny"", who represented the"
"the grain supply (and tranquility then of a placated and satiated population), a rudder and ears of grain, sometimes a modius or a prow, sometimes leaning on a pilaster (decorative column). The modius was a measuring device used to measure grain/corn. Both a rudder and prow are references to the ships which brought the grain harvest across the Mediterranean from Egypt to Rome. In that connection, Tranquillitas also seemed to have been the goddess of calm weather (very important for the transporting of the grain harvest). There even seems to have been a ""Tranquillitas Vacuna"" the goddess of doing absolutely"