Demeter in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Demeter

143 passages from 25 ancient authors that tell of Demeter, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Demeter was the goddess of grain, and the harvest. She was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea. It was believed that Demeter made the crops grow eac... For the story in one place, read our article on Demeter.

Hesiod (5)

Hesiod, Works and Days 445–534Ploughing, sowing and the approach of winter (445-534)When the crane cries it is time to plough: Hesiod tells his brother to ready his wagon and oxen, plough in season, pray to Zeus of the Earth and Demeter, and have a slave follow with a mattock to cover the seed. Ploughing at the solstice brings a poor crop, though a late ploughman may still catch up if rain falls after the cuckoo's first call, and the idle man waiting on empty hope is told to build barns while it is summer. The section ends with Boreas, who blows over Thrace, splits oaks and pines and pierces every hide but the fleece of sheep.
Hesiod, Theogony 450–479Rhea and Cronus; the birth of Zeus (450-479)Hecate is made a nurse of the young. Rhea bears Cronus Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, and Cronus swallows each child as it is born, because Gaia and Uranus have told him his own son will overcome him. When she is about to bear Zeus, Rhea asks her parents for a plan, and they send her to Lyctus in Crete, where Gaia receives the child.
Hesiod, Theogony 900–929tZeus's marriages and children; the birth of Athena (900-929)Zeus marries Themis (the Hours and the Fates), Eurynome (the Graces), Demeter (Persephone), Mnemosyne (the Muses), Leto (Apollo and Artemis) and lastly Hera, whose children are Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia. Zeus bears Athena from his own head, and Hera bears Hephaestus without Zeus. The section recounts again how Zeus swallowed Metis, who conceived Athena, and how she was born by the river Trito.
Hesiod, Theogony 960–1022Goddesses and mortal men; the end of the poem (960-1022)The Muses are asked to sing of the goddesses who lay with mortal men. Demeter bears Plutus to Iasion, Harmonia bears Ino, Semele, Agave, Autonoe and Polydorus to Cadmus, and Callirrhoe bears Geryon. The list continues with Eos and Tithonus, Aphrodite and Anchises, Thetis and Peleus, and ends with Circe and Calypso bearing sons to Odysseus before the poet turns to the company of women.
Hesiod, Works and Days 535–604Winter clothing, spring pruning and the summer heat (535-604)Hesiod prescribes warm clothing for the bitter month: a soft coat and tunic, felt-lined boots of ox hide, kidskins and a felt cap. Sixty days after the solstice Arcturus rises and the swallow appears, and then the vines are to be pruned; in harvest time a man should rise at dawn. When the artichoke flowers and the cicada sings, he pictures a shady rock with wine of Biblis, curds and milk, and then winnowing Demeter's grain when Orion rises.

Homer (6)

Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.290–394Hymn 2 to Demeter (4): the famine and the mission of HermesIn her new temple Demeter withholds the grain and a terrible year follows, which threatens the offerings of the gods. Zeus sends Iris and then the other gods to persuade her, but she will not return to Olympus without her daughter. Zeus sends Hermes to the underworld; Hades agrees to let Persephone go, but first gives her a pomegranate seed to eat, and Hermes drives her back to Eleusis, where her mother embraces her.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.180–289Hymn 2 to Demeter (3): the nurse of DemophoonIn Celeus' house Demeter sits silent in her grief, refuses red wine, and asks for a drink of barley, water and mint. She nurses the child Demophoon and hides him in the fire by night to make him immortal, until Metaneira sees and cries out. Demeter reveals herself as the goddess and orders the people of Eleusis to build her a temple and altar.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.395–495Hymn 2 to Demeter (5): reunion and the MysteriesPersephone tells her mother how she was seized and made to taste the seed, and mother and daughter spend the day in joy. Rhea brings Zeus's message, and Demeter agrees that Persephone will spend a third of the year below and the rest with the gods. Demeter makes the fields fruitful again and teaches her rites to the leaders of Eleusis, and the hymn closes with a blessing on those who have seen them.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.1–86Hymn 2 to Demeter (1): the abduction of PersephonePersephone is gathering flowers in a meadow when the earth opens and Hades seizes her and carries her away in his chariot. Her mother Demeter hears her cry, searches the earth for nine days with torches, and learns the truth from Hecate and from Helios, who tells her that Zeus gave Persephone to Hades.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.87–179Hymn 2 to Demeter (2): Demeter at EleusisAngry with Zeus, Demeter leaves Olympus and wanders among men in the form of an old woman. At the Maiden Well in Eleusis she meets the four daughters of Celeus, who take her to their mother Metaneira, and she agrees to nurse Metaneira's late-born son.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 12.1–18.12Hymns 12 to 18: Hera, Demeter, the Mother of the Gods, Heracles, Asclepius, the Dioscuri and HermesSeven short hymns. Hera is praised as queen of the immortals, sister and wife of Zeus, and Demeter and her daughter Persephone are asked to keep the city safe. The Mother of the Gods delights in rattles and timbrels, Heracles, born to Alcmena, now lives on Olympus with Hebe, Asclepius is born to Coronis, the Dioscuri are born to Leda, and Hermes is born to Maia.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.5.1–3Demeter and Persephone: Eleusis and TriptolemusHades (Pluto) carries Persephone off with Zeus's help, and Demeter searches for her until she reaches Eleusis in the likeness of a woman, where Iambe makes her smile and she nurses Metanira's child Demophon and tries to make him immortal in the fire. She gives Triptolemus a chariot of winged dragons and wheat to sow over the earth. When Zeus orders Persephone's release, a pomegranate seed binds her to spend a third of every year with Hades.

Aeschylus (1)

Aeschylus, Fragments 23–32Glaucus of Potniae (end), Danaids, Eleusinioi, Epigoni and EdoniansThe end of the Glaucus of Potniae has two wolves bearing off a fawn. A wedding-morning wish from the Danaids and a speech on the union of heaven and earth, in which rain fertilizes the land and brings forth flocks and Demeter's grain, open the section. The Epigoni offers libations to Zeus, Hera, the Heroes and Zeus the Saviour. The Edonians gives the most vivid picture of the worship of Dionysus, with the rites of Cotyto, the pipe, the brazen cymbals, the bull-voiced mimes and the thunder of the timbrel.

Euripides (5)

Euripides, Suppliants 1–41Prologue: Aethra at Eleusis sends for TheseusAethra, the mother of Theseus, prays at the altar of Demeter at Eleusis, where she has come to sacrifice, and sees the Argive mothers sitting round her with suppliant boughs, with their king Adrastus lying on the ground. They are the mothers of the seven chieftains who fell before Thebes, and the victorious Thebans will not allow them to bury their sons. Aethra, bound by their boughs, has sent a herald to her son Theseus, asking him to come.
Euripides, Children of Heracles 381–426Second episode: the oracle demands a noble maidenDemophon returns and tells Iolaus that the Argive army has come with Eurystheus, and that the seers have said that Athens will win the war if a noble maiden of a noble house is sacrificed to the daughter of Demeter. He says that he cannot kill his own child or ask any citizen to give up his, and that the suppliants must find some way to save themselves. The Chorus asks whether heaven forbids the city to help strangers.
Euripides, Ion 1048–1105Second choral song: prayer to Hecate for the poison's successThe Chorus prays to the goddess of the highways, the daughter of Demeter, to guide the hand that fills the cup of death. It sings that no bastard should rule Athens, and that the house of Erechtheus must not go to a stranger's son.
Euripides, Phoenician Women 638–689First choral song: Cadmus, the dragon and the Sown MenThe Chorus sings of Cadmus' arrival in Thebes, following the heifer, and of the birth of Bromius beside Dirce. They tell how he killed Ares' dragon and sowed its teeth, from which armed men sprang. They call on Epaphus, Persephone and Demeter to help the land.
Euripides, Bacchae 266–342First episode: Teiresias and Kadmos defend DionysusTeiresias argues that Dionysus is a great god who gave men the drink of the grape as Demeter gave them bread, and that he also gives prophecy and war-panic. He urges Pentheus to receive the god. Kadmos begs his grandson to honor Dionysus, even if only so that Semele may seem to have borne a god, and recalls the fate of Actaeon.

Apollonius Rhodius (1)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.982–1123Medea appeals to Arete on DrepaneArgo comes to the Phaeacian island of Drepane, but a Colchian fleet follows. Medea begs Arete and the heroes for protection, and Arete urges Alcinous to protect her. Alcinous declares that, if she is already Jason's wife, he will not give her up, and Arete sends word to Jason.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 6.1–138Hymn to Demeter: Erysichthon's hungerThe women greet the Basket of Demeter as it passes, and the poet recalls how the goddess wandered in search of her stolen daughter and drank only when Hesperus persuaded her. Erysichthon, son of Triopas, fells a poplar in her grove at Dotium, and Demeter, first in the likeness of her priestess Nicippe and then in her own shape, warns and condemns him. She sends him a ravenous hunger that eats his household bare until he begs at the crossways. The hymn ends with prayers to Demeter for harvest and peace.

Theocritus (1)

Theocritus, Idylls 7.1–157Idyll 7: The Harvest FeastThe speaker walks with Eucritus and Amyntas from the city to a harvest feast of Demeter, and on the way they meet the goatherd Lycidas. They exchange songs, Lycidas wishing a safe voyage to the beloved Ageanax and Simichidas singing of his friend Aratus' love. They reach the farm and lie down among poplars and elms to feast.

Aristophanes (5)

Aristophanes, Frogs 378–415Parodos: hymns to Demeter and IacchusThe procession sings to the Saviour goddess, to Demeter and to Iacchus, the lord of the frolic and dance, and jests about the torn dress of a girl in the show. Dionysus and Xanthias say that they would like to follow on and join the dancing. The Chorus begins a round of jokes at Archedemus.
Aristophanes, The Knights 691–835Agon: Paphlagon and the Sausage-seller summon DemusPaphlagon and the Sausage-seller threaten each other afresh, each vowing to haul the other before Demus, who comes out to ask what all the shouting is. Paphlagon says that the strangers beat him because he loves Demus, and the Sausage-seller declares himself a rival lover. Paphlagon claims credit for Pylus, the Sausage-seller says that he stole a pot of pottage that another had cooked, and Demus agrees to hold an Assembly on the Pnyx. The two rivals then plead for his favour, accusing each other of theft, of keeping Demus penned up in the city and of taking bribes.
Aristophanes, Birds 541–588Agon: the plan for a wall in the air and a blockade of the godsThe Chorus lament how their fathers lost the empire and ask what they must do. Peisthetaerus tells them to enclose the air with a great brick wall like the wall of Babylon, make it the abode of their race, and send a messenger to demand the kingdom from Zeus. If Zeus refuses, they will declare a holy war and keep the gods from passing through the air to their mortal lovers. He answers a doubt about whether men will take the birds for gods by pointing out that Hermes and other gods fly on wings, and he threatens men with sparrows and rooks that will eat their seed.
Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 101–293Prologue: Agathon's house and the disguiseAgathon is wheeled out in a woman's dress and sings a lyric, and Mnesilochus mocks him for his looks and his ways. Euripides begs him to go to the festival of the women and plead for him, but Agathon refuses, so Mnesilochus agrees to go in his place. Euripides shaves and dresses him as a woman, makes him a promise on oath to help him, and leaves him on his way to the assembly.
Aristophanes, Frogs 870–898Agon: prayers before the contestDionysus calls for fire and incense and asks the Chorus to invoke the Muses with a song. Aeschylus prays to Demeter, and Euripides says that he prays to Ether, to the tongue and to his own nostrils. The Chorus watch the two take their stands, eager for the tournament.

Diodorus Siculus (6)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.3.1–5.5.3Demeter and Core in SicilyThe rape of Core is placed in the meadows of Enna, and Athena, Artemis and Core are said to have taken their portions of the island, with the springs of Himera, Arethusa and Cyane given to them by the Nymphs. Demeter, searching for her daughter, passes through many lands and gives the Athenians the first fruit of the wheat after the people of Sicily; the festivals held in Sicily of the two goddesses are described and the tragic poet Carcinus is quoted.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.68.1–5.72.5Zeus and the children of Cronus in CreteAccording to the Cretans the children of Cronus and Rhea discovered or introduced many arts, and the sea, the hearth and the corn belong to Poseidon, Hestia and Demeter. The historian gives the conflicting accounts of how Zeus became king, the places in Crete tied to his infancy, his benefactions to mankind and the punishment of the Giants.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.73.1–5.77.8The gods' discoveries and their Cretan originsZeus is said to have given each god a field of invention: the Muses the letters and poetry, Apollo the lyre, healing and the bow, Hermes the herald's staff, Athena the olive, and Dionysus the vine. The chapters then give an older Heracles, Artemis, Plutus, and the claim that most of the gods began in Crete and spread to other lands.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.47.1–5.49.6Samothrace and its mysteriesThe historian tells of the early history of Samothrace, a flood that drove the people to the heights, and the lawgiver Saon. He tells of the wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia and the gifts brought to it, and of the mysteries, in which the gods are said to help initiates in danger.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.1.1–5.2.5Preface to Book 5: early SicilyThe historian opens with a remark on the value of good arrangement in a history, judging Timaeus and Ephorus by it, and says that this Book is called On the Islands and begins with Sicily. He gives the names of the island, Trinacria, Sicania and Sicily, and the view that the Sicani were native to it and that the goddesses Demeter and Core first appeared there.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 6.1.1–11Euhemerus on the godsIn a fragment on the gods the historian is quoted as dividing them into eternal ones, such as the sun and moon and stars, and terrestrial ones, such as Heracles and Dionysus, who were honoured as gods for their benefactions. He then summarises the account of Euhemerus, who sailed from Arabia to the island of Panchaea, where a golden stele recorded the deeds of Uranus, Cronus and Zeus as kings.

Ovid (10)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.721–884Erysichthon and FamineAchelous goes on with his tales, and tells how Erysichthon, who scorns the gods, cuts down the sacred oak of Demeter (Ceres), and its dryad dies, prophesying his punishment. Demeter sends Famine, who breathes on him as he sleeps, and he grows insatiably hungry and eats everything he has, and sells his daughter Mestra. Mestra is freed by Poseidon (Neptune) and can change her shape, so that her father sells her again and again, until in the end he eats his own limbs. Achelous ends by speaking of his own changes and the horn he has lost.
Ovid, Fasti 4.393–501Fasti 4: Demeter (Ceres) and Persephone (Proserpina) (1): the rape of PersephoneOn 12 April Ovid turns to the games of Demeter (Ceres) and her gifts of food and the plough. He tells how Persephone (Proserpina), picking flowers near Henna in Sicily, is carried off by Hades (Dis), and how Demeter searches across Sicily, lighting pine torches at Etna and crossing the sea in her serpent car.
Ovid, Fasti 4.502–620Fasti 4: Demeter (Ceres) and Persephone (Proserpina) (2): Eleusis and the returnDemeter (Ceres) reaches Attica and is received by old Celeus and his daughter. She tries to make the sick child Triptolemus immortal in the fire, but his mother interrupts. She searches the world, learns from the Sun that Hades has Persephone, and appeals to Zeus (Jupiter). Hermes (Mercury) reports the pomegranate seeds, and Persephone is to spend six months in heaven.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.338–461Typhoeus; the rape of PersephoneCalliope sings for the Muses of the giant Typhoeus buried under Sicily, whose struggles shake the island, and of how Aphrodite (Venus) asks Eros (Cupid) to wound Hades (Pluto) with love. Hades, driving through Sicily, sees Persephone (Proserpina) gathering flowers by the lake of Pergus and carries her off in his chariot. The nymph Cyane tries to stop him and is changed into a pool, and Hades drives through the earth to his own kingdom. Demeter (Ceres) begins her search for her daughter, and turns the boy Stellio, who mocks her thirst, into a lizard.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.462–571Demeter searches for PersephoneDemeter (Ceres), hearing nothing from her daughter, wanders over the earth by torchlight and finds only her girdle floating in the pool, and punishes the land that is ungrateful. The nymph Arethusa tells her where her daughter is, and Demeter appeals to Zeus (Jupiter). Zeus decides that Persephone (Proserpina) may return to her mother if she has eaten nothing in the underworld, but Ascalaphus tells that she ate pomegranate seeds, and Demeter turns him into an owl. The Sirens, Persephone's companions, are given the feathers of birds, and Zeus settles the matter by dividing the year between mother and husband.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.572–678Arethusa; Triptolemus; the PieridesArethusa tells Demeter (Ceres) how she fled from the river god Alpheus under the earth and came up again in Sicily. Demeter sends Triptolemus in her chariot to teach men the use of grain, and he is nearly killed by King Lyncus, whom she turns into a lynx. Calliope ends her song, and the Muses tell how the Pierides who challenged them were turned into magpies.
Ovid, Fasti 1.657–724Fasti 1: The Sementivae (sowing festival) and the Altar of PeaceOvid cannot find the sowing festival in the calendar until the Muse says the priests set its date after the seed is sown. He gives a prayer to Earth and Demeter (Ceres) for the crops, and notes that peace feeds the plough. He also records a temple to Leda's sons on 27 January and the altar of Peace on 30 January, then ends Book 1.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.431–518Myrrha's flight and the birth of AdonisThe nurse, in the end, yields and promises to help her, and arranges for Myrrha to go to Cinyras' bed in the dark during the festival of Demeter (Ceres), when the queen is away. Myrrha visits her father night after night, until Cinyras, bringing a light, sees whom he has been with, and draws his sword. She flees, wandering through Arabia for nine months, and finally prays to the gods to be neither among the living nor the dead. She is changed into a myrrh tree, and from the tree, which weeps resin, the child Adonis is born.
Ovid, Fasti 1.337–456Fasti 1: The first animal sacrifices; Priapus and LotisOvid describes early offerings of spelt and salt, then tells why animals came to be sacrificed: the sow to Demeter (Ceres), the goat to Dionysus (Bacchus), and the ox and sheep, with the story of Aristaeus, his bees and Proteus. At a feast of Bacchus, Priapus creeps toward the sleeping nymph Lotis, and Silenus' ass brays and wakes her, so the ass is sacrificed. The section ends with birds killed for the gods.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.85–145Midas and the golden touchDionysus (Bacchus), passing through Phrygia, finds that his old tutor Silenus has been left behind, and King Midas treats him kindly and brings him back. In return Dionysus offers Midas any wish, and he chooses that all he touches turn to gold. When his food turns to gold, he begs to be freed, and Dionysus tells him to wash in the river Pactolus, which carries away the power.

Pausanias (54)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.42.1–13Phigalia: the cave of Black Demeter and Onatas' statuePausanias describes the cave of Black Demeter on Mount Elaius, where, according to the Phigalians, Demeter mourned Proserpine in black until Pan found her and the Fates calmed her. The old wooden image had a horse's head with serpents and beasts, a dolphin and a dove, and after it burned and the rites lapsed, a famine and a Delphic oracle led the Phigalians to commission a bronze image from Onatas of Aegina. He dates Onatas by his work for Hiero's offerings at Olympia. Pausanias also describes the bloodless offerings of fruit and wool, and notes that the image had been destroyed by falling stones.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.25.1–13Thelpusa: Demeter Fury, Poseidon and the horse ArionPausanias follows the road from Psophis to Thelpusa and the course of the Ladon, noting the sanctuary of Eleusinian Demeter and the temples of Aesculapius and the Twelve Gods. At Onceum he describes Demeter Fury and Lusia, with the story that Demeter, turned into a mare, was taken by Poseidon in the form of a horse and bore the horse Arion, and he cites the Iliad, the Thebaid and Antimachus on Arion and Adrastus. He also mentions the sanctuary of the Boy Aesculapius and the tomb of Trygon, and the confluence of the Ladon with the Alpheus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.37.1–12Arcadia: the sanctuary of the Mistress, Damophon's cult images and AnytusPausanias describes the sanctuary of the Mistress near Acacesium, with a temple of Leader Artemis, a colonnade of reliefs including one honouring Polybius, and altars to Demeter and the Great Mother. The images of the Mistress and Demeter, carved by Damophon from a single block, are flanked by Artemis and the Titan Anytus. He covers the Curetes and Corybantes, the Hall where the Arcadians perform mysteries, the grove, and the sanctuary of Pan with an undying fire and oracles delivered by the nymph Erato.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.15.1–9Pheneus: the Petroma and Demeter's mysteriesPausanias describes the Pheneatian mysteries of Demeter Eleusinia, which they say were brought by Naus, with the Petroma, two stones fitted together that are opened every second year to read the writings of the mysteries. The priest wears the mask of Demeter Cidaria at the Greater Mysteries, and the Pheneatians swear their weightiest oaths by the stones. He mentions the temple of Demeter Thesmia, the story of the bean, and the temple of Pythian Apollo with the tombs of Telamon and Chalcodon, whom he doubts to be the famous heroes of those names. The section ends with the borders of Pheneus and Mount Crathis.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.37.1–7The Sacred Way: tombs, the Cephisus and Harpalus’ monument to PythioniceContinuing along the Sacred Way, Pausanias lists the tombs of Heliodorus, Themistocles’ descendant and Nicocles the harpist, the story of Acestium and the Torch-bearers, and the precinct of Phytalus, where Demeter gave the fig-tree. Beyond the Cephisus he notes the altar of Gracious Zeus where Theseus was purified, the temple of Cyamites, and the great tomb Harpalus built for Pythionice, and the sanctuary of Apollo tied to the story of Cephalus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.34.1–12Methana and Hermionis: the coast and the old and new cities of HermionPausanias describes Methana, with its hot springs, the rite against the south-west wind and the Isles of Pelops, then the origins of Hermion and the Dorian settlement. He follows the road from Troezen to Hermion, past Cape Scyllaeum with its story of Scylla and Minos, the islands and capes of the coast, Mount Buporthmus and the promontory where old Hermion stood. He ends with the sights of the present city, including the temples of Aphrodite of the Deep Sea and of Demeter Warmth.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.35.1–11Hermion: temples and the festival of Demeter ChthoniaPausanias lists the temples of Hermion: Dionysus of the Black Goatskin, Artemis Iphigenia, Poseidon, Hestia, three Apollos, Fortune, and the cisterns. He describes the sanctuary of Demeter Chthonia on Mount Pron, its two foundation stories, the summer festival with the sacrifice of cows by four old women, the temple of Clymenus, the Colonnade of Echo, the chasm through which Hercules brought up the hound of hell, and the sanctuary of Ilithyia.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.11.1–8Sicyon to Titane: sanctuaries around the city and Asclepius at TitaneOutside Sicyon Pausanias describes the temple of Athena built by Epopeus, the sanctuaries of Hera, Demeter and Carnean Apollo, the grove Pyraea with Protecting Demeter, and the grove of the Eumenides. He then climbs to Titane, where Titan is said to have lived, and describes the sanctuary of Asclepius founded by Alexanor, with its veiled images of Asclepius and Health, the cults of Alexanor and Euamerion, and the offerings and colonnade.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.31.1–9Megalopolis: the sanctuary of the Great GoddessesPausanias describes the enclosure of the Great Goddesses, Demeter and the Maid, at the west end of the colonnade, with its reliefs, the images by Damophon, an Idaean Hercules, a table showing nymphs and Seasons, and a temple of Friendly Zeus by Polyclitus. He lists a sanctuary of Aphrodite the Contriver with wooden images from Trapezus, statues of those who brought the mysteries from Eleusis, the square images of the gods, and a sanctuary of the Maid that men may enter only once a year. He ends with a gymnasium and the two hills behind the Philippian Colonnade.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.14.1–7Athens: Enneacrunus, Triptolemus, temple of Hephaestus, Heavenly AphroditeNear the Music Hall is the fountain Enneacrunus, with temples of Demeter and Kore and of Triptolemus. Pausanias gives the Argive and Athenian versions of the Triptolemus story and the variant parentages in Musaeus, Orpheus and Choerilus, but declines to describe the Eleusinium because of a dream. He also notes the statue of Epimenides, the temple of Good Fame, a temple of Hephaestus beside a blue-eyed Athena, and the sanctuary of Heavenly Aphrodite, a cult that came from the Assyrians through Paphos and Ascalon.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.13.1–8Phlius: the Dorian conquest and the sights of the acropolis and market-placeThe Dorian Rhegnidas takes Phlius, and Hippasus, ancestor of Pythagoras, withdraws to Samos. Pausanias describes the acropolis with the grove and sanctuary of Ganymeda or Hebe, the temples of Hera, Demeter and Asclepius, and the theatre. In the market-place are the bronze goat worshipped against blight, the tomb of Aristias, the house of divination associated with Amphiaraus, the Navel, and the chapel of Cyathus killed by Hercules.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.14.1–4Phlius: the mysteries of Demeter at Celeae and the tomb of DysaulesPausanias describes the Phliasian mysteries of Demeter at Celeae, held every third year and modelled on Eleusis. He disputes the Phliasian account that Dysaules brought them after being expelled from Eleusis by Ion, citing the Homeric hymn to Demeter, and discusses the tomb of Dysaules, the earlier tomb of Aras and the chariot of Pelops on the roof of the Anactorum.

42 more passages of Pausanias that name Demeter

Nonnus of Panopolis (5)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 6.86–206Book 6: Astraios' oracle; the Titans kill ZagreusAstraios foretells a secret ravisher in the shape of a dragon, but also fruit for Demeter's gift of corn. Demeter hides her daughter in a cave in Sicily, guarded by dragons and her nurse. Persephoneia, weaving, sings of how Zeus came to her as a dragon and how the Titans killed their child Zagreus, who changed through many shapes before he fell as a bull.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 6.0–85Book 6: The gods desire Persephone; Demeter asks AstraiosAll the gods in Olympos woo Persephoneia, and Demeter fears most that Hephaistos will win her. She goes to the seer Astraios, whose sons the Winds entertain her at a banquet. Afterwards she asks him for an oracle, and he consults his sphere of the heavens.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 31.0–69Book 31: Hera appeals to Persephone against DionysosHera, jealous at the Indian defeat and the sight of Perseus' trophies, goes down to Persephone in Hades. She tells her that Dionysos will displace Zagreus and Demeter's honour and that Zeus has wronged them both, and asks her to arm the Furies against him.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.0–133Book 1: Invocation; Zeus carries Europa across the seaThe poet asks the Muse to tell of the twice-born Dionysos and calls for the wand, cymbals and fawnskin of his rites, picturing Proteus's many shapes as the god's. Zeus, as a bull, carries Europa over the sea while Eros drives him and the sea-gods marvel. The girl cries out to the shores, to her father and to Boreas.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 19.0–96Book 19: Dionysos consoles Methe and Botrys; the harpers' contest beginsMethe laments Staphylos, and Dionysos consoles her and Botrys with wine, promising that Methe will give her name to drunkenness and Botrys and Staphylos theirs to the grape cluster and the bunch. He then holds a contest beside Staphylos' tomb, offering a bull and a goat as prizes to the harpers. Erechtheus of Athens sings first, of Demeter entertained by Celeos, comparing Dionysos' hospitality to it.

[Eratosthenes] (1)

[Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 9–12The Virgin, the Twins, the Crab and the LionJustice leaves the earth when human beings turn unjust and becomes the Virgin, though others identify her with Demeter, Isis, Atargatis or Fortune. The Dioscuri are set in the sky for their brotherly love. The Crab that bit Heracles carries the Asses and the Manger from the war against the Giants, and the Lion is the beast he strangled at Nemea.

Antoninus Liberalis (1)

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 22.1–24.3Cerambus, Battus and AscalabusThe herdsman Cerambus insults the nymphs, loses his flocks in a sudden winter and becomes a horned beetle. Battus breaks his oath to Hermes about the stolen cattle of Apollo and is turned to stone. The boy Ascalabus mocks the thirsty Demeter and becomes a spotted lizard.

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 3.1–4.20Odes 3–4: Croesus saved by Apollo; Hieron's victoriesCleio is told to praise Demeter and Hieron of Syracuse, whose horses won at Olympia. The poet tells how Croesus, with Sardis falling to the Persians, mounted a pyre with his family, how Zeus quenched the flames and how Apollo carried him to the Hyperboreans. The ode closes with Apollo's advice to Admetus, son of Pheres, and the promise that Hieron's glory will be sung by the nightingale of Ceos. Ode 4 hymns Hieron's third Pythian victory and his two at Olympia.

Conon (1)

Conon, Narrations 9.1–18.1Semiramis, Pallene and the heroesConon makes Semiramis the daughter of Ninus, tells of the contest for Pallene's hand and of the curses that accompany the sacrifice to Heracles at Lindus. He then follows the line of Tros, Aethilla's burning of the ships at Scione, the descendants of Endymion and the reward of the Pheneatans. The section ends with the love tales of Promachus and of Syleus' daughter and Autoleon's cure at the island of Achilles, with Stesichorus' palinode.

Herodotus (6)

Herodotus, Histories 2.122–123Rhampsinitus plays dice with Demeter in HadesThe priests say that Rhampsinitos went down alive to Hades, played dice with Demeter and returned with a golden handkerchief, and that the Egyptians keep a feast for his going down. A priest is led with bound eyes by two wolves to the temple of Demeter. The writer says he records only what people report in each place, and he notes that the Egyptians first taught that the soul is immortal and passes through other creatures in three thousand years.
Herodotus, Histories 2.155–157The oracle of Leto at Buto and the floating islandThe oracle of Leto at Buto stands in a city with temples of Apollo and Artemis. Its marvel is a house of Leto made of one stone, forty cubits each way. The island of Chemmis is said to float, and the Egyptians say Leto hid Apollo there from Typhon, naming Apollo Oros, Demeter Isis and Artemis Bubastis. Psammetichos reigned fifty-four years and besieged Azotos for twenty-nine.
Herodotus, Histories 6.87–93Nicodromus and the war between Athens and AeginaThe Eginetans seize the sacred ship sent to Sunion with leading Athenians. Nicodromos agrees to betray Egina to the Athenians, who borrow twenty ships from the Corinthians but arrive a day late. A curse falls on the Eginetans when a man's hands are cut off at the temple of Demeter, and a thousand volunteers of the Argives under Eurybates mostly die at the hands of the Athenians, though the Eginetans take four ships.
Herodotus, Histories 6.132–136Miltiades at ParosAfter Marathon, Miltiades asks the Athenians for seventy ships, promising gold, and sails against Paros, besieging it for six-and-twenty days. The Parians say that the captive Timo advised him, but at the temple of Demeter he is seized by fear and dislocates his thigh. He returns without Paros, is prosecuted by Xanthippos and fined fifty talents, and dies of his wound, the fine being paid by Kimon.
Herodotus, Histories 9.65–70The rout of the Persians and the storming of their campThe Persians fled to their palisade in Theban territory, and Artabazos took four myriads to Phokis. The Boeotians fought hard but fled. The Athenians breached the wall, and the Tegeans took the tent of Mardonios. Out of thirty myriads, fewer than three thousand survived; ninety-one Lacedemonians from Sparta, sixteen Tegeans and fifty-two Athenians died.
Herodotus, Histories 9.100–105The Battle of MycaleA rumour of victory in Boeotia reached the Hellenes as they advanced, and the same day brought victory at both Plataia and Mycale. The Athenians on the beach drove the Persians behind their wall. The Lacedemonians arrived later, the Samians and Milesians turned on the Persians, and Ionia revolted again.

Hyginus (4)

Hyginus, Fabulae 138–154The gods of the early world: Titans, Prometheus, Typhon and the floodChiron's birth, the childhood of Zeus, Python, Persephone, Triptolemus and the capture of Ares and Aphrodite by Hephaestus. Pandora, Prometheus, Phoroneus, Io, Epaphus, the war with the Titans, Typhon, Deucalion's flood and Phaethon complete the group.
Hyginus, De astronomia 2.14.1–4Book 2: OphiuchusThe Serpent-bearer is identified as Carnabon, the Getan king who plotted against Triptolemus, or as Heracles, Triopas, Phorbas or Asclepius. The chapter is a collection of snake-slayer stories, including Phorbas's rescue of Rhodes and the serpent and herb of Asclepius.
Hyginus, Fabulae 269–277Beauty, the earliest games, inventions, cities and islandsA damaged list of the tallest men, then the most beautiful men and youths, and a long account of who held the first games down to Aeneas. The collection ends, incomplete, with lists of inventors, city-founders, the largest islands and the discoverers of letters.
Hyginus, Fabulae 254–261Dutiful children, friends, and interpolated stories from ServiusDutiful children, impious and chaste women, and the great friendships are listed, with long bracketed stories of Damon and Phintias and of Harmodius and Aristogiton. Several bracketed chapters taken from commentators close the group.

Orpheus (attributed) (2)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 37–41Hymns 37-41: the Titans, the Curetes, Corybas, Ceres, the Ceralian MotherA hymn to the Titans calls them the offspring of Heaven and Earth, and a second hymn to the Curetes names them as brass-beating servants of Mars. Corybas is invoked as a two-fold Curete. Two hymns to Demeter follow, one to Ceres as universal mother and one to the Ceralian Mother, who wandered in grief until she found her daughter Proserpine in the underworld.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 42–46Hymns 42-46: Mises, the Seasons, Semele, Dionysius Bassareus, Liknitus BacchusMises, here called Thesmophorus, is invoked as a spermatic god of many names who bears a leafy rod, and the Seasons as the daughters of Jove and Themis who bring justice and peace. Semele is addressed as the Cadmean mother of Bacchus. The group closes with Dionysius Bassareus, the bull-faced son of the thunder, and Liknitan Bacchus, bearer of the vine.

Plato (2)

Plato, Cratylus 401b–404eHestia, Rhea and Cronus, Poseidon, Pluto and Hades, Demeter, Hera and PherephattaSocrates begins with Hestia, whose name he links to essence, ousia, and the pushing (othoun) which some find in the nature of things, and with Rhea and Cronus, which he connects with the flux of Heracleitus. He explains Poseidon as the one whose foot is held by the sea, and Pluto as the giver of wealth that comes up from the earth. He says that Hades is not called so from the unseen, but because he knows all noble things, and holds the souls by their desire for virtue, so that no one wishes to leave him. Demeter is the giver of food like a mother, Hera is the lovely one, perhaps air (aer), and Pherephatta, whose name people fear, is explained as the one who touches what moves.
Plato, Laws 781b–785bBook VI: Women at the common meals; the three desires; the law of procreationThe Athenian says that Cretan and Spartan lawgivers have left women out of the public meals, and that the female sex, which is by nature more secretive, was left in disorder by the perverse compliance of the lawgiver, and that the state loses half of its happiness by this, so women too must dine in common. He says that the human race either has no beginning or has existed for an incalculable time, and asks whether vines, olives and the gifts of Demeter and Kore appeared at some stage, with Triptolemus as the minister of those fruits. He names the three needs of man, for food, drink and, last and most violent, the lust for the sowing of offspring, which the law must direct to what is best. The bridegroom and bride must give their minds to procreation, under the supervision of the women inspectors, for ten years, and if there is no child after ten years they may divorce, the marriage age being sixteen to twenty for a girl and thirty to thirty-five for a man.

Plutarch (9)

Plutarch, On the Face in the Moon 27–28Demeter and Persephone; man as body, soul and mindA stranger corrects the Greeks, saying that Demeter is on earth and Persephone in the moon, called Cora because the apple of the eye, kore, shows the sun's image. He says that man is composed of three parts, not two, with the understanding as far above the soul as the soul is above the body. Earth gives the body, the moon the soul and the sun the understanding.
Plutarch, Life of Eumenes 4.1–6.7Eumenes' dream of Athena and Demeter before facing CraterusPerdiccas sends Eumenes to subdue Armenia, where he raises a force of cavalry, and then names him commander in Armenia and Cappadocia against Craterus and Antipater. He defeats the treacherous Neoptolemus, who flees to Craterus, and he refuses an offer of friendship from Craterus and Antipater. Before Craterus attacks, Eumenes hides the enemy general's name from his men, dreams of two Alexanders at war, Athena aiding one and Demeter the other, and gives the watchword Demeter and Alexander.
Plutarch, Life of Aristides 11.1–12.2The oracle before Plataea: Zeus, Hera, Pan, Demeter and Persephone, and the dispute with TegeaAristides, elected general with sole powers, comes to Plataea with eight thousand Athenian hoplites to join Pausanias. The Delphic oracle he consults promises the Athenians victory if they vow to Zeus, Cithaeronian Hera, Pan and the Sphragitic nymphs, sacrifice to the heroes, and fight on their own soil in the plain of Eleusinian Demeter and Persephone (Cora). Arimnestus of Plataea dreams that Zeus the Saviour says the oracle means a temple near Hysiae, and the Plataeans give Athens their border land. When the Tegeans claim the left wing, Aristides answers that valour does not depend on position, and the Athenians are given the other wing.
Plutarch, Life of Fabius Maximus 17.1–18.5After Cannae: Fabius steadies RomeHannibal does not march on Rome, and Barca tells him that he can win a victory but not use it, although most of Italy and Capua come over to him. Rome now turns to Fabius, who posts guards at the gates and limits mourning to thirty days, so that the festival of Demeter (Ceres) is omitted. Pictor is sent to Delphi, one of two corrupted Vestals is buried alive, and the senate and people welcome the returning consul Varro at the gates.
Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 69–71Mournful festivals and fasts; the lament for the fruitsPlutarch asks how to act in the mournful, gloomy rites without either neglecting the laws or confusing one's notions of the gods, and he notes that the Greeks too have like rites. He argues that these fasts and laments grew up around the season when the fruits disappear, and the ancients did not take the fruits to be gods but gifts of the gods. The lament is for the loss of the fruits, with a prayer that the gods who give them will send new ones.
Plutarch, Greek Questions 31–39Questions 31-39: Eretrian rites of Demeter, the daughters of Minos at Orchomenus, the LycaeumQuestion 31 asks why the Eretrian women roast their meat in the sun at the feast of Demeter, and the next questions treat the Milesian Aeinautai, the Chalcidian Youth's Conventicle, and the Ithacan who sacrificed an ox to his benefactor. Other questions explain the Bottiaean maids' song 'Let us go to Athens', the Elean women's hymn that calls Dionysus with an ox's foot, and the Achilleum at Tanagra. Question 38 explains the Psoloeis and Oleiai of Orchomenus, the daughters of Minos who went mad, and the priest of Dionysus who pursues them at the Agrionia. Question 39 asks why the Arcadians stone those who enter the Lycaeum willingly.
Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus 26.1–27.4Election of the senators and Spartan burial customsVacancies in the senate are filled from men over sixty by the shouting of the assembly, judged by hidden men with writing-tablets, and the winner receives honours and shares his extra portion with a woman he esteems. Lycurgus allows burial inside the city, forbids grave goods and inscriptions except for men fallen in war and women in sacred office, and limits mourning to eleven days before a sacrifice to Demeter. He also keeps foreigners and foreign ways out of the city.
Plutarch, Life of Dion 54.1–58.10The Fury in the house and the murder of Dion by CallippusCallippus the Athenian plots to win Sicily by murdering Dion, while Dion sees a woman like a tragic Fury sweeping his house, and soon afterwards his son throws himself from the roof. Callippus swears the great oath in the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone, then has Zacynthian assassins cut Dion's throat at the festival of the Coreia. Callippus loses Syracuse and is later killed at Rhegium with the same short sword, and Hicetas has Dion's wife Arete, Andromache and the little boy sent to sea and drowned, for which Timoleon puts Hicetas to death.
Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 25–31Daemons: the great spirits behind the tale, and the lot of TyphonPlutarch prefers the view, shared by Plato, Pythagoras, Xenocrates and Chrysippus, that the deeds told of Typhon, Osiris and Isis belong to great daemons, between gods and men. Homer uses the word daemon for both good and bad powers, and Plutarch quotes the story of Ptolemy Soter's dream that led to bringing the statue of Sarapis from Sinope to Alexandria. Osiris and Isis rose from good daemons to gods, while Typhon was weakened and is placated with rites, and red oxen are devoted to him.

Ptolemy Hephaestion (1)

Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History 3.1–33Book 3: marvels, famous births and coincidencesBook 3 moves from Hyllus' horn and the black water of the Styx to an assortment of oddities: Alexander's supposed father, a dog with a hairy heart, a boy who could see twenty stades, poets who never wore a cloak or lived on myrtle. It ends with a series of historical coincidences, among them the strange births and deaths of Croesus, Themistocles, Darius and Claudius.

Strabo (7)

Strabo, Geography 9.5.10–14Phthiotic towns, the Dolopes and the Malian coastStrabo lists the Phthiotic towns subject to Achilles, such as Lamia, Pharsalus, Echinus and Thebae Phthiotides, and the Oetaean district with Dryopis. He places Peleus's Dolopes near Pindus and the neighbouring tribes absorbed into Thessaly and Macedonia. He then follows the coast from Thermopylae to Antron, with Protesilaus's lands, the grove of Demeter (Ceres) at Pyrasus and the islands Pyrrha and Deucalion.
Strabo, Geography 10.3.9–12Orgiastic worship: Dionysus, Rhea and the infant ZeusStrabo reflects on why festivals, music, ecstasy and secrecy bring people close to the gods. He sets out the cults of Dionysus, Apollo, Hecate, the Muses and Demeter (Ceres) and their ministers. He then tells how in Crete the Curetes danced in armour to hide the infant Zeus (Jupiter) from Cronus (Saturn), and connects Rhea with the Phrygian Great Mother.
Strabo, Geography 8.3.12–16The Alpheius, Samicum and Nestor's PylusStrabo follows the Pisatan coast and the Alpheius, whose source lies beside that of the Eurotas, and describes the sacred groves of Artemis (Diana), Aphrodite and the Nymphs. He places the Lepreatic Pylus near the temple of the Samian Poseidon (Neptune), where Telemachus found the Pylii sacrificing. He adds the myth of Minthe, Hades and Persephone (Proserpine), and the temples to Hades, Demeter (Ceres) and Persephone at the Acheron.
Strabo, Geography 9.1.9–14Salamis, Eleusis and the Thriasian coastStrabo describes Salamis and its older names, the serpent bred by Cychreus and welcomed into Eleusis by Demeter (Ceres), and the claim of the Aeacidae and Ajax on the island. He weighs the dispute between Athens and Megara over the Catalogue of Ships. He then passes to Eleusis with its Mystic Enclosure, the Thriasian plain, Xerxes at the strait, and the tomb of Circe on the Pharmacussae.
Strabo, Geography 6.2.5–7Inland Sicily: Enna, Eryx and the Roman granaryStrabo surveys the deserted south coast and the towns of the north side, with Aegesta said to be founded by Aegestus the Trojan. He describes Enna with its temple of Demeter (Ceres), the slave revolt under Eunus, and the temple of Aphrodite (Venus) on Eryx. Camici, the kingdom of Cocalus where Minos was said to be killed, is named, the land's fertility is praised, and Sicily is called the granary of Rome.
Strabo, Geography 7.fragments.48–55Thrace, Samothrace and the CabiriThese fragments count the Thracian nations and the kings of the Odrysae, and describe the coast past Doriscus to the Hebrus and Cypsela. They tell of Jasion and Dardanus on Samothrace, Jasion being struck by lightning for his offence against Demeter (Ceres), and of the gods Curetes, Corybantes and Cabiri. The Thracian Chersonesus is described with Lysimachia, Cardia and Eleus.
Strabo, Geography 9.4.10–17The Doric Tetrapolis, Oeta and ThermopylaeStrabo describes the Dorian Tetrapolis and its king Aegimius, restored by Heracles (Hercules) and followed by Hyllus, from whom the Heracleidae set out. He covers Mount Oeta, the hot springs at Thermopylae sacred to Heracles, and the river Dyras that tried to quench the funeral pile of Heracles. He ends with the stand of Leonidas, the Polyandrium and its epitaph, and the temple of Demeter (Ceres) where the Amphictyons sacrificed.

Virgil (7)

Virgil, Georgics 1.311–350Autumn storms and the festival of DemeterStorms near harvest can flatten the ripe corn and flood the fields, and the Sire hurls lightning that shakes the earth and splits mountains while beasts and people cower. Remembering this, the farmer should watch the months and the planets, and worship the gods first. He should offer Demeter (Ceres) a yearly sacrifice at the end of winter, leading the victim three times around the young corn, and no one should reap until he has danced and sung in her honour.
Virgil, Aeneid 2.705–804The flight from Troy and the loss of CreusaAeneas carries Anchises on his shoulders while Ascanius (Iulus) walks beside him and Creusa follows behind, heading for a meeting place by an old shrine of Demeter (Ceres) outside the city. In the dark Creusa is lost, and Aeneas returns to search the burning city, calling her name. Her ghost appears and tells him he must go to Hesperia on the Tiber, where he will have a kingdom and a royal bride. At dawn he finds a crowd of refugees and leads them toward the hills.
Virgil, Georgics 1.1–42Invocation to the gods of the countryside and to OctavianThe poet lists his themes: tilling the soil, vines and elms, cattle and bees. He calls on Dionysus (Bacchus) and Demeter (Ceres), the Fauns and Dryads, Poseidon (Neptune), Pan, Athena (Minerva), Silvanus and all the gods who care for the fields. He then addresses Caesar, whose place among the gods is not yet known, and asks him to favour the poem and the bewildered farmers.
Virgil, Georgics 1.43–117Ploughing, fallow and the care of the soilIn early spring the farmer should plough deep with oxen, after first learning the winds, the sky and what each region yields or refuses. Rich soil is turned early and poor soil shallowly, and fields are rested in alternate years or sown with a different crop. The poet also recommends manure, burning stubble, harrowing, irrigating and draining, and says that Demeter (Ceres) looks kindly on the careful worker.
Virgil, Eclogues 5.1–90Eclogue 5: the death and deification of DaphnisMenalcas and Mopsus meet and choose a cave to sing in. Mopsus sings of Daphnis, cruelly slain, whom the nymphs and his mother mourn, while animals refuse water, lions roar and the land turns barren, and the shepherds are told to build a tomb with a verse. Menalcas praises it and sings of Daphnis standing at the gate of Olympus, the woods rejoicing and yearly altars set up to him like those of Dionysus (Bacchus) and Demeter (Ceres). They exchange a pipe and a crook.
Virgil, Aeneid 1.157–222Landing in LibyaThe surviving Trojans put into a sheltered harbor on the coast of Libya. Achates strikes a spark, and the crew dry and grind their rescued grain. Aeneas, with only seven ships left, climbs a cliff, finds no sign of the others, and shoots seven stags from a passing herd, one for each ship. He shares the meat and wine, comforts his men by reminding them of past hardships, and hides his own grief as they mourn their lost friends.
Virgil, Georgics 1.204–310The farmer's calendar: the stars and the zones of heavenThe farmer should watch the stars, sowing barley, flax and poppy when the Scales balance day and night, beans and millet in spring, and wheat after the Pleiades set. The poem describes the sun's path through twelve constellations and the five zones of heaven. It lists indoor work for rainy days and winter nights, and names lucky and unlucky days of the moon, saying the fifth day saw the birth of the Eumenides and of the rebels who tried to pile mountains up to heaven.