Ceres

, the godde of corn and of harvests, was daughter of Saturn and Vesta. She had a daughter by Jupiter, whom she called Pherephata, fruit-bearing , and afterwards Proser pine. This daughter was carried away by Pluto, as she was gathering flowers in the plains near Enna. The rape of Proser pine was grievous to Ceres, who sought her all over Sicily; and when night came, she lighted two torches in the flames of mount Ætna, to continue her search by night all over the world. She at last found her veil near the fountain Cyane; but no intelligence could be received of the place of her concealment, till at last the nymph Arethusa informed her that her daughter had been carried away by Pluto. No sooner had Ceres heard this, than she flew to heaven with her chariot drawn by two dragons, and demanded of Jupiter the restoration of her daughter. The endeavours of Jupiter to soften her by representing Pluto as a powerful god, to become her son-in-law, proved fruitle , and the restoration was granted, provided Proser pine had not eaten anything in the kingdom of Pluto. Ceres upon this repaired to Pluto, but Proser pine had eaten the grains of a pomegranate which she had gathered as she walked over the Elysian fields, and Ascalaphus, the only one who had seen her, discovered it to make his court to Pluto. The return of Proser pine upon earth was therefore impracticable; but Ascalaphus, for his unsolicited information, was changed into an owl. See: Ascalaphus . The grief of Ceres for the lo of her daughter was so great, that Jupiter granted Proser pine to pa six months with her mother, and the rest of the year with Pluto. During the inquiries of Ceres for her daughter, the cultivation of the earth was neglected, and the ground became barren; therefore, to repair the lo which mankind had suffered by her absence, the godde went to Attica, which was become the most desolate country in the world, and instructed Trip tole mus of Eleusis in everything which concerned agriculture. She taught him how to plough the ground, to sow and reap the corn, to make bread, and to take particular care of the fruit trees. After these instructions, she gave him her chariot and commanded him to travel all over the world, and communicate his knowledge of agriculture to the rude inhabitants, who hitherto lived upon acorns and the roots of the earth. See: Trip tole mus . Her beneficence to mankind made Ceres respected. Sicily was supposed to be the favourite retreat of the godde , and Diodorus says that she and her daughter made their first appearance to mankind in Sicily, which Pluto received as a nuptial dowry from Jupiter when he married Proser pine. The Sicilians made a yearly sacrifice to Ceres, every man according to his abilities; and the fountain of Cyane, through which Pluto opened himself a pa age with his trident when carrying away Proser pine, was publicly honoured with an offering of bulls, and the blood of the victims was shed in the waters of the fountain. Besides these, other ceremonies were observed in honour of the godde es who had so peculiarly favoured the island. The commemoration of the rape was celebrated about the beginning of the harvest, and the search of Ceres at the time that corn is sown in the earth. The latter festival continued six succe ive days; and during the celebration, the votaries of Ceres made use of some free and wanton expre ions, as that language had made the godde smile while melancholy for the lo of her daughter. Attica, which had been so eminently distinguished by the godde , gratefully remembered her favours in the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries. See: Eleusinia . Ceres also performed the duties of a legislator, and the Sicilians found the advantages of her salutary laws; hence her surname of Thesmophora. She is the same as the Isis of the Egyptians, and her worship, it is said, was first brought into Greece by Erechtheus. She met with different adventures when she travelled over the earth, and the impudence of Stellio was severely punished. To avoid the importunities of Neptune, she changed herself into a mare; but the god took advantage of the metamorphosis, and from their union arose the horse Arion. See: Arion . The birth of this monster so offended Ceres, that she withdrew herself from the sight of mankind; and the earth would have perished for want of her a istance, had not Pan discovered her in Arcadia, and given information of it to Jupiter. The Parcæ were sent by the god to comfort her, and at their persuasion she returned to Sicily, where her statues represented her veiled in black, with the head of a horse, and holding a dove in one hand, and in the other a dolphin. In their sacrifices the ancients offered Ceres a pregnant sow, as that animal often injures and destroys the productions of the earth. While the corn was yet in the gra , they offered her a ram, after the victim had been led three times round the field. Ceres was represented with a garland of ears of corn on her head, holding in one hand a lighted torch, and in the other a poppy, which was sacred to her. She appears as a countrywoman mounted on the back of an ox, and carrying a basket on her left arm, and holding a hoe; and sometimes she rides in a chariot drawn by winged dragons. She was supposed to be the same as Rhea, Tellus. Cybele, Bona Dea, Berecynthia, . The Romans paid her great adoration, and her festivals were yearly celebrated by the Roman matrons in the month of April, during eight days. These matrons abstained during several days from the use of wine and every carnal enjoyment. They always bore lighted torches in commemoration of the godde ; and whoever came to these festivals without a previous initiation, was punished with death. Ceres is metaphorically called bread and corn , as the word Bacchus is frequently used to signify wine . Apollo dor us , bk. 1 , ch. 5 ; bk. 2 , ch. 1 ; bk. 3 , chs. 12 & 14.— Pausanias , bk. 1 , ch. 31 ; bk. 2 , ch. 34 ; bk. 3 , ch. 23 ; bk. 8 , ch. 25 , . — Diodorus , bk. 1 , . — Hesiod , Theogony .— Ovid , Fasti , bk. 4 , li. 417 ; Metamorphoses , fables 7, 8, . — Claudian , de Raptu Proser pinæ .— Cicero , Against Verres .— Call i mach us , Hymn to Demeter .— Livy , bks. 29 & 31.— Statius , Thebiad , bk. 12 .— Dionysius of Halicarna us , bk. 1 , ch. 33 .— Hyginus , Poetic on Astronomic on , bk. 2 .