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Demeter Facts & Worksheets

Demeter was the goddess of the harvest and governs over grains and the fertility of the Earth.

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Demeter was the goddess of the harvest and governs over grains and the fertility of the Earth.

See the fact file below for more information on the Demeter or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Demeter worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

INTRODUCTION

  • Demeter was known as the goddess of the harvest, but she was also known as the goddess of sacred law and of the cycle of life and death.
  • Demeter and her maiden daughter, Persephone, were known as the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which is a religious tradition that predated the Olympian pantheon.
  • Demeter was also often associated with the Anatolian goddess, Cybele, and with the Roman goddess, Ceres.
  • Demeter was the daughter of Cronos, the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea and also considered as the leader of the first generation of Titans.
  • Demeter’s mother, Rhea, was the Titan goddess of fertility, motherhood, comfort, and ease.
  • Demeter is the wife of Zeus, and the mother of their child, Persephone.
  • Demeter is often associated with images of the harvest, including flowers, fruits, and grain.
  • Demeter is also often pictured together with her daughter, Persephone.

DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE

  • Demeter’s relationship with her daughter, Persephone, is a well-known relationship.
  • Persephone was considered as the queen of the Underworld. However, before she came to the Underworld, she was living with her mother.
  • Hades took fascination of Persephone so he abducted her and brought her to the Underworld.
  • Hades’ abduction of Persephone made Demeter mad.
  • In turn, Demeter did everything so she could find her daughter, which brought her to Helios, the all-seeing sun god.
  • Helios then told Demeter that her daughter, Persephone, was abducted by Hades.
  • Demeter got furious and so she wanted revenge, because of that, Demeter decided to take a long and indefinite leave from her duties as the goddess of harvest.
  • Demeter leaving her duties as the goddess of harvest turned the Earth dry which resulted in failed harvests, unfruitfulness of plants, animals dying due to lack of food, and famine across the Earth.
  • Zeus, Demeter’s husband and Persephone’s father, and also the god of the sky, lightning, and the thunder, decided to make a move.
  • Zeus told Demeter that he would bring back Persephone on the condition that Persephone is willing to come back.
  • Hades had heard of this agreement and he thought of a way to trick Persephone. Hades made Persephone eat a few seeds of pomegranate. Pomegranate was considered to be the food of the Underworld and it was thought that eating it would make you want to stay in the Underworld.
  • In turn, when the meeting happened, Persephone chose to stay in Underworld.
  • Demeter got furious once again and she said that she would never make the Earth fertile again, and that everyone would die.
  • Zeus, who wanted to put an end to this issue, decided that Persephone would spend half of her months with Hades, and the other half with Demeter.

EXPLANATION

  • It is said that during the months that Persephone is with Hades in the Underworld, Demeter is sad and relinquishes her duties as the goddess of harvest and fertility. This is said to be the reason behind the months of autumn and winter, when the land is not fertile and there are no crops.
  • During the months that Persephone is with Demeter, Demeter would shine with happiness, and the land would be fertile and produce crops again. This is said to be the reason behind the months of spring and summer.
  • Thus, the story of Persephone and Demeter was created to explain the changes of the seasons and the eternal cycle of nature’s death and rebirth.

DEMETER AND POSEIDON

  • Aside from Zeus, there are also myths saying that Demeter got involved with Poseidon, the god of the sea.
  • According to some myths, when Demeter was mourning the loss of her daughter, Poseidon was the one who comforted her and in turn, pursued her.
  • According to some myths, Demeter took the form of a horse and hid amongst the herds of Arkadian Onkios.
  • While hiding, Poseidon is said to have found her.
  • With that, Demeter conceived their two children: (1) Areion and (2) Despoine.
  • Areion was a mythical creature that took the form of a giant swift horse.
  • Despoine was a fertility goddess of the Arcadian Mystery cult of Acacesium.

DEMETER AND HUMANS

  • Aside from Zeus and Poseidon, there were also some myths involving Demeter with male humans.
  • One of them is Iaison who is a prince of the island of Samothrake or Krete. According to the myths, Iaison and Demeter had twin sons: Ploutos and Philomelos.
  • Another male human that was involved with Demeter is Carmanor. Carmanor is a Lord of Tarrha on the island of Krete. It was said that Demeter and Carmanor had a son named Eubouleos and a daughter named Khrysothemis.
  • Lastly, another human that was involved with Demeter is Mecon. However, little is known about Mecon and only that he was metamorphosed into a poppy flower.

OFFSPRINGS

  • Below is the list of some offsprings of Demeter that were identified according to myths:
    • Persephone: The queen of the Underworld, and the daughter of Demeter with Zeus.
    • Areion or Arion: An immortal horse who was owned by Herakles and Adrastos, and the offspring of Demeter with Poseidon.
    • Despoine or Despoena: The goddess of certain Arcadian Mysteries, and the daughter of Demeter with Poseidon.
    • Eubouleus: The demigod of the ploughed Earth, and the son of Demeter with Carmanor.

Demeter Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Demeter across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Demeter worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Demeter who was the goddess of the harvest and governs over grains and the fertility of the Earth.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Demeter Facts
  • More & More
  • Who Am I?
  • Mother & Daughter
  • Let’s Hunt!
  • Creativity
  • Siblings
  • God of the Sea
  • If I…
  • Gotta Name Them All
  • My Own

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Link will appear as Demeter Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, February 2, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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