Editing Demeter (section)

===Abduction of Persephone===
{{Main|Rape of Persephone}}
[[File:Demeter in horse chariot w daughter kore 83d40m wikiC Tempio Y di Selinunte sec VIa.JPG|thumb|left|280px|Demeter drives her horse-drawn chariot containing her daughter [[Persephone|Persephone-Kore]] at [[Selinunte]], Sicily, 6th century BC.]]
Demeter searched for her missing daughter Persephone ceaselessly for nine days, preoccupied with her grief. [[Hecate]] then approached her and said that while she had not seen what happened to Persephone, she heard her screams. Together the two goddesses went to [[Helios]], the [[Solar deity|sun god]], who witnessed everything that happened on earth thanks to his lofty position. Helios then revealed to Demeter that her brother Hades, god of the Underworld, had snatched a screaming Persephone to make her his wife with the permission of Zeus, the girl's father. Demeter was then filled with anger, and so the seasons halted and all living things ceased their growth and began to die.<ref>Kerényi 1951, pp.&nbsp;232–241 and notes 784–798.</ref> Faced with the extinction of all life on earth, Zeus sent his messenger [[Hermes]] to the Underworld to bring Persephone back to her mother. Hades agreed to release her if [[Taboo#In religion and mythology|she had eaten nothing]] while in his realm, but Persephone had eaten a small number of [[pomegranate]] [[seed]]s. This bound her to Hades and the Underworld for certain months of every year, most likely the dry Mediterranean summer, when plant life is threatened by drought,<ref>As in Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' (Harvard, 1985) p. 160.</ref> despite the popular belief that it is autumn or winter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/gpr/ |title=Martin Nilsson, ''The Greek popular religion'', The religion of Eleusis, pp 51–54 |publisher=Sacred-texts.com}}</ref> There are several variations on the basic myth; the earliest account, the ''[[Homeric hymn|Homeric Hymn to Demeter]]'', relates that Persephone is secretly slipped a pomegranate seed by Hades<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uh.edu/~cldue/texts/demeter.html|title=HOMERIC HYMN TO DEMETER|website=www.uh.edu}}</ref> and in Ovid's version,<ref>Ovid, ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' ([https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph5.htm#479128843 ''Book V'', ln. 533–571])</ref> Persephone secretly eats the pomegranate seeds, thinking to deceive Hades, but she was discovered and made to stay. Contrary to popular perception, Persephone's time in the Underworld does not correspond with the unfruitful seasons of the ancient [[Greek calendar]], nor her return to the [[Upper World (Greek)|upper world]] with springtime.<ref>Graf, "Demeter" in ''Brill's New Pauly''</ref> Demeter's descent to retrieve Persephone from the Underworld is connected to the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/32/the-eleusinian-mysteries-the-rites-of-demeter/|title=The Eleusinian Mysteries: The Rites of Demeter|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=2019-04-27}}</ref>[[File:Demeter rejoiced, for her daughter was by her side.jpg|thumb|''Demeter rejoiced, for her beloved daughter was by her side''.]]

The myth of the capture of Persephone seems to be pre-Greek. In the Greek version, Ploutos (πλούτος, wealth) represents the wealth of the corn that was stored in underground silos or ceramic jars (''pithoi''). Similar subterranean ''pithoi'' were used in ancient times for funerary practices. At the beginning of the autumn, when the corn of the old crop is laid on the fields, she ascends and is reunited with her mother, Demeter, for at this time, the old crop and the new meet each other.<ref>[https://sacred-texts.com/cla/gpr/gpr07.htm#page_48 Martin Nilsson, ''Greek Popular Religion''.] pp 48–50</ref>

[[File:Terracotta Baubo figurine.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Greek terracotta figurines|Greek terracotta figurine]] of Baubo, of the face-in-torso type]]
In the [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic tradition]], while she was searching for her daughter, a mortal woman named [[Baubo]] received Demeter as her guest and offered her a meal and wine. Demeter declined them both because she mourned the loss of [[Persephone]]. Baubo then, thinking she had displeased the goddess, lifted her skirt and showed her genitalia to the goddess, simultaneously revealing [[Iacchus]], Demeter's son. Demeter was most pleased with the sight and delighted she accepted the food and wine.<ref>[[Clement of Alexandria]], ''[[Protrepticus (Clement)|Exhortation to the Greeks]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/215#2.11 2.11]; Grimal, s.v. Baubo.</ref><ref>Graves, p. 92.</ref> This tale survives in the account of [[Clement of Alexandria]], an early [[Christian]] writer who wrote about pagan practices and mythology. Several [[Baubo#Baubo figurines|Baubo figurines]] (figurines of women revealing their [[vulva]]s) have been discovered, supporting the story.