Deities God #s 8 and 9 Demeter (Ceres) and Persephone (Prosepina). Demeter, the goddess of harvest wealth, had an only daughter, Persephone, the maiden of the spring. She lost her when Hades took Persephone as his wife. In terrible grief, Demeter withheld her gifts from the Earth, which turned into a frozen desert. In her sorrow, Demeter left Olympus and dwelt on Earth. Since then, nothing grew, no seed sprang up. It seemed like the human race would die of famine. Zeus sent each god to Demeter, but she listened to none of them. Never would she let the Earth bear fruit until she had seen her daughter. With the Titan Rhea's bidding, she gave in, as Hermes bid the Lord of the Dead to let his bride go back to Demeter. A compromise was reached, for every four months, Persephone must go back to the Underworld to be with Hades. The Good Goddess, as men called her, Demeter made the earth once again abundant with fruit and flowers. In the story of both Goddesses, Demeter and Persephone, the idea of sorrow was foremost. Demeter, was still more the divine sorrowing mother who saw her daughter die each year. In man's grief and hour of death, they turn to compassion to the goddess who sorrowed and the goddess who died. ----- CREDITS Thalia hair from Poser World Earrings from rDNA Samantha by Magnet