Goddess Demeter

Greetings, all! So, I have to do an essay in english on the goddess Demeter. We're reading the Odyssey. I know she's the goddess of the harvest, but I don't know much about what she stands for, what part she played, and so on.

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Demeter was the greek godess of agriculture,grain,bread,the harvest,fertility and the afterlife,she was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea

It was believed that Demeter made crops grow each year;thus the first loaf of bread made from the annual harvest was offered to her.To the Romans she was known as Ceres

Her sacrad animals are the serpent,swine and gecko.
Her sacrad plants are wheat,barley,poppy and mint

Demeter was also associated with the seasons.Her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades to be his wife in the underworld.In her anger at her at her daughter's loss,Demeter laid a curse on the world that caused plants to wither and die, and the land to become infertile.Zeus,alarmed for the barren Earth,sought for Persephone's return.However, because she had eaten while in the underworld,Hades had a claim on her. Therefore,it was decreed that Persephone would spend four months each year in the underworld.During these months Demeter would grieve for her daughter's absence, withdrawing her gifts from the world,creating winter. Her return brought the spring.

Her offspring are Persephone and Ploutos

Source: http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Demeter/demeter.html

Source: http://www.theoi.com/Pantheon.html

Wow, thank you. That's more than I knew.