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Wait… how do I say that???

duh-MEE-tur

and

dai-uh-NAI-suhs

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Demeter: Basic Facts

Greek goddess of the harvest, crops, agriculture, and fertility. She also held domain over married women, alongside Hera, and with Artemis presided over the transition from girlhood to womanhood.
Daughter of the Titans Kronos and Rhea; sister to Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, and Hestia.
She is generally depicted as a mature woman, beautiful but modest, fully clothed and usually wearing a head covering of some kind, carrying sheaves of grain, a cornucopia, a wine jug, a sickle, or a libation bowl.
Demeter rarely meddles in the affairs of other Olympians and so does not figure as strongly in heroic mythology as some of the other gods.
She was, however, the central figure of many mystery cults, such as the Eleusinian Mysteries,.
Her character is also generally considered more stable and consistent, in comparison to many of the more fickle Olympians.

Demeter: The Big Story

Demeter’s most important story is likely that of the abduction of her daughter, Persephone.
Hades sees Persephone, Demeter’s daughter by Zeus, and falls in love with her. He abducts her to the Underworld. (Modern interpretations of the myth often attribute more agency to Persephone than the ancients did).
Unaware of Hades’s role in Persephone’s disappearance, Demeter wanders the world in search of her, anguished and devastated. Eventually Hecate tells Demeter she heard Persephone cry out in fear, and they go to Helios, who tells her what happened. In despair, Demeter becomes bitter and withdrawn; her unhappiness causes the rains to stop and the crops to die.
Zeus (who had consented to the abduction) negotiates with Hades to give Persephone back, but because Persephone had eaten food of the Underworld (either three, four, or six pomegranate seeds, depending on the story), she must return there for part of the year. Each year, Demeter mourns her daughter’s return; this is the ancient Greek explanation for the seasons.

See U in History: “Demeter: The Goddess of Agriculture” (4:02): A short overview of the goddess

Dionysus: Basic Facts

Greek god of wine, passion, parties, madness, hallucinations, the theatrical arts, and the afterlife.
Son of Zeus and Semele.

Zeus came to Semele by night, never revealing his true godly form. Semele boasted of her godly lover nonetheless, and word reached Hera’s ears.
Hera went to Semele in disguise and convinced her to force Zeus into revealing himself; Semele persuaded Zeus to promise to grant her one wish. He swore on the Styx to give her whatever she asked, but soon regretted it: Semele asked to see his true form, and he was bound by his oath to show her, even though it meant she was instantly immolated.
Zeus rescued Dionysus from her womb and placed the fetus inside his thigh. Later, Dionysus was born from Zeus, giving him the epithet “twice-born.”

Dionysus’s depictions in art vary. Sometimes he is a young and comely man; sometimes he is more rotund, symbolic of fleshy pleasures and inebriation.

Dionysus: A Big Personality

Dionysus’s personality was changeable. He could be generous or vengeful, easygoing or quick-tempered. His revels could be delights or horror shows. The divine ecstasy he inspired could be glorious or violent.
Some myths present Dionysus as wearing female clothing, generally to hide from the wrath of Hera. Roman sources note him as choosing a feminized or androgynous appearance and to his bisexuality.
In Athens, the Great Dionysia was a festival in his honor, full of processions, sacrifices, and theatrical performances. Many of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes were first performed at this festival.
Other Dionysian festivals were less tame. The orgia were riotous rituals of dancing, singing, intoxication, and sacrifice, wherein the revelers completely freed themselves of social inhibitions. In Rome, these became known as Bacchanalia. Some elements of these celebrations may have eventually been Christianized into festivals like the Feast of Fools, Carnival, and Mardi Gras.

See U in History: “Dionysus: The God of Wine and Festivity” (5:38)

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