Ancestry
Demeter is considered to be the goddess of the harvest and patroness of fertility. She is
one of the twelve major Olympian gods and one of the six children of Cronus And Rhea. Cronus was the
son of Gaea and Uranus.
Gaea complained to Cronus that Uranus was distressing her by pushing
their children back into her body when she was about to give birth to them (Grant and Hazel 124).
Gaea/Earth felt suffocated by Uranus/Sky locked in unceasing intercourse. She gave Cronus
a sickel and persuaded him to cut off Uranus' genitals when he would come to her at night, panting
with lust. When the moment arrived Cronus seized Uranus' genitals, cut them off, and threw them over his left
shoulder (Powell 83).
Cronus became ruler of the world only to be overthrown by Zeus. Cronus' parents told him that he would be
overthrown by one of his own children. Fearful, he swallowed them as soon as they came forth from
his wife and sister, Rhea. Rhea sought advice from her parents who told her that she should go
to Crete to give birth to her youngest child. Rhea did as she was told and when Cronus asked
for the infant, she gave him a stone wrapped in a blanket. Cronus swallowed the stone and "Zeus
was saved and grew into manhood" (Powell 88-89).
What happened next is not quite clear. Hesiod just states that Zeus, somehow, forced Cronus to
vomit up his siblings who still stuck inside Cronus. Other sources say that Metis gave Cronus
"an emetic potion and that Cronus vomited out the children in reverse order" (Powell 90-91)
The image above shows Zeus amidst the counsel.
Zeus took up his place as the king of the gods and he and his siblings Hestia, Hades, Poseidon,
Hera, and Demeter started to rule on Mount Olympus. Eventually they would be joined by Aphrodite,
Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes, Ares, and Athena (Reinhold 330). Hades would leave Mount Olympus and become
the god of the underworld.
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Demeter and Persephonê
Demeter and Triptolemus
Mysteries of Eleusis