Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, Demophon or Demophöon (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

: Δημοφῶν or Δημοφόων), was an Eleusinian prince as the son of King

Celeus Celeus or Keleus ( Ancient Greek: Κελεός ''Keleós'') was the king of Eleusis in Greek mythology, husband of Metaneira and father of several daughters, who are called Callidice, Demo, Cleisidice and Callithoe in the ''Homeric Hymn to Deme ...

and Queen Metanira.

Mythology

While

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, ...

, having taken the form of an old woman called Doso, searched for her lost daughter

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld aft ...

, she received a hospitable welcome from Celeus, the King of

Eleusis Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...

. He asked her to nurse Demophon - his son by Metanira. As a gift to Celeus, because of his hospitality, Demeter planned to make Demophon a god by anointing and coating him with

ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...

, breathing gently upon him while holding him in her arms and bosom, and making him immortal by burning his mortal spirit away in the family's hearth every night. She put him in the fire at night like a firebrand or ember - without the knowledge of his parents: :And thus it came to pass that the splendid son of bright-minded Keleos,
Dêmophôn, who was born to well-girded Metaneira,
was nourished in the palace, and he grew up like a daimôn,
not eating grain, not sucking from the breast. But Demeter
used to anoint him with ambrosia, as if he had been born of the goddess,
and she would breathe down her sweet breath on him as she held him to her bosom.
At nights she would conceal him within the menos of fire, as if he were a smoldering log,
and his philoi parents were kept unaware. But they marveled
at how full in bloom he came to be, and to look at him was like looking at the gods.Homeric ''Hymn to Demeter'', the

scholia Scholia (singular scholium or scholion, from grc, σχόλιον, "comment, interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of t ...

attest to other versions in which Demophon does not survive his time in the fire. The bungled immortalization becomes the cause of his death, and funeral games in his honor were established at Eleusis under the guise of a ritual mock-battle, a quasi-athletic event known as the ''Ballêtus'', Bell, John
"Bell's New pantheon; or, Historical Dictionary of the gods, Demi-gods, Heroes and fabulous personages of Antiquity"
v.1, 1790. Cf. p.124 entry on Balletus: "A feast observed at Eleusis, in Attica, to the honour of Demophoon, the son of Celeus". which took place on a seasonal basis to compensate for the death of the baby cult-hero Demophon. This mock-battle seems to have been the ritual kernel of a whole complex of events known as the Eleusinian Games: :But now there is no way for him to avoid death and doom.
Still, he will have a tîmê that is unwilting, for all time, because he had once sat
on my knees and slept in my arms.
At the right hôrâ, every year,
the sons of the Eleusinians will have a war, a terrible battle
among each other. They will do so for all days to come. Forestalled in making Demophon immortal, Demeter chose to teach

Triptolemus In Greek mythology, Triptolemus ( el, Τριπτόλεμος, ''Triptólemos'', lit. "threefold warrior"; also known as Buzyges) is a figure connected with the goddess Demeter of the Eleusinian Mysteries. He was either a mortal prince, the el ...

(Demophon's elder brother) the art of

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

; from him the rest of Greece learned to plant and reap crops. He flew across the land on a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

-drawn chariot while Demeter and

cared for him and helped him complete his mission of educating the whole of Greece in the art of agriculture.

Notes

References

* Richardson, Nicholas James, ''The Homeric hymn to Demeter'', Oxford ng.Clarendon Press, 1974. * Cf. variously: Apollod. i. 5. § 1 ; Ov. Fast. iv. 512, &c.; Hygin. Fab. 147; Hom. Hymn. in Cer. 234

External links

* Pache, Corinne Ondine, '' plainurl=y, id=OR47FBpYDJAC, page=74, text=Demophon of Eleusis Baby and child heroes in ancient Greece', 2004, p. 74 Princes in Greek mythology Eleusinian characters in Greek mythology Rape of Persephone Deeds of Demeter zh:得摩丰#厄琉息斯王子