Demeter (Greek: Δήμητρα、 English: Demeter), the goddess of agriculture, grain and harvest in the ancient Greek mythology, is one of the twelve Twelve Olympians. In Roman mythology, the god corresponding to Demeter is Ceres (Latin: Ceres).
Demeter taught humans to cultivate and give life to the earth. She has boundless magical power, which can make the land fertile, plants lush, and grains abundant, as well as make the land wither, all things wither, and no grass grows. It can provide people with endless wealth, while also making their families destitute and impoverished.
Demeter was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, the sister of Hestia, the sister of Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, and later gave birth to the afterlife Persephone with Zeus.

In the boom period of ancient Plastic arts, Demeter's image was usually similar to Hera's, but his appearance was relatively friendly, not as dignified as Hera's. Demeter is a kind-hearted woman who wears a circular crown woven from golden ears of wheat, and sometimes holds ears of wheat, daffodils, torches, fruit baskets, horns of abundance, or sickles.

The myth of Demeter is closely related to her daughter Persephone. Persephone has lived with his mother Demeter since childhood, and has never considered marriage. Once, when Persephone was playing with the nymphs in the jungle, the earth suddenly split, Hades took the opportunity to take her away. Hades, Persephone's uncle, had long fallen in love with her, and only with Zeus's tacit consent and help did he carry out the plan. The robbed Persephone cried sadly for her mother. Demeter heard Persephone's cry for help, and was heartbroken. She quickly put down her farm work and ran towards the cry, but Persephone had already disappeared. Demeter was extremely anxious, and she kept eating and drinking for several days and nights, searching everywhere for the whereabouts of her daughter. In this way, Demeter did not get anything when he traveled around Tianya Haijiao for nine days and nine nights in a row. When the tenth day came, she accidentally met Hecarte. She also heard Persephone's cry for help, but did not recognize the robber. They went to the omniscient Helios' residence together, and Helios told Demeter all the details of the matter (it was said that the spring fairy Aretusa revealed the truth to Demeter). Demeter was very angry after hearing this. She decided not to go back to Mount Olympus until her daughter came back to her (first, after Demeter knew the truth, he immediately found Zeus and asked him to order Hades to bring Persephone back to her immediately, otherwise she would make the earth useless).

She disguised herself as an old woman and came to Seleucis. Metanira, the wife of Celeus, the king of Seleucis, took Demeter in and made her the nanny of his sons Demophon of Athens and Triptolemus. Demeter liked Demophon of Athens very much and wanted to let him live forever. Demeter used agar slurry to brush his body and baked him on the fire at night. But Metanira's accidental discovery interrupted this process and failed. Subsequently, Demeter revealed his true feelings to the king and queen. She taught Triptolemus to cultivate the land, and gave him an ear of wheat, telling him to sow the grain wherever he went.
During the period when Demeter was not at Mount Olympus Mountain, the cultivated land no longer produced crops, the seeds were rotting in the soil, and the grains were just heading, either dry or dry. Famine threatens the world, and people no longer worship gods. In desperation, Zeus had to order Hades to return Persephone to Demeter. But this is impossible. Hades has asked Persephone to eat the food of the underworld in order to keep her. According to the provisions of the goddess of fate, people or gods who have not been contaminated with the food of the underworld can return to the world. Persephone has broken his fast and eaten six pomegranate seeds. Ultimately, only a compromise agreement can be reached; Let Demeter return to Mount Olympus again to revitalize the earth, and grant Persephone the function of separating the heaven and earth. Every year, he spends half of his time in Hades as the queen of Hades, and half of his time back to the earth with his mother. This is why every spring everything recovers and is full of vitality. This is the time when Persephone is on his way from Hades to Mount Olympus; When Persephone returned to Hades, everything withered, the land was deserted, and the cold winter covered the land.
On the way of Demeter looking for her daughter everywhere, the amorous Poseidon pursued her endlessly. In order to avoid him, the goddess turned into a female horse and mixed in the herd, but Poseidon, who became a male horse, mated with her and gave birth to the god horse Arion. There are also legends about the love between Demeter and Iacion. The goddess gave birth to Plutus, the god of wealth.

In addition to managing grain and the fertility of the earth, Demeter was also honored as the goddess of legislation or the Lady Justice, whose name was Tesmophola, because food is the god of the people, and agriculture is the foundation of people's life and prosperity; Sometimes she is also the guardian god of marriage and family, and her image and function are extremely similar to Hera. Usually, the worship of her is closely linked with the worship of Persephone. The worship center of Demeter is at Elucis, where the secret ceremony of Elucis is held. Throughout Greece, there are festivals to commemorate her, and ancient people believed that the earth was the source of life and the mother of all things. The offerings offered to Demeter include bulls, cows, pigs, fruits, beehives, fruit trees, rice ears, and chestnuts. In Rome, Demeter was confused with Kres and was very popular among farmers, with sacrificial festivals usually held in April. Later, Chris was mixed with Gaia, Ruia or Cybele.
At first, the Earth God was the god who took over everything, but with the development of religious thought, Demeter emerged. During the reign of the nobility of the clan, Demeter was considered the second ranked god in the world. Homer did not categorize Demeter within the theology of Olympus, and he rarely mentioned her. With the gradual rise of agricultural status, the worship of Demeter has also greatly developed. Around the 5th to 6th centuries BC, Demeter held an important position in the theological system of Olympus.