Editing Persephone (section)

== Worship ==
[[File:Hades and Persephone, Vergina.jpg|thumb|300px|A fresco showing Hades and Persephone riding in a [[chariot]], from the tomb of Queen [[Eurydice I of Macedon]] at [[Vergina]], Greece, 4th century BC]]
Persephone was worshipped along with her mother Demeter and in the same mysteries. Her cults included agrarian magic, dancing, and rituals. The priests used special vessels and holy symbols, and the people participated with rhymes. In Eleusis there is evidence of sacred laws and other inscriptions.<ref>{{harvnb|Burkert|1985|pp=285–289}}</ref>

The Cult of Demeter and the Maiden is found at Attica, in the main festivals Thesmophoria and [[Eleusinian mysteries]] and in a number of local cults. These festivals were almost always celebrated at the autumn sowing, and at full-moon according to the Greek tradition. In some local cults the feasts were dedicated to Demeter.

===Origins===
[[File:P1010629 crop.png|thumb|left|Gold ring from Isopata tomb, near [[Knossos]], [[Crete]], 1400–1500 BC. Depicted are female figures dancing among blossoming vegetation; [[Heraklion Archaeological Museum]]]]

The myth of [[Rape of Persephone|a goddess being abducted and taken to the underworld]] is probably Pre-Greek in origin. [[Samuel Noah Kramer]], the renowned scholar of ancient [[Sumer]], has posited that the Greek story of the abduction of Persephone may be derived from an ancient Sumerian story in which [[Ereshkigal]], the ancient Sumerian goddess of the underworld, is abducted by [[Kur]], the primeval [[dragon]] of [[Sumerian religion|Sumerian mythology]], and forced to become ruler of the underworld against her own will.<ref>{{harvnb|Kramer| 1961|p=76–79}}: "Moreover, the crime involved is probably that of abducting a goddess; it therefore brings to mind the Greek story of the abduction of Persephone."</ref>

The location of Persephone's abduction is different in each local cult. The ''Homeric Hymn to Demeter'' mentions the "plain of Nysa".<ref>{{harvnb|Evelyn-White|1914|p=17}}</ref> The locations of this probably mythical place may simply be conventions to show that a magically distant chthonic land of myth was intended in the remote past.<ref name="Nilsson 1967 463">{{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|p= 463}}</ref>{{efn|name=Sherwood217|"In Greek mythology [[Nysa (mythology)|Nysa]] is a mythical mountain with unknown location, the birthplace of the god [[Dionysos]]."<ref>Fox, William Sherwood (1916), ''[[The Mythology of All Races]]'', v.1, ''Greek and Roman'', General editor, Louis Herbert Gray, p.217</ref>}} Demeter found and met her daughter in Eleusis, and this is the mythical disguise of what happened in the mysteries.<ref name="Burkert285">{{harvnb|Burkert|1985|pp=285–290}}</ref>

[[File:Persephone krater Antikensammlung Berlin 1984.40.jpg|thumb|[[Rape of Persephone]]. [[Hades]] with his horses and Persephone (down). An Apulian red-figure volute krater, {{circa|340 BC}}. [[Antikensammlung Berlin]]]]

In his 1985 book on Greek Religion, Walter Burkert claimed that Persephone is an old chthonic deity of the agricultural communities, who received the souls of the dead into the earth, and acquired powers over the fertility of the soil, over which she reigned. The earliest depiction of a goddess Burkert claims may be identified with Persephone growing out of the ground, is on a plate from the Old-Palace period in [[Phaistos]]. According to Burkert, the figure looks like a vegetable because she has snake lines on other side of her. On either side of the vegetable person there is a dancing girl.<ref name="Burkert42">{{harvnb|Burkert|1985|p=42}}</ref> A similar representation, where the goddess appears to come down from the sky, is depicted on the Minoan ring of Isopata.

The cults of Persephone and Demeter in the Eleusinian mysteries and in the Thesmophoria were based on old agrarian cults.<ref>{{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|p= 470}}</ref> The beliefs of these cults were closely-guarded secrets, kept hidden because they were believed to offer believers a better place in the afterlife than in miserable Hades. There is evidence that some practices were derived from the religious practices of the [[Mycenean Greece|Mycenaean age]].<ref name="Dietrich-origins-220">Dietrich (n/d?) ''The origins of the Greek Religion'', pp 220, 221</ref><ref name="Burkert42" /> [[Karl Kerenyi|Kerenyi]] asserts that these religious practices were introduced from Minoan Crete.<ref name="Kerenyi24">{{harvnb|Kerenyi|1976|p=24}}</ref><ref name="Kerenyi31">{{harvnb|Kerenyi|1967|p=31f}}</ref> The idea of immortality which appears in the syncretistic religions of the [[Near East]] did not exist in the Eleusinian mysteries at the very beginning.<ref>{{harvnb|Burkert|1985|p=289}}</ref>{{efn|"According to the Greek popular belief, {{math|{{lang|grc|ἕν ἀνδρῶν, ἕν θεῶν γένος}}}}".(One is the nature of men, another one the nature of gods)<ref>{{harvnb|Rohde|1961|loc=Psyche v. I, p. 293}}</ref>}}[[File:Relief_depicting_Persephone_as_an_Hydranos.jpg|thumb|right|Votive relief of Persephone as a hydranos, 5th century BC [[Eleusis]], [[Archaeological Museum of Eleusis]].]]

===In the Near East and Minoan Crete===
[[Walter Burkert]] believed that elements of the Persephone myth had origins in the Minoan religion. This belief system had unique characteristics, particularly the appearance of the goddess from above in the dance. Dance floors have been discovered in addition to "vaulted tombs", and it seems that the dance was ecstatic. Homer memorializes the dance floor which [[Daedalus]] built for [[Ariadne]] in the remote past.<ref name="Burkert34">{{harvnb|Burkert|1985|pp=34–40}}</ref> A gold ring from a tomb in Isopata depicts four women dancing among flowers, the goddess floating above them.<ref name="Burkert40">{{harvnb|Burkert|1985|p=40}}</ref> An image plate from the first palace of Phaistos seems to depict the ascent of Persephone: a figure grows from the ground, with a dancing girl on each side and stylized flowers all around.<ref name="Burkert42" /> The depiction of the goddess is similar to later images of "Anodos of Pherephata". On the Dresden vase, Persephone is growing out of the ground, and she is surrounded by the animal-tailed agricultural gods [[Seilenos|Silenoi]].<ref name="Hermesthe">"Hermes and the Anodos of Pherephata": {{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|loc= p. 509 taf. 39,1}}</ref>

Despoina and "Hagne" were probably euphemistic surnames of Persephone, therefore Karl Kerenyi theorizes that the cult of Persephone was the continuation of the worship of a Minoan Great goddess.<ref>{{harvnb|Kerenyi|1976|pp= 89, 90}}</ref><ref>[[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]], listing of {{lang|grc|ἀδνόν}}, a Cretan-Greek form for {{lang|grc|ἁγνόν}}, "pure"</ref> It is possible that some religious practices, especially the [[Mystery religions|mysteries]], were transferred from a Cretan priesthood to Eleusis, where Demeter brought the [[poppy]] from Crete.<ref name="Kerenyi24"/> Besides these similarities, Burkert explains that up to now it is not known to what extent one can and must differentiate between Minoan and [[Mycenea]]n religion.{{efn|"To what extent one can and must differentiate between Minoan and Mycenaean religion is a question which has not yet found a conclusive answer" .<ref>{{harvnb|Burkert|1985|p=21}}</ref>}} In the [[Anthesteria]] Dionysos is the "divine child".

===In Mycenaean Greece===
[[File:Triptolemos Kore Louvre G452 full.jpg|240px|thumb|[[Triptolemus]] and Kore, [[tondo (art)|tondo]] of an Attic red-figure bowl by the Aberdeen Painter, c.470~460 BCE. ([[Louvre]], [[Paris]])]]

There is evidence of a cult in Eleusis from the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenean period]];<ref>{{harvnb|Kourouniōtēs|Mylonas|1932|loc=I,1 ff}}</ref> however, there are not sacral finds from this period. The cult was private and there is no information about it. As well as the names of some Greek gods in the Mycenean Greek inscriptions, names of goddesses who do not have Mycenean origin appear, such as "the divine Mother" (the mother of the gods) or "the Goddess (or priestess) of the winds".<ref name=Burkert285/> In historical times, Demeter and Kore were usually referred to as "the goddesses" or "the mistresses" (Arcadia) in the mysteries .<ref>{{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|pp=  463–465}}</ref> In the Mycenean Greek tablets dated 1400–1200 BC, the "two queens and the king" are mentioned. John Chadwick believes that these were the precursor divinities of Demeter, Persephone and Poseidon.<ref>{{harvnb|Chadwick|1976}} {{pages needed |date=December 2024}}</ref>{{efn|"Wa-na-ssoi, wa-na-ka-te, (to the two queens and the king). Wanax is best suited to Poseidon, the special divinity of Pylos. The identity of the two divinities addressed as wanassoi, is uncertain".<ref>{{harvnb|Mylonas|1966|p= 159}}</ref>}}

Some information can be obtained from the study of the cult of [[Eileithyia]] at Crete, and the cult of [[Despoina]]. In the cave of Amnisos at Crete, Eileithyia is related with the annual birth of the divine child and she is connected with ''Enesidaon'' (The earth shaker), who is the chthonic aspect of the god Poseidon.<ref name=Dietrich-origins-220/> Persephone was conflated with Despoina, "the mistress", a chthonic divinity in West-Arcadia.<ref name="Kerenyi31"/> The [[megaron]] of Eleusis is quite similar to the "megaron" of Despoina at Lycosura.<ref name=Burkert285/> Demeter is united with her, the god [[Poseidon]], and she bears him a daughter, the unnameable Despoina.<ref name="Pausanias 8.37.9">{{harvnb|Pausanias|loc=8.37.9}}</ref> Poseidon appears as a horse, as usually happens in Northern European folklore. The goddess of nature and her companion survived in the Eleusinian cult, where the words "Mighty Potnia bore a great sun" were uttered.<ref name=Dietrich-origins-220/> In Eleusis, in a ritual, one child ("pais") was initiated from the hearth. The name ''pais'' (the divine child) appears in the Mycenean inscriptions.<ref name=Burkert285/>

In Greek mythology Nysa is a mythical mountain with an unknown location.{{efn|name=Sherwood217}} ''Nysion'' (or Mysion), the place of the abduction of Persephone was also probably a mythical place which did not exist on the map, a magically distant chthonic land of myth which was intended in the remote past.<ref name="Nilsson 1967 463"/>

===Secret rituals and festivals===
[[File:Roman copy of the Great Eleusinian relief hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Eleusinian mysteries|Eleusinian trio]]: Persephone, [[Triptolemus]] and [[Demeter]] (Roman copy of the [[Great Eleusinian Relief]] hosted by the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]])]] 
{{Main|Thesmophoria|Eleusinian mysteries}}
[[File:Kore55.jpg|thumb|left|Kore, daughter of Demeter, celebrated with her mother by the [[Thesmophoriazusae]] (women of the festival). [[Acropolis Museum]], Athens]]
Persephone and Demeter were intimately connected with the Thesmophoria, a widely-spread Greek festival of secret women-only rituals. These rituals, which were held in the month [[Attic calendar|Pyanepsion]], commemorated marriage and fertility, as well as the abduction and return of Persephone.

They were also involved in the Eleusinian mysteries, a festival celebrated at the autumn sowing in the city of Eleusis. Inscriptions refer to "the Goddesses" accompanied by the agricultural god [[Triptolemos]] (probably son of Gaia and Oceanus),<ref>{{harvnb|Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca''|loc=IV.2}}</ref> and "the God and the Goddess" (Persephone and Plouton) accompanied by Eubuleus who probably led the way back from the underworld.<ref>Kevin Klinton (1993), ''Greek Sanctuaries: New Approaches'', Routledge, p. 11</ref>

===In Rome===
{{main|Proserpina}}

The [[ancient Rome|Romans]] first heard of her from the [[Aeolians|Aeolian]] and [[Dorians|Dorian]] cities of [[Magna Graecia]], who used the dialectal variant ''Proserpinē'' ({{math|{{lang|grc|Προσερπίνη}}}}). Hence, in [[Roman mythology]] she was called [[Proserpina]], a name erroneously derived by the Romans from ''proserpere'', "to shoot forth"<ref>[[Cicero]]. ''[[De Natura Deorum]]'' 2.26</ref> and as such became an emblematic figure of the [[Renaissance]].<ref>{{harvnb|Welch|2013| p= 164}}</ref> In 205&nbsp;BC, Rome officially identified Proserpina with the local Italic goddess [[Libera (mythology)|Libera]], who, along with [[Liber]], were closely associated with the Roman grain goddess [[Ceres (mythology)|Ceres]] (considered equivalent to the Greek Demeter). The Roman author [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]] also considered Proserpina equivalent to the Cretan goddess Ariadne, who was the bride of Liber's Greek equivalent, Dionysus.<ref>{{harvnb|Wiseman|1988|loc=p. 7, note 52}}; {{harvnb|Spaeth |1996}}{{pages needed |date= January 2025}}</ref>

===In Magna Graecia===
[[File:Locri Pinax Of Persephone And Hades.jpg|thumb|left|Pinax of Persephone and Hades from Epizephyrian Locris. [[Reggio Calabria]], National Museum of Magna Graecia. ]]

At [[Epizephyrian Locris]], a city of [[Magna Graecia]] situated on the coast of the [[Ionian Sea]] in [[Calabria]] (a region of southern Italy), perhaps uniquely, Persephone was worshiped as protector of marriage and childbirth, a role usually assumed by [[Hera]] (in fact, Hera seems to have played no role in the public worship of the city{{sfn|Parker|2011|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=e_ytDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA231 231]}}); in the iconography of [[Pinax|votive plaques]] at Epizephyrian Locris, her abduction and marriage to Hades served as an emblem of the marital state, children of the town were dedicated to Proserpina, and maidens about to be wed brought their ''[[peplos]]'' to be blessed.<ref>Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, "Persephone" ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' '''98''' (1978:101–121).</ref> [[Diodorus Siculus]] knew the temple there as the most illustrious in Italy.<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal |title=Life, Death, and a Lokrian Goddess. Revisiting the Nature of Persephone in the Gold Leaves of Magna Graecia |first=Hanne |last=Eisenfel d |date=1 October 2016 |journal=Kernos. Revue internationale et pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique |issue=29 |pages=41–72 |url=http://journals.openedition.org/kernos/2388 |via=journals.openedition.org |doi=10.4000/kernos.2388 |doi-access=free |access-date=14 May 2019 |archive-date=18 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418084740/https://journals.openedition.org/kernos/2388 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 5th century&nbsp;BC, votive pinakes in [[terracotta]] were often dedicated as offerings to the goddess, made in series and painted with bright colors, animated by scenes connected to the myth of Persephone. Many of these pinakes are now on display in the [[Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia|National Museum of Magna Græcia]] in [[Reggio Calabria]]. Locrian pinakes represent one of the most significant categories of objects from Magna Graecia, both as documents of religious practice and as works of art.<ref name="auto2">{{harvnb|Bennett |Paul |Iozzo |White|2002 |p=201 }}</ref>

[[File:Proserpina kidnapped Kircheriano Terme.jpg|thumb|right|Cinerary altar with tabula representing the abduction of [[Proserpina]]. White marble, Antonine Era, 2nd century [[Rome]], Baths of Diocletian ]]

For most Greeks, the marriage of Persephone was a marriage with death, and could not serve as a role for human marriage; the Locrians, not fearing death, painted her destiny in a uniquely positive light.{{sfn|Parker|2011|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=e_ytDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA232 232]}} While the return of Persephone to the world above was crucial in Panhellenic tradition, in southern Italy Persephone apparently accepted her new role as queen of the underworld, of which she held extreme power, and perhaps did not return above;{{sfn|Edmonds|2004|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=I_YkMvUVoyYC&pg=PA58 58]}} [[Virgil]] for example in ''[[Georgics]]'' writes that "Proserpina cares not to follow her mother",<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Georgics]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0058%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 1.38] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616050920/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0058%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 |date=16 June 2022 }}</ref> – though note that references to Proserpina serve as a warning, since the soil is only fertile when she is above it.<ref>{{harvnb|Miles|1980|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=BG3tDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 68]}}</ref> Although her importance stems from her marriage to Hades, in Epizephyrian Locris she seems to have the supreme power over the land of the dead, and Hades is not mentioned in the [[Pelinna]] tablets found in the area.{{sfn|Edmonds|2004|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=I_YkMvUVoyYC&pg=PA59 59]}} Many ''pinakes'' found in the cult near Epizephyrian Locris depict the abduction of Persephone by Hades, and others show her enthroned next to her beardless, youthful husband, indicating that in there Persephone's abduction was taken as a model of transition from girlhood to marriage for young women; a terrifying change, but one nonetheless that provides the bride with status and position in society. Those representations thus show both the terror of marriage and the triumph of the girl who transitions from bride to matron.{{sfn|Edmonds III|2013|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CR9aAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA311 311]}}

It had been suggested that Persephone's cult at Epizephyrian Locris was entirely independent from that of Demeter, who supposedly was not venerated there,{{sfn|Bennett|Paul|Iozzo|White|2002|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=R7PP3wNr4zMC&pg=PA83 83]}} but a sanctuary of Demeter Thesmophoros has been found in a different region of the colony, ruling against the notion that she was completely excluded from the Locrian pantheon.{{sfn|Parker|2011|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=e_ytDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA231 231]}}

The temple at Epizephyrian Locris was looted by [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]].<ref>Livy: 29.8, 29.18</ref> The importance of the regionally powerful Epizephyrian Locrian Persephone influenced the representation of the goddess in Magna Graecia. Pinakes, terracotta tablets with brightly painted sculptural scenes in relief were founded in Locri. The scenes are related to the myth and cult of Persephone and other deities. They were produced in Locri during the first half of the 5th century BC and offered as votive dedications at the Locrian sanctuary of Persephone. More than 5,000, mostly fragmentary, pinakes are stored in the National Museum of Magna Græcia in Reggio Calabria and in the museum of Locri.<ref name=auto2/> Representations of myth and cult on the clay tablets (pinakes) dedicated to this goddess reveal not only a 'Chthonian Queen,' but also a deity concerned with the spheres of marriage and childbirth.<ref name=auto1/>

The Italian archaeologist [[Paolo Orsi]], between 1908 and 1911, carried out a meticulous series of excavations and explorations in the area which allowed him to identify the site of the renowned Persephoneion, an ancient temple dedicated to Persephone in Calabria which Diodorus in his own time knew as the most illustrious in Italy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.locriantica.it/english/site/persephoneion_eng.htm |title=Locri Epizephyrii, The Archaeological Site – Persephoneion, the Sanctuary of Persephone |website=www.locriantica.it |access-date=18 April 2019 |archive-date=18 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418160206/https://www.locriantica.it/english/site/persephoneion_eng.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The place where the ruins of the Sanctuary of Persephone were brought to light is located at the foot of the Mannella hill, near the walls (upstream side) of the [[polis]] of Epizephyrian Locris. Thanks to the finds that have been retrieved and to the studies carried on, it has been possible to date its use to a period between the 7th century&nbsp;BC and the 3rd century&nbsp;BC.

Archaeological finds suggest that worship of Demeter and Persephone was widespread in Sicily and Greek Italy.

===In Orphism===
[[File:Hades abducting Persephone.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Hades]] abducting Persephone, wall painting in the small royal tomb at [[Vergina]]. [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]], Greece]]

Evidence from both the ''[[Orphic Hymns]]'' and the [[Totenpass|Orphic Gold Leaves]] demonstrate that Persephone was one of the most important deities worshiped in [[Orphism (religion)|Orphism]].<ref name=bremmer>{{harvnb|Bremmer|2013}} {{pages needed |date=December 2024}}</ref> In the Orphic religion, gold leaves with verses intended to help the deceased enter into an optimal afterlife were often buried with the dead. Persephone is mentioned frequently in these tablets, along with Demeter and Euklês, which may be another name for [[Plouton]].<ref name=bremmer/> The ideal afterlife destination believers strive for is described on some leaves as the "sacred meadows and groves of Persephone". Other gold leaves describe Persephone's role in receiving and sheltering the dead, in such lines as "I dived under the ''kolpos'' [portion of a Peplos folded over the belt] of the Lady, the Chthonian Queen", an image evocative of a child hiding under its mother's apron.<ref name=bremmer/>

In Orphism, Persephone is believed to be the mother of the first Dionysus. In Orphic myth, Zeus came to Persephone in her bedchamber in the underworld and impregnated her with the child who would become his successor. The infant Dionysus was later dismembered by the [[Titan (mythology)|Titans]], before being reborn as the second Dionysus, who wandered the earth spreading his mystery cult before ascending to the heavens with his second mother, [[Semele]].<ref name=Edmonds-2011/> The first, "Orphic" Dionysus is sometimes referred to with the alternate name Zagreus ({{langx|grc|Ζαγρεύς}}). The earliest mentions of this name in literature describe him as a partner of Gaia and call him the highest god. The Greek poet [[Aeschylus]] considered Zagreus either an alternate name for Hades, or his son (presumably born to Persephone).<ref>{{harvnb|Aeschylus|loc= [https://archive.org/details/aeschyluswitheng02aescuoft/page/458/mode/2up?q=228 fragment 228]}}; {{harvnb|Gantz|1996|p= 118}}.</ref> Scholar [[Timothy Gantz]] noted that Hades was often considered an alternate, cthonic form of Zeus, and suggested that it is likely Zagreus was originally the son of Hades and Persephone, who was later merged with the Orphic Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Persephone, owing to the identification of the two fathers as the same being.<ref>{{harvnb|Gantz|1996|p= 118}}</ref> However, no known Orphic sources use the name "Zagreus" to refer to Dionysus. It is possible that the association between the two was known by the 3rd century&nbsp;BC, when the poet [[Callimachus]] may have written about it in a now-lost source.<ref>{{harvnb|Gantz|1996|pp=118–119}}; {{harvnb|West|1983|pp=152–154}}; {{harvnb|Linforth|1941|loc=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=335 pp. 309–311]}}.</ref> In Orphic myth, the Eumenides are attributed as daughters of Persephone and Zeus.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mastros |first=Sara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |title=Orphic Hymns Grimoire |date=2019 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-7330961-7-1 |language=en |access-date=9 December 2022 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100756/https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |url-status=live }}</ref> Whereas Melinoë was conceived as the result of rape when Zeus disguised himself as Hades in order to mate with Persephone, the Eumenides' origin is unclear.<ref>{{harvnb|Edmonds III|2013|p=178 }}</ref>

===Other local cults===
[[File:S03 06 01 020 image 2524.jpg|thumb|Italy. Renaissance relief, ''Rape of Persephone''. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection]]

There were local cults of Demeter and Kore in Greece, [[Asia Minor]], Sicily, Magna Graecia, and Libya.
; Attica<ref>{{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|pp= 463–465}}</ref>
* [[Athens]], in the mysteries of Agrae. This was a local cult near the river [[Ilissos]]. They were celebrated during spring in the month [[Attic calendar|Anthesterion]]. Later they became an obligation for the participants of the "greater" [[Eleusinian mysteries]]. There was a temple of Demeter and Kore and an image of [[Triptolemos]].<ref>{{harvnb|Pausanias |loc=1.14,1}}: {{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|pp=  668–670}}</ref>[[File:Demeter in horse chariot w daughter kore 83d40m wikiC Tempio Y di Selinunte sec VIa.JPG|thumb|Demeter drives her horse-drawn chariot containing her daughter Persephone at [[Selinunte]], Sicily 6th century&nbsp;BC]]
* [[Piraeus]]: The ''Skirophoria'', a festival related to the [[Thesmophoria]].
* [[Megara]]: Cult of Demeter ''thesmophoros'' and Kore. The city was named after its ''megara'' .<ref>{{harvnb|Pausanias|loc=I 42,6}}; {{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|p=  463}}</ref>
* [[Aegina]]: Cult of Demeter ''thesmophoros'' and Kore.
* [[Phlya]]: near Koropi. The local mystery religion may have been originally dedicated to Demeter, Kore, and Zeus Ktesios; Pausanias mentions a temple to all three there. It seems that the mysteries were related to the mysteries of [[Andania]] in [[Messene]].<ref name=Nilsson668>{{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|pp=  668–670}}</ref>
; Boeotia
* [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]]: purportedly granted to her by Zeus in return for a favor.<ref>Scholia ad. Euripides Phoen. 487</ref> As well, the cults of Demeter and Kore in a feast named [[Thesmophoria]] but probably different. It was celebrated in the summer month ''Bukatios''.<ref name="Nilsson463" /><ref name="Diodor">{{harvnb|Diodorus Siculus|loc=v.4.7}}: "At [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]] or [[Delos]] the festival occurred two months earlier, so any seed-sowing connection was not intrinsic."</ref>
* A feast in Boeotia, in the month ''Demetrios'' ([[Attic calendar|Pyanepsion]]), probably similar with the [[Thesmophoria]].
; Peloponnese (except Arcadia)<ref name=Nilsson463/>
* [[Hermione (Argolis)|Hermione]]: An old cult of Demeter [[chthonic|Chthonia]], Kore, and ''Klymenos'' ([[Hades]]). Cows were pushed into the temple, and then they were killed by four women. It is possible that Hermione was a mythical name, the place of the souls.<ref name=Rhode206/>
* [[Asine]]: Cult of Demeter Chthonia. The cult seems to be related to the original cult of Demeter in Hermione.<ref name=Rhode206/>
* [[Lakonia]]: Temple of Demeter ''Eleusinia'' near [[Taygetos]]. The feast was named ''Eleuhinia'', and the name was given before the relation of Demeter with the cult of [[Eleusis]].
* [[Lakonia]] at Aigila: Dedicated to Demeter. Men were excluded.
* near [[Sparta]]: Cult of Demeter and Kore, the Demeters ({{lang|grc|Δαμάτερες}}, "Damaters"). According to Hesychius, the feast lasted three days (Thesmophoria).
* [[Corinth]]: Cult of Demeter, Kore, and Pluton.<ref name=Rhode206/>
* [[Triphylia]] in [[Ancient Elis|Elis]]: Cult of Demeter, Kore, and Hades.<ref name=Rhode206/>
; Arcadia<ref name=Nilsson478>{{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|pp=  477–480}}: "The Arcadian Great goddesses"</ref>
* [[Pheneos]]: Mysteries of Demeter ''Thesmia'' and Demeter ''Eleusinia''. The Eleusinian cult was introduced later.
* Pallantion near [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripoli]]: Cult of Demeter and Kore.
* [[Karyai (ancient city)|Karyai]]: Cult of Kore and Pluton.<ref name=Rhode206/>
* [[Tegea]]: Cult of Demeter and Kore, the ''Karpophoroi'', "Fruit givers".
* [[Megalopolis, Greece|Megalopolis]]: Cult of the Great goddesses, Demeter and ''Kore Sotira'', "the savior".
* [[Mantineia]]: Cult of Demeter and Kore in the fest ''Koragia''.<ref>For Mantinea, see ''Brill's New Pauly'' "Persephone", II D.</ref>
* [[Trapezus, Arcadia|Trapezus]]: Mysteries of the Great goddesses, Demeter and Kore. The temple was built near a spring, and a fire was burning out of the earth.
; Islands
* [[Paros]]: Cult of Demeter, Kore, and Zeus-Eubuleus.<ref name=Rhode206/>
* [[Amorgos]]: Cult of Demeter, Kore, and Zeus-Eubuleus.<ref name=Rhode206/>
* [[Delos]]: Cult of Demeter, Kore, and Zeus-Eubuleus. Probably a different feast with the name [[Thesmophoria]], celebrated in a summer month (the same month in Thebes). Two big loaves of bread were offered to the two goddesses. Another feast was named ''Megalartia''.<ref name=Nilsson463/><ref name=Diodor/>
* [[Mykonos]]: Cult of Demeter, Kore, and [[Zeus]]-Buleus.
* [[Crete]] : Cult of Demeter and Kore, in the month Thesmophorios.
* [[Rhodes]]: Cult of Demeter and Kore, in the month Thesmophorios. The two goddesses are the Damaters in an inscription from [[Lindos]]
; Egypt
* [[Alexandria]]: According to [[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]], a temple of Kore existed in Alexandria. He describes a celebration of the birth of [[Aion (deity)|Aion]] from Kore the Virgin which took place there on [[6 January#Holidays and observances|6 January]].<ref>
{{harvnb|Fossum |1999|pp= 306–307}}</ref> Aion may be a form of Dionysus, reborn annually;<ref>{{harvnb|Fossum |1999|p=  309}}</ref> an inscription from Eleusis also identifies Aion as a son of Kore.<ref>Dittenberger: ''Sylloge Inscriptionum'', 3rd ed., 1125</ref>
; [[Asia Minor]]
* [[Knidos]]: Cult of Demeter, Kore, and Pluton.<ref name=Rhode206/> Agrarian magic similar to the one used in [[Thesmophoria]] and in the cult of the [[potnia]]i ([[Cabeiri]]an).<ref name=Nilsson463/>
* [[Ephesos]]: Cult of Demeter and Kore, celebrated at night-time.<ref>Herodotus VI, 16: {{harvnb|Nilsson |1967|p= 464}}</ref>
* [[Priene]]: Cult of Demeter and Kore, similar to the Thesmophoria.<ref name=Nilsson463/>
; [[Sicily]]
* [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]]: There was a harvest festival of Demeter and Persephone at Syracuse when the grain was ripe (about May).<ref>Brill's New Pauly, "Persephone", citing [[Diodorus]] 5.4</ref>
* A fest ''Koris katagogi'', the descent of Persephone into the underworld.<ref name=Nilsson463/>
; Libya
* [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]]: Temple of Demeter and Kore<ref name=Nilsson463/>