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Diodorus relates that Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and that his birth narrative is an allegory for the generative power of the gods at work in nature. [236] When the "Sons of Gaia" (i.e. the Titans) boiled Dionysus following his birth, Demeter gathered together his remains, allowing his rebirth.
In Hesiod, prayers to Zeus-Chthonios (chthonic Zeus) and Demeter help the crops grow full and strong. [31] This was her main function at Eleusis, and she became panhellenic. In Cyprus, "grain-harvesting" was damatrizein. Demeter was the zeidoros arοura, the Homeric "Mother Earth arοura" who gave the gift of cereals (zeai or deai). [32] [33]
A scholiast on the 2nd-century AD Aristides, explicitly names Demeter as Iacchus' mother. [62] By other accounts apparently, Iacchus was the husband of Demeter. [63] And according to Nonnus, Iacchus was the son of Dionysus and the nymph Aura, who was the daughter of the Titan Lelantos and the Oceanid Periboia (or Cybele?). [64]
She is the first child of Cronus and Rhea, the elder sister of Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus. Some lists of the Twelve Olympians omit her in favor of Dionysus, but the speculation that she gave her throne to him in order to keep the peace seems to be a modern invention. [citation needed] Dionysus: Bacchus Liber
Hetairai at Haloa festival dancing around a giant phallus (Oedipus Painter, 480 BC). Haloa or Alo (Ἁλῶα) was an Attic festival, celebrated principally at Eleusis, in honour of Demeter (Δήμητρα, η Αλωαίη), protector of the fruits of the earth, of Dionysus, god of the grape and of wine, and Poseidon (Ποσειδώνας ο Φυτάλμιος), god of the seashore vegetation.
The birth of Dionysus, and possibly also the binding of Hera and Dionysus's arrival on Olympus [154] [155] 2 "To Demeter" Demeter: c. late 7th – c. early 6th century BCE [156] 495 The abduction of Persephone, Demeter's attempt to recover her from the Underworld, and the origin of the cult of Demeter at Eleusis [157] 3 "To Apollo" [g] Apollo
Most ancient Greeks recognized the twelve major Olympian gods and goddesses—Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus—although philosophies such as Stoicism and some forms of Platonism used language that seems to assume a single transcendent deity.
The Thesmophoria was a festival held in Greek cities, in honour of the goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The name derives from thesmoi, or laws by which men must work the land. [6] The Thesmophoria were the most widespread festivals and the main expression of the cult of Demeter, aside from the Eleusinian Mysteries.