In response, Demeter neglected her duties as goddess of agriculture, plunging the earth into a deadly famine, where nothing would grow, causing mortals to die. Demeter searched everywhere in order to find her missing daughter to no avail, until she was informed that Hades had taken her to the Underworld. When Hades, the king of the Underworld, wished to make Persephone his wife, he abducted her from a field while she was picking flowers, with Zeus' leave. One of the most notable Homeric Hymns, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, tells the story of Persephone's abduction by Hades and Demeter's search for her. Like her other siblings but Zeus, she was swallowed by her father as an infant, and rescued by Zeus.īy her brother Zeus she became the mother of Persephone, a goddess of fertility. In Greek tradition, Demeter is the second child of the Titans Rhea and Cronus, and sister to Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Although she is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, marriage, and had connections to the Underworld. In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter ( / d ɪ ˈ m iː t ər/ Attic: Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr Doric: Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr) is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth.