Goddesses of ancient Greece list and description of Demeter. The meaning of the word Demeter in a brief dictionary of mythology and antiquities

Goddess of fertility and agriculture.

The great goddess Demeter is powerful. She gives fertility to the earth, and without her beneficial power nothing grows in forests, meadows, or arable fields. She taught people agriculture, and at her command the grain ripens. And if a woman wants to be fertile, like the Earth itself, she makes sacrifices to the great Demeter.
In the month of sowing, the Greeks celebrated Thesmophoria in honor of Demeter.

Demeter and her children

Although the priestesses of the fertility goddess Demeter initiated the bride and groom into the secrets of the wedding night, the goddess herself did not have a husband. At a time of youth and fun, out of wedlock she gave birth to Persephone and the mighty Iakkha. She gave birth to Plutos from Iasion, with whom she fell in love at the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia.

Iasion- son of Zeus and the galaxy of Electra, brother of Dardan, lover of Demeter.

Inflamed by the nectar they drank, which flowed like a river at the wedding, the lovers quietly slipped out of the house and made love in a thrice-plowed field. When they returned, Zeus guessed from their behavior and stained hands and feet what had happened between them, and indignant that Iasion dared to touch Demeter, he incinerated him with lightning.

Plutos- god of wealth and abundance, son of Demeter and Iasion.

From Iasion, Demeter gave birth to a son, Plutos, who became the god of wealth. He for the first time introduced the custom of caring for the goods of life, as well as collecting and storing money, whereas previously everyone treated the accumulation and careful saving of a lot of money with disdain.

Demeter and Triptolemus

Demeter's gaiety faded when she lost her only daughter, young Persephone. Hades, the god of the underworld, fell in love with her and kidnapped her. For nine days and nights without food or drink, Demeter searched for Persephone, calling in vain to her. On the tenth day, she changed her appearance and appeared in Eleusis, where she was hospitably greeted by King Kelei and his wife Metanira and offered to become the nurse of their newborn son Demophon. Demeter sat at the table, immersed in her sorrowful thoughts. Served at dinner youngest daughter forest god Pan - Yamba. She tried to cheer up the guest and entertained Demeter with funny, obscene poems, for which the goddess subsequently rewarded her. Demeter decided to thank Kelei and Metanira for their hospitality by making Demophon immortal. To do this, she rubbed him with ambrosia at night and put him in the fire to burn away his mortal nature. But at that moment Metanira entered, the spell was broken, and Demophon died. His parents started wailing and began to mourn their son. Then Demeter revealed herself to them and announced that she would give their son Triptolemus a gift like no other mortal.

Triptolemus- the son of the Eleusinian king Kelei and Metanira, the favorite of Demeter, who taught people the art of agriculture and taught them to sow and grow wheat.

It so happened that Triptolemus, who was tending his father’s cattle, recognized Demeter and told her where Persephone had disappeared. Two other shepherds saw Hades kidnap the young goddess and disappear underground. Having such evidence, Demeter demanded that her daughter be returned to her. But it turned out that Hades kidnapped her with the secret consent of Zeus. Demeter was so outraged by this that she continued her wanderings across the earth, forbidding the trees to bear fruit and the herbs to grow. And this continued until the human tribe was on the verge of extinction. Zeus, not daring to personally meet with Demeter, sent the Olympian gods to her with conciliatory gifts. It was decided that Persephone would have to spend three months of the year with her husband in the kingdom of the dead, and the rest of the time could be with her mother. After this, Demeter finally agreed to return home.

But before leaving Eleusis, she taught Triptolemus the secrets of her cult and mysteries. Young Triptolemus became the goddess's favorite. She gave him seed grain, a wooden plow and a chariot drawn by snakes, and sent him to teach people all over the world the art of agriculture. Before this, none of the people knew wheat or knew how to grow this cereal. With this knowledge, people gained real wealth.

Demeter and Erysichthon

Demeter was very good-natured, but Triop's son Erysichthon became one of the few whom she treated harshly. At the head of twenty companions, Erysichthon dared to enter the grove planted by the Pelasgians in honor of Demeter in Dotia, and began to cut down sacred trees there in order to build a new room for feasts. In the guise of the priestess of the grove, Nisippa, Demeter politely asked Erysichthon to leave. And only when, instead of answering, he swung an ax at her, the goddess revealed herself in all her greatness and doomed him to eternal pangs of hunger, no matter how much he ate. Returning home for dinner, he began greedily devouring everything that his parents put in front of him and could not stop. But the more he ate, the hungrier he became and the more he lost weight. Finally, when there was not a crumb left at home, he became a street beggar and even ate garbage.

All people are passionate about something and are interested in something. The object of passion for many people is Greek culture with all its gods and goddesses. It is quite difficult to understand all the intricacies of the Greek pantheon of gods at once. It's better to do this gradually. The goddess Demeter is where to start.

Pedigree

At the very beginning, it is worth noting that Demeter is the daughter of Rhea and Kronos, the sister of the almighty god Zeus, and that puts her on the same level as the most powerful and influential gods of Olympus.

Purpose

The goddess Demeter is considered the patroness of farmers, the mother of the fertility of the earth. According to legend, thanks to her and her daughter Persephone, the seasons change - only part of the year can mother and daughter spend together, then summer begins on earth. All other times, Persephone lives in a dungeon with her husband Hades, and at this time Demeter yearns and cries for her daughter, giving birth to rains, snowstorms and bad weather. And only when the hour of meeting approaches, a thaw sets in, Demeter begins to hope for a quick meeting and spring comes.

Image

The goddess Demeter is very attractive, and her image is warm and pleasant. So, her hair is like ears of ripe wheat, her face is sweet, and her body is lush and rich. At one time, it was precisely such women that attracted men, so Demeter was always desired by the opposite sex. The goddess's character is kind, she is calm and balanced, but with a painful sense of justice. She often brutally punished people who tried to deceive her or their own kind.

Art

The goddess Demeter was sung by many poets; a huge number of legends were written about her and paintings were written about her. She was often represented in the form of a wandering woman in search of her daughter, sometimes sitting, surrounded by the fruits of the earth. Her main attributes are ears of corn, symbols of fertility, as well as a torch as a symbol of the search for her lost daughter. Demeter considered the Snake and Pig her own.

Heritage

All gods had their followers - dedicated people. So, the origin of the name Dmitry is interesting, which stands for “dedicated to Demeter,” “one who worships Demeter, the goddess of fertility.”

Celebrations

Demeter is a goddess from the category of “first”, “great” goddesses who stand at the head of Olympus. That is why the people found a reason to honor Demeter on earth, creating a mother cult dedicated to her. Initiated women often reproduced in special mysteries the grief and longing of mother Demeter for her daughter. It was not so easy to become a participant in this ritual. It is imperative to fast first and cleanse yourself physically and spiritually. Next, those who were admitted to the mysteries drank a special drink - kykeon - and were allowed into the temple. What happened behind the doors of the temple always remained a secret, the disclosure of which was punishable by death. That is why little is known about these sacraments. But scientists suggest that the drink contained certain ingredients that changed the consciousness of each person, allowing them to fully surrender to what was happening with both soul and body. Those who underwent the mysteries were considered initiated into the mysteries of life and death and were in good standing with society. An interesting fact is that slaves were also allowed to participate in the mysteries.

The goddess Demeter carries a significant mythological chthonic heritage, but from the elemental life-giving power of the earth she is already turning into a personified goddess of ordered fertility and civilized agriculture.

This is how her stories begin. Her younger brother Zeus seduced his sister in the form of a serpent, and from this seduction her daughter Persephone was born. Her elder brother, the half-mad Hades, kidnapped her niece Persephone and took her to his underground kingdom of Hades.

Demeter was in despair. In torn clothes, she went across the lands to look for traces of her kidnapped daughter, forgetting about her divine duties. Without the support of the goddess, the earth stopped bearing fruit, plants stopped growing, flowers stopped blooming, animals stopped giving birth, and nature plunged into a hopeless winter, turning into a mortal stupor.

A way out of the eschatological crisis was, fortunately, found in a timely manner, as narrated by a number of myths scattered throughout this site; Zeus acted as a mediator in its resolution, and a compromise mutually acceptable to all parties was that from now on Demeter’s daughter Persephone will be part of the year - winter - spend in Hades with her husband Hades, and the rest on earth, with her mother Demeter, which will ensure the fertility of nature.

To celebrate, Demeter taught a whole squad of earthly heroes various agricultural processes and a unique religious cult of Demeter was formed, completely personal, with secret mysteries dedicated to her - the Eleusinian mysteries, about which there were only silent conversations, because they remained absolutely undisclosed. The laymen heard only unverifiable rumors - straight up, some kind of conspiracy theory. The Eleusinian mysteries continued under the Romans, leaving a trace in the word ceremony - from Ceres. Roman equivalent of Demeter. By the way, the mysteries were also dedicated to various mythological personalities - deities and heroes - associated with Demeter, in particular, the Cabirs.

Demeter is often taken to be the prototype of the constellation Virgo. Her attribute is Libra, perhaps captured in the constellation of the same name. And the beloved island of Sicily, where the theft of Persephone took place, is in the constellation Triangulum.

Demeter took part in the fate and actions of Triptolemus for his timely information about the abduction of Demeter’s daughter by Hades. In this regard, it is involved - as a version - in the appearance in the sky of the constellations Bootes, Draco, Sagittarius and Ophiuchus. Indirectly involved in other plots.

Goddess Demeter

At the very beginning, it is worth noting that Demeter is the daughter of Rhea and Kronos, the sister of the almighty god Zeus and the goddess Hera, which puts her on the same level as the most powerful and influential gods of Olympus.

The goddess Demeter in Greek mythology is considered the patroness of farmers, the mother of the fertility of the earth. According to legend, thanks to her and her daughter Persephone, the seasons change; only part of the year can mother and daughter spend together, then summer begins on earth. All other times, Persephone lives in a dungeon with her husband Hades, and at this time Demeter yearns and cries for her daughter, giving birth to rains, snowstorms and bad weather. And only when the hour of meeting approaches, a thaw sets in, Demeter begins to hope for a quick meeting and spring comes.

The goddess Demeter was sung by many poets; a huge number of legends were written about her and paintings were written about her. She was often represented as a wandering woman in search of her daughter, sometimes seated, surrounded by the fruits of the earth. Her main attributes are ears of corn, symbols of fertility, as well as a torch as a symbol of the search for her lost daughter. The fertility goddess Demeter considered the Snake and Pig to be her sacred animals.

All gods had their own followers, dedicated people. So, the origin of the name Dmitry is interesting, which stands for one dedicated to Demeter, one who worships Demeter, the goddess of fertility.

They depicted the confusion of the goddess and her vain searches. Persephone, wearing a wreath of daffodils, sat on a throne next to Hades, among the souls of hell, holding a bunch of poppies in her hands. At the end of the holiday, the daughter, who was returned to her mother, was joyfully congratulated by the celestials. The amazing feeling of the play was enhanced by the darkness of the temple. Only for a meek moment did a bright light flash, which showed the luxuriously dressed statue of Demeter, then darkness fell again, and flickering reflections appeared under the arch, highlighting some visions and monsters. The silence was broken by unexpected thunder. Finally, in the midst of complete silence, a huge gate opened, and by the light of torches, a luxurious garden, filled with the smells of trees and flowers, was revealed in the depths. The priest announced the sacred commandments, told the history of the holiday, and foreshadowed the mysterious and righteous better fate in the next world, that is, in a land of happiness where people dance and walk all the time through flowering meadows, the air of which is refreshed by a gentle wind.

Demeter is one of the most respected goddesses. Her name means “mother earth,” and she herself is the embodiment of that fertile ball of earth into which man sows grain. The deity, virtuous on all sides, gave people, in addition to cereals, fig trees and poppies, and opened springs in dry and rocky areas. Demeter took care of the homes of grain growers, their lives and customs. In the spring, when the lambs are born, Demeter was in the fields, in the fall she walked near the stodol, like the good spirit of the sheaves; her presence was felt by housewives when they placed the first bread from the new harvest in the oven.

But this patroness of agricultural life also looked after other matters. Her name was announced during the conclusion of treaties, and civil servants and judges, before taking their positions, took an oath to Demeter that they would comply with written and unwritten laws.

In Arcadia there was an ancient image of Demeter with a horse's head; she held a dove in one hand and a dolphin in the other. Because this eternal goddess, in the minds of the ancient inhabitants of Greece, was the creator of both birds and fish, the goddess of all living nature. And when the Greek uttered the word “nature,” at that moment he saw not only fields and meadows, forests full of animals, and waters full of fish, but also felt the creative power that lies in the earth and in the water and thanks to which everything around lives and is reborn all the time. That is, Demeter was the goddess of life, just as Persephone was the goddess of death.

The attributes of Demeter and Persephone were spikelets and poppies, narcissus and pomegranate fruit. Usually a cow or pig was sacrificed to them. Demeter was portrayed as a revered goddess with thoughtful eyes; on her head is a wreath of spikelets, and in her hand she holds a torch; the long robe falls to the feet.

Sources: astromyth.ru, fb.ru, mithology.ru, otvet.mail.ru, www.wikiznanie.ru

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Demeter (Δημήτηρ), in Greek mythology the goddess of fertility and agriculture, civil order and marriage, daughter of Kronos and Rhea, sister and wife of Zeus, from whom she gave birth to Persephone (Hesiod, Theogony, 453, 912-914). One of the most revered Olympic deities. The ancient chthonic origin of Demeter is attested to by her name (literally, “earth mother”). Cult appeals to Demeter: Chloe ("greens", "sowing"), Carpophora ("giver of fruits"), Thesmophora ("legislator", "organizer"), Sieve ("bread", "flour") indicate the functions of Demeter as goddess of fertility. She is a goddess who is kind to people, of beautiful appearance with hair the color of ripe wheat, and an assistant in peasant labors (Homer, Iliad, V 499-501). She fills the farmer's barns with supplies (Hesiod, Opp. 300, 465). They call on Demeter so that the grains come out full-bodied and so that the plowing is successful. Demeter taught people plowing and sowing, combining holy matrimony on a thrice-plowed field on the island of Crete with the Cretan god of agriculture Jasion, and the fruit of this marriage was Plutos, the god of wealth and abundance (Hesiod, Theogony, 969-974).

Persephone picks a flower, Boris Vallejo

Demeter Meets Persephone, Frederic Leighton

Having taught the Eleusinian rulers Triptolemus, Diocles, Eumolpus and Keleus to make sacrifices and the Eleusinian mysteries, Demeter taught Triptolemus, the son of the Eleusinian king, to sow the fields with wheat and cultivate them. She gave Triptolemus a chariot with winged dragons and gave grains of wheat with which he sowed the whole earth (Apollodorus, I 5, 2). The myth of Demeter also reflects the eternal struggle of life and death. She is depicted as a grieving mother who lost her daughter Persephone, kidnapped by Hades. Homer's hymn "To Demeter" tells of the wanderings and grief of the goddess in search of her daughter; Having assumed the image of a kind old woman, Demeter comes to Eleusis, adjacent to Athens, to the house of King Kelei and Metanira. She was greeted warmly in the royal family and for the first time after the loss of her daughter, Demeter was amused by the funny jokes of the maid Yamba. She raises the royal son Demophon and, wanting to make him immortal, rubs the boy with ambrosia and hardens him in fire. But after Metanira accidentally saw these magical manipulations of Demeter, the goddess leaves, revealing her name and ordering a temple to be built in her honor. It is in it that the sad goddess sits, grieving for her daughter. Famine sets in on earth, people die, and Zeus orders Persephone to be returned to her mother. However, Hades gives his wife Persephone a pomegranate seed to eat so that she will not forget the kingdom of death. The daughter spends two-thirds of the year with Demeter, and all nature blossoms, bears fruit and rejoices; Persephone devotes one third of the year to Hades. The fertility of the earth cannot be conceived outside of the idea of inevitable death flora, without which his revival in all the fullness of vitality is unthinkable.

Demeter is primarily a goddess, revered by farmers, but by no means by the pampered Ionian nobility. She is universally glorified at the Thesmophoria festival as the organizer of reasonable agricultural practices. Demeter is one of the ancient female great goddesses (Gaia, Cybele, Great Mother of the Gods, Mistress of Beasts), bestowing fruitful power on the earth, animals and people. Demeter is revered at this festival along with her daughter Persephone, they are called “two goddesses” and swear by the name of “both goddesses” (“Women at the Thesmophoria” by Aristophanes). The main sacred place of Demeter is Eleusis in Attica, where during the 9 days of the month of Boedromion (September) the Eleusinian Mysteries took place, symbolically representing the grief of Demeter, her wanderings in search of her daughter, the secret connection between the living and the dead world, physical and spiritual purification; mother and daughter - “both goddesses” - were worshiped together. Ancient Athenian families had the hereditary right to participate in Eleusinian sacred rites and obeyed a vow of silence. Aeschylus traditionally exercised this right and was even expelled from Athens for allegedly disclosing ritual facts known only to initiates.

The Eleusinian sacraments, perceived as the “passion” of Demeter, are considered one of the sources of ancient Greek tragedy and thereby come close to the bacchanalia of Dionysus. Pausanias describes the temple of Demeter of Eleusis at Telpus in Arcadia, where marble statues of Demeter, Persephone and Dionysus are adjacent (VIII 25, 3). The rudiments of chthonic fertility are reflected in the cult of Demeter Erinyes; Poseidon in the form of a stallion combined with her, who turned into a mare. “The angry and vengeful” Demeter Erinyes washes herself in the river and, having been cleansed, again becomes a blessed goddess (Pausanias, VIII 25, 5-7). In Corinthian Hermione, Demeter was revered as Chthonia ("earthy") and Thermasia ("hot"), the patroness of hot springs. In Figaleia in Arcadia, an ancient wooden image of Demeter Melaina (“Black”) was revered (Pausanias, VIII 5, 8). In Hesiod, the “pure” Demeter is adjacent to the “underground” Zeus, and the farmer offers his prayers to both of them. Demeter was the subject of veneration throughout Greece, on the islands, in Asia Minor, and in Italy. In Roman mythology, the goddess Demeter corresponds to Ceres.

In ancient times, Demeter was known as an underground goddess and in many places was represented in marital cohabitation with Poseidon, from whom she gave birth to the horse Arion. This attitude of her towards Poseidon was expressed in ancient art; Thus, Opat depicted her for Figalia with a horse’s head, with a dolphin and a dove in her hands. Only later, especially since the time of Praxiteles, did art begin to depict her with soft and meek features, sometimes with a stamp of sadness about her missing daughter. A favorite subject for the sculptors of antiquity was Demeter equipping Triptolemus on a journey to spread her cult (a colossal relief in the Athens Museum). Among other ancient monuments visual arts: "Demeter of Knidos" (statue of the circle of Briaxis). Dedicatory reliefs associated with the Eleusinian mysteries, numerous terracotta figurines of Demeter, as well as her images on Pompeian frescoes and in paintings discovered in the Northern Black Sea region (the so-called catacombs of Demeter in Bolshaya Bliznitsa and Kerch) have been preserved.

In medieval book illustrations, Demeter appears as the patroness of rural work and as the personification of summer. In Renaissance painting, Demeter is often depicted nude; its attributes are ears of corn, a basket of fruits, a sickle, sometimes a cornucopia and a poppy. The embodiment of the image of Demeter in European art of the 16th and 17th centuries was associated with the glorification of the gifts of nature (drawings by Vasari and Goltzius, paintings by Jordaens “Sacrifice to Ceres”, Rubens “Statue of Ceres” and other painters) or with the glorification of the joys of life (paintings “Bacchus, Venus and Ceres" by Spranger, Goltzius, Rubens, Jordaens, Poussin and other artists).

The gods and goddesses of the ancient Greek pantheon are beautiful and understandable to people, as they have many human qualities, they also love and hate, have compassion or take revenge. Demeter is one of the most revered goddesses by the Greek people, respect and recognition for whom continues to this day.

Who is Demeter?

Demeter is Mother Earth. In different cults you can find another name for Demeter - the Great Mother. The image of the goddess embraces all living things. Her body is the home of a person, no more, no less, she is the planet Earth itself. The Mother Goddess was born from the mighty Titans and Rhea. Her brother is the thunderer Zeus, who desired and seduced her in the guise of a bull. The beloved child is the daughter of Persephone, for whom many tears were shed by the grieving goddess.

Demeter is also known by other names that complement her beautiful image:

Chthonia – underground;
Ceres (Latin name);
Virgo (in the form of a constellation);
Achaea - mourner;
Sieve – bakery;
Fury;
Thesmophora – legislator and patroness of legal marriages;
Erinyes is vengeful.

The cult of Demeter was widespread among farmers. She taught people arable and sowing work. In the work of the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, “The Works of the Farmer,” there is an instructional poem about how important it is to honor the goddess. The poet tells us that before throwing grains into the ground, one must pray to the most pure Demeter and the whole range of agricultural work: starting from touching the handle of the plow and harnessing the oxen to collecting lush, ripe ears of corn, honor the Great Mother in all her splendor.

Symbol of Demeter

The ancient Greek goddess Demeter was depicted as a beautiful woman with soft features, wheat-colored hair and a loose-flowing tunic. The goddess's head is surrounded by a shining halo. Another appearance of the mourning Demeter is also known: a mature, exhausted woman in a black robe with a hood thrown over her head. Attributes and symbols of Mother Earth:

a basket with ripe ears of corn, a wreath of them on the head - a symbol of fertility;
a burning torch lit from the Etna volcano - a symbol of the search for a daughter;
the pig is an animal dedicated to the goddess due to its fertility;
poppy - the flower of Demeter, with the help of which she cured her son Kelei from prolonged insomnia.

Goddess Demeter in Greek mythology

The goddess’s relationship with other equally important inhabitants of Olympus is built mainly around the central myth, where the fertility goddess Demeter does not come to terms with the loss of her daughter and challenges all the gods. She is the one who can turn a blooming and beautiful land into a lifeless desert. And the gods, seeing her tough position, compromise, because she is none other than the Great Mother.

The Myth of Demeter and Persephone

Demeter and Persephone (Kore) - loving and very attached mother and daughter spend a lot of time together, they are kindred spirits. It so happened that Hades (Hades) saw the matured Persephone and fell in love. Having gone to Zeus, Hades began to ask for the hand of his daughter, to which the diplomatic Zeus answered neither “yes” nor “no.” The insidious god of the underworld took this as a signal to action and decided to kidnap Cora.

Cora, along with Artemis and Athena, frolicked in the meadow and bent over each fragrant flower, studying their aroma, feeling the delicate scent of an unfamiliar plant. Persephone moved away from the other goddesses to pick the miracle flower narcissus, which was grown by Gaia (goddess of the earth), especially for the purpose of abduction Persephone by Hades. The earth opened up and from it the terrible Hades on a black chariot kidnapped the goddess screaming for help. No one saw the abduction except the sun god Helios. The mother, who hurried to her daughter’s screams, did not find her.

For nine days, Demeter, distraught with grief, searched for her daughter. All nature drooped, the vineyards and all the seedlings dried up. Helios took pity on the grieving mother and spoke about the agreement between Hades and Zeus. Demeter went to her brother in a rage and demanded that her daughter be returned or the land would no longer flourish and people would die of hunger. The gods consulted and concluded a new agreement; Cora spends the winter with Hades, and the rest of the time with her mother. Thus a happy reunion took place. But winter comes, and Demeter again grieves in separation from her daughter until spring.

Demeter and Hera

The Greek goddess Demeter is the sister of Hera, the wife of Zeus and Hestia, the virgin goddess. There is no information or sources left about the relationship between the sisters, but knowing Hera’s burning jealousy, we can assume that the relationship was not simple. The sisters are united by the fact that each of them has had many trials and losses. Demeter is separated from her daughter, Hera is unhappy in her marriage. Zeus is to blame for all their twists and turns of fate - husband, brother, father of children rolled into one.

Demeter and Dionysus

Dionysus, the god of viticulture, winemaking and fertility (his more ancient form Dionysus-Zagreus), in the Hellenistic period began to be identified with Iacchus or Bacchus, the son of Demeter (in some sources her husband). The fertility goddess Demeter, overjoyed that her daughter had returned from the underworld, taught the inhabitants of the city of Eleusis, where she indulged in sorrow, to agriculture. Thus, in honor of the goddess, the Eleusinian Mysteries arose, which were then joined by the cult. The image of the divine child Dionysus, as an intermediary between the goddess and people, was carried at the head of the procession.

Demeter and Hades

Hades, the god of the land of the dead, is the brother of Demeter. A sad fate befalls not only earthly women, but also goddesses. Both Demeter's brothers, Hades and Zeus, turned out to be hard-hearted and unfair to their sister. And in retaliation for this, Erinyes, the “vengeful” Demeter, turns the earthly world into a kind of underground kingdom. The earth becomes as gray and dry as the abode of Hades. No one thought about Demeter in grief and the disastrous result was not long in coming. The brother and part-time son-in-law of the goddess was forced to let Persephone go to her mother before the snow cover. The balance in nature has been restored.