Download Demeter Ceres - Greek goddess of fertility

Demeter
Demeter <<dih MEE tuhr>> was a goddess of fertility in Greek mythology. Fertility is the
ability to produce something. Demeter probably means Mother Earth. The ancient Romans
later identified Demeter with their harvest goddess, Ceres.
Demeter was a daughter of Cronus, ruler of a race of gods known as Titans, and his sister
Rhea. She had children with Zeus, the king of the gods, and the ocean god Poseidon. In
Arcadia, in southern Greece, people worshiped Demeter and Poseidon in the form of horses.
The only important story about Demeter tells of her search for her daughter Persephone
<<puhr SEHF uh nee>> . Hades, the god of the underworld, had kidnapped Persephone to
be his bride. Demeter's greatest festival was the Eleusinian Mysteries. It took place in
Eleusis, near Athens. At first, the festival probably had to do with the death and rebirth of
grain. Later, it included a belief in a happy afterlife for people.
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