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Demeter
"I begin to sing about the holy goddess, Demeter of the beautiful
hair, about her and her daughter, Persephone of the lovely ankles,
whom Hades snatched away; loud-thundering Zeus, who sees all, gave
her to him." So writes the anonymous author of the ancient
Homeric Hymn to Demeter. The goddess of agriculture, Demeter
here wears a crown of flowers and ears of wheat. Inside the outer
circle that frames her are eight axe blades. The eight blades are
thought to represent Persephone, whom Zeus decreed must spend eight
months of the year with her mother and the other four months with
Hades, her husband and god of the underworld.
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