Editing Demeter (section)

===Demeter and Iasion===
Homer's ''[[Odyssey]]'' (c. late 8th century BC) contains perhaps the earliest direct references to the myth of Demeter and her consort [[Iasion]], a Samothracian hero whose name may refer to [[bindweed]], a small white flower that frequently grows in wheat fields. In the ''Odyssey'', [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]] describes how Demeter, "without disguise", made love to Iasion. "So it was when Demeter of the braided tresses followed her heart and lay in love with Iasion in the triple-furrowed field; Zeus was aware of it soon enough and hurled the bright thunderbolt and killed him."<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' 5.125 ff (trans. Shewring)</ref> However, [[Ovid]] states that Iasion lived up to old age as the husband of Demeter.<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DI%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3Diasion-bio-1 s.v. Iasion]; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/141#9.418 9.421]</ref> In ancient Greek culture, part of the opening of each agricultural year involved the cutting of three furrows in the field to ensure its fertility.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Iasion.html|title=IASION - Greek Demi-God of the Samothracian Mysteries|website=www.theoi.com}}</ref>

Hesiod expanded on the basics of this myth. According to him, the liaison between Demeter and Iasion took place at the wedding of [[Cadmus]] and [[Harmonia (mythology)|Harmonia]] in Crete. Demeter, in this version, had lured Iasion away from the other revellers. Hesiod says that Demeter subsequently gave birth to [[Plutus]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:963-1002 969—974]; Gantz, p. 64; Tripp, s.v. Iasion; ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', s.v. Iasion.</ref>