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THE DEITIES OF EARTH. Supreme Deities Demeter Dionysus. DEMETER (CERES). Goddess of the Corn and Grains The earth goddess who taught mankind the art of sowing seeds and ploughing When her child Persephone was abducted she wandered the earth, during which time the earth gave no grains
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THE DEITIES OF EARTH • Supreme Deities • Demeter • Dionysus
DEMETER (CERES) • Goddess of the Corn and Grains • The earth goddess who taught mankind the art of sowing seeds and ploughing • When her child Persephone was abducted she wandered the earth, during which time the earth gave no grains • Only in summer Persephone would be with her (1/3 of the year) so she would let things grow
DIONYSUS (BACCHUS) • God of Wine, Agriculture • Patron of Drama • Son of Zeus & Semele • Born from Zeus’s thigh • Name meaning twice-born • Wine: Cheer & Sadness • Comedy & Tragedy
THE DEITIES OF EARTH • Lesser Deities • Pan The Centaurs • Leda The Gorgons • The Satyrs The Graiae • Aeolus The Sirens
PAN • God of Shepherds and Flocks • Son of Hermes • A fertility god representing male sexuality • Always pursued the nymphs but was rejected; hairy body, goat’s horns, goat’s hoof • Player of the reed pipe • The noises he made in the forest at night put travellers in “panic”
LEDA • Wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta • Mother of mortal Castor and Clytemnestra (Agamemnon’s wife), and immortal (from Zeus) Pollux and Helen of Troy • Zeus visited Leda in the form of a swan
THE SATYRS • Deities of the woods and mountains • Goat-men, upper part human, lower part goat • They accompany Dionysus • Dance, music, drinking and chasing the nymphs
AEOLUS • King of the Winds • Four chief winds • BOREAS North Wind • ZEPHYR West Wind • NOTUS South Wind • EURUS East Wind • Viceroy of the Gods • Son of Hellen, the father of Greek nations • Greece = Hellas
THE CENTAURS • Half human, half horse creatures • Followers of Dionysus • Mostly savage creatures • Notorious for drunkenness and abducting helpless young maidens • Only good centaur was the kind and wise Chiron, the teacher of Achilles
THE GORGONS • Dragon-like female creatures with wings, hair of living snakes, hands made of brass • Three gorgons, Medusa is the only mortal one • Their look turned men into stone (petrification) • They lived in the ultimate west and guarded the entrance to the underworld
THE GRAIAE • Three old women with gray hair • Sisters of the Gorgons • Three of them share one eye and one tooth • Lived on the farther bank of the Ocean
THE SIRENS • Creatures with the head of a female and the body of a bird • They lived on an island • With their enchanting song they lured sailors to death • Their charm of their song was irresistible • Odysseus listened to their song