100 euro - The Olympian Gods – Demeter
Series: Greece - Gold euro coins
Demeter, sister of Zeus, Poseidon and Pluto, was the goddess of agriculture, vegetation and
fertility. By Zeus she had a daughter, Persephone, whom Pluto, the god of the underworld,
fell in love with and abducted. The distraught Demeter’s wanderings in search of her
daughter brought her to Eleusis. Outraged, she suspended the powers of fertility, causing
drought and famine. In order to stave off the threat to mankind, Zeus decided to intervene:
Pluto consented to Persephone’s spending six months a year with her mother on earth, in
exchange for spending the remaining six with him in the underworld. Demeter taught the
art of agriculture to Triptolemos, son of the king of Eleusis, who later imparted it to the
rest of mankind. The Eleusinian Mysteries, the holiest in antiquity, were held in honour of
Demeter and Persephone, as were the Thesmophoria, a religious festival for women only.
On account of the importance of agriculture, the cult of Demeter was widespread, while
the entire island of Sicily, site of Persephone’s abduction, was sacred to the two goddesses.