HOW OLD WAS DEMETER?
A Greek fresco depicting the goddess Demeter, from Panticapaeum in the ancient Bosporan Kingdom (a client state of the Roman Empire), 1 st century AD, Crimea. By Sovenok212 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21242584 I know you shouldn’t ask a woman’s age. (I live in southern California. Of course , I know that). But I think that, in this case, I might be pardoned for asking: Just how old was Demeter? In answer, we know that Demeter was known to at least three ancient societies: the Minoans, the Egyptians, and the Arcadians. (Whoever they were. More on that later). So, if Demeter can be established as an integral part of those groups – that is, if they associated her with one of their goddesses, dedicated cult objects to her, and created cult centers for her – we can say that she belonged to those cultures and was very ancient, indeed. Let’s start with the Minoans and Mycenaeans. Demeter’s name is fo...