Editing Fertility rite (section)

===Ancient Greece===

Central to fertility rites in [[classical Greece]] was "[[Demeter]], goddess of fertility... Her rites celebrated the procession of the seasons, the mystery of the plants and the fruits in their annual cycle of coming to be and passing away."<ref>M. I. Finley, ''The World of Odysseus'' (Penguin 1967) p. 158</ref> But most "women's festivals... related in some way to woman's proper function as a fertile being (which allowed her to promote the fertility of crops too, by sympathy)".<ref>J. Boardman ''et al'', eds., ''The Oxford History of the Classical World'' (Oxford 1991) p. 269–70</ref>

Because of his link to the grape harvest, however, "it is not surprising to see [[Dionysus]] associated with Demeter and [[Persephone|Kore]] in the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]]. For he, too, represented one of the great life-bringing forces of the world."<ref>F. Guirand ed., ''The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology'' (1968) p. 160</ref>