Demeter was the Greek goddess of agriculture and vegetation. She was a peace-loving deity and the source of all growth and life; she was the goddess who provided all nutrition on the earth and taught mortals how to cultivate the earth and ease life. Demeter was most appreciated for introducing wheat to mankind, making man different from animals.
Her symbols are the ear of wheat and the grains.
Demeter gave Triptolemus the best wheat she had and armed him with a winged chariot drawn by serpents so that he could set out on his a long journey, the first destination being Scythia in Central Asia.
On his journey, Triptolemus went through a lot of dangers but his heart was very brave and he could overcome all obstacles. When he reached Scythia, he taught the locals the farming of grain as well as the tools they would need for the labor of sowing.
However, Lyncus, the King of Scythia, became very jealous of Triptolemus and ordered his officials to kill Triptolemus and then put about the rumor that he was the one who brought culture to Scythia. However, Triptolemus was unbeatable, so Lyncus decided to offer Triptolemus hospitality.
While Triptolemus was in deep slumber, Lyncus entered the room holding a sharp knife in his hands-but at the very moment the king raised his arm to kill his rival, a big hand reached out and grabbed his fist-it was goddess Demeter.
“Lyncus, watch out!” she spoke and transformed Lyncus into a lynx that quickly hid itself inside the forest. Safe as Triptolemus now was, he was free to depart from Scythia and go on teaching agriculture to further tribes.
Demeter had a daughter whose name was Persephone, also known as Kore. Persephone’s father was Zeus, who had promised her to his brother Hades, the god of the underworld.
One day, when Persephone was still very young, she went out to play with her girlfriends and there she was spotted by Hades who immediately felt bewitched by her charms. He was just waiting for the right moment to come and, when Persephone was picking some flowers, Hades seized the opportunity, opened the earth and abducted her to his gloomy kingdom.
Persephone started screaming, and Demeter heard her painful cry and went to the valley to see what was going on. She was searching everywhere but could not find her beloved daughter. She went on asking anyone she was meeting on her way but no one seemed knew anything about it.
So Demeter went to the wise god Helios, the sun god, to ask for advice. And Helios revealed Demeter the whole truth about the promise of Zeus. After that Demeter felt huge disappointed and lost her joy but didn’t let go. She disguised herself to an old lady and started searching in towns and villages searching for her daughter.
Nine days past without success when Demeter reached the city of Elevsis. Demeter was still mourning and nothing ; and was neither eating and drinking nor sleeping and nothing was blossoming on earth; Zeus disliked this situation decided to send his messenger Hermes to the Underworld to talk to Hades.
In the beginning, Hades was not willing to set his wife free but in the end he was obliged to obey. So Hermes took Persephone up on his golden chariot and brought her back to her mother Demeter.
Demeter was delighted to see her daughter again and cried uncountable tears of joy, bringing this way fertility back to earth. Demeter was hoping keep her daughter by her forever, but during her stay with Hades, Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds and was therefore chained to stay in the underworld for four months out of the year.