A story about a hero of ancient Russian literature. About ancient Russian literature

Ancient militarized, regulated Rome did not bother too much to come up with interesting biographies and adventures for its gods. Only after capturing Greece and transporting the statues of the Greek gods to themselves, they at the same time grabbed their wonderful stories. Catholics who conducted services in Latin, read Latin texts and introduced the whole world during the Renaissance to Therefore, we know not Phoebus, but Apollo, not Artemis, but Diana, for example. A similar story happened with Ceres, the Italian goddess of fertility, who later received a beautiful life story of the Greek Demeter. Marble statues of Ceres, created from Greek copies of Demeter, have survived to this day. Here is an example - the statue of Ceres.

Ancient Italic Beliefs

The cult of the earth was important for many peoples of antiquity. The Italian peoples who lived on Ceres were no exception - the goddess of the earth and fertility of Rome - one of the most ancient deities. And initially she was associated in the minds of the Italic peoples with the even more ancient goddess of the earth Tellus. At the beginning, Ceres had one task - to protect grain crops.

Time was devoted to this from the moment of sowing, then to the germination of plants and their maturation. The ancients believed in the animation of all nature as a whole (both wood and stone, according to their ideas, were alive, they had a soul), and, naturally, Ceres, the goddess Tellus, was animated by them, filled with life. Ceres was believed to teach people how to cultivate fields, and in addition, she was the goddess of the origin of life. Flowers and fruits are her animated gifts, her obligatory attributes. Therefore, she was depicted as stern, beautiful, majestic, with a crown of thorns on her head, a torch in one hand and a basket filled with grain and fruits. Its functions also included the protection of motherhood and marriage and the harvest from robbers. She also protected the rural community, but she could also send madness to people.

Holidays in honor of ancient goddesses

For the first time, goddesses appeared, as is believed in Italy, on Sicilian, the most fertile land (Tellus). Ceres, the goddess, received her fruits, mainly grain. On the most important days, for example on the day of the first plowing and sowing, and this was a holiday that depended on weather conditions and therefore could move and have conditional dates, Ceres, the goddess Tellus, received bloody sacrifices. Most often pigs were slaughtered for them, but sometimes even calving cows were slaughtered. The holidays were called cerealia and began approximately (different sources give slightly different dates) April 11-12. They were called Ludi Cerealis and were very spectacular (foxes were baited, for example). Farmers dressed in white clothes, placed wreaths on their heads and held feasts and celebrations for eight days. By April 19 they were completed in honor of Ceres, Liber (Greek Dionysus) and Libera (Kore). For this purpose, a temple was built on the Aventine hill between 493 and 495 BC. e. Ceres, the goddess of the plebeians, had twelve different additional names:

  • Mistress.
  • Chloe.
  • The one who gives gifts to the earth.
  • The one that gives apples.
  • Ruthless.
  • Warm and others.

They were associated with various moments of field work

Temples

First, there was a temple in Rome, on the Aventine Hill. There was a statue of the deity there. Now the statue of the fertility goddess Ceres in Rome is located in the Roman National Museum. More precisely, it is not a statue, but a Roman marble copy of a bust of Demeter, 4th century BC. e.

The next temple was in Paestum.

There is also a sanctuary in Lavinio. There they found a copper tablet with a text that says how to boil the entrails of animals in order to present them to the goddess.

Confluence of Ceres and Demeter

From ancient Roman sources it is known that in 496 BC. e. there was a big crop failure. On this occasion, Greek craftsmen built a temple in Rome dedicated to the triad consisting of Demeter, Dionysus and Kore. The new gods merged, as already mentioned, with the old ones and received

The main role was played by Ceres, the goddess of fertility. Holidays began to be held according to Greek models. These were mysteries in which only married women took part. Girls and men were not allowed to attend mystery orgies. They consisted of the wedding celebration of Pluto and Proserpina.

Thus, the ancient Italian cults united with the Greek ones and became inseparable in the minds of the plebeian farmers, who most strongly revered this particular life-giving goddess.

  • Cerealia - holiday and games in Ancient Rome in honor of Ceres

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Excerpt characterizing Ceres (mythology)

The gray-haired valet sat dozing and listening to the prince's snoring in the huge office. From the far side of the house, from behind the closed doors, difficult passages of Dussek's sonata were heard twenty times repeated.
At this time, a carriage and britzka drove up to the porch, and Prince Andrei got out of the carriage, dropped off his little wife and let her go ahead. Gray-haired Tikhon, in a wig, leaned out of the waiter's door, reported in a whisper that the prince was sleeping, and hastily closed the door. Tikhon knew that neither the arrival of his son nor any unusual events should have disrupted the order of the day. Prince Andrei apparently knew this as well as Tikhon; he looked at his watch, as if to see if his father’s habits had changed during the time during which he had not seen him, and, making sure that they had not changed, he turned to his wife:
“He’ll get up in twenty minutes.” “Let’s go to Princess Marya,” he said.
The little princess gained weight during this time, but her eyes and short lip with a mustache and smile rose just as cheerfully and sweetly when she spoke.
“Mais c"est un palais,” she said to her husband, looking around, with the expression with which one speaks of praise to the owner of the ball. “Allons, vite, vite!... [Yes, this is a palace! – Let’s go quickly, quickly!...] - She , looking around, smiled at Tikhon, her husband, and the waiter who saw them off.
- C "est Marieie qui s" exercise? Allons doucement, il faut la surprendre. [Is this Marie exercising? Hush, let's take her by surprise.]
Prince Andrei followed her with a courteous and sad expression.
“You have grown old, Tikhon,” he said, passing, to the old man who was kissing his hand.
In front of the room in which the clavichord could be heard, a pretty blond Frenchwoman jumped out of a side door.
M lle Bourienne seemed distraught with delight.
- Ah! “quel bonheur pour la princesse,” she spoke. - Enfin! Il faut que je la previenne. [Oh, what joy for the princess! Finally! We need to warn her.]

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Ceres Ceres

(Ceres). The goddess who corresponded among the Romans to the Greek Demeter and is identified with her. Her holiday, Cerealia, was considered a predominantly plebeian holiday. The pig was considered the sacrificial animal of Ceres.

(Source: “A Brief Dictionary of Mythology and Antiquities.” M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition by A. S. Suvorin, 1894.)

CERES

(Ceres), the ancient Italian and Roman chthonic goddess of the productive forces of the earth, the growth and ripening of cereals, as well as the underworld, who sent madness to people, as well as the goddess of motherhood and marriage (according to the law of Romulus, half of the property of a husband who divorced his wife without reason was dedicated to her ). She was revered as the guardian of the rural community (paga), the protector of its harvest from robbers (a person executed for stealing the harvest at night was dedicated to her). Subsequently, Ts. was considered only the goddess of grains and harvests, enjoying great honor as such, especially among the peasants who celebrated cerealias dedicated to her and called on her during paganalia - the festival of the pagi. During the era of the struggle between patricians and plebeians, C. headed the plebeian triad (C., Liber and Libera) of gods, which in 493 BC. e. A temple was built by Campanian craftsmen in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine, where the plebeians had long revered the agricultural gods Seya, Segetia, Messiah, and Tutulina, whom C. replaced, and where there was an underground altar of Cons. There is an opinion that Ts. was always the goddess of the plebs, because her flamen was a plebeian, perhaps a priest of the plebeian community, and the cerealia were included in the Numa calendar in connection with the introduction of some of the plebeians to the Roman community. The Temple of the plebeian triad of gods became the center of the struggle plebeians with patricians, an archive of plebeian magistrates, a refuge for persecuted plebeians, a place for distributing bread to them (C. was identified with the goddess Panda or Empanda, in whose temple they fed the hungry; Aul. Gell. XIII 22; Serv. Verg. Georg. I 7). After the reconciliation of the patricians and plebeians, Ts. began to be revered as a common goddess, but her old role revived with the aggravation of contradictions between the people and the nobility, when Ts. was opposed to the goddess of nobility Cybele. Ts. together with Tellus The holidays of the harvest were dedicated, as well as winter sowing (sementiva, December 13) and cerealia (April 19). Cerealia were accompanied by circus and stage games, baiting foxes, to which burning torches were tied, and scattering nuts (Ovid. Fast. IV 681 next), which was supposed to protect crops from the heat and stimulate their growth. In the 3rd century. BC e. Ts. gets closer to Demeter, Libera with Proserpine - Persephone. The cult of Ts. is Hellenized, the female mysteries of Ts. appear, the celebration of the meeting of Ts. with her daughter returning from Pluto, which was preceded by nine days of fasting and abstinence (Serv. Verg. Georg. I 344). The invention of agriculture and the introduction of laws that introduced people to civilization are associated with Ts. (as well as with the Greek Demeter).
Lit.: Le Bonniec N., Le culte de Gères a Rome. Des origines a la fin de la République, P., 1958.
E. M. Shtaerman.


(Source: “Myths of the Peoples of the World.”)

Ceres

The goddess of the harvest, the patroness of fertility, Ceres was deeply revered by Roman farmers. In her honor, solemn celebrations were held - cerealias, which began on April 11 or 12 and lasted 8 days. Cerealia were observed especially zealously by the lower classes - the plebeians. They dressed up in white clothes (as opposed to ordinary work clothes), decorated themselves with wreaths, and after ceremonial sacrifices (they offered pigs, fruits, honeycombs), they had fun with horse racing in the circus for eight days. The Roman people hosted festive meals, inviting everyone passing by to appease Ceres, who provided hearty food. Gradually, the cult of the goddess Ceres merged with the cult of the “Bright Goddess” (Tellura) and the Greek Demeter, but the festival of Cerealia with its fun and wide hospitality was preserved.

(Source: “Legends and Tales of Ancient Rome.”)

CERES

in Roman mythology, the goddess who breathes life into all plants. Protects young shoots from bad weather, weeds and OTHER dangers. Together with Tellura, she sent a light warm wind and rain that nourished the roots of plants to help the crops. In honor of Ceres, solemn celebrations were held - cerealia, which began on April 11 or 12 and lasted 8 days. These celebrations were especially zealously observed by the lower classes - the plebeians. They dressed in snow-white clothes, decorated themselves with wreaths, and after the solemn sacrifices, they entertained themselves with circus races for eight days. Ceres was offered pigs, fruits, and honeycombs. On these days, the Romans hosted meals at their place, inviting everyone passing by to taste the festive dishes. It was believed that cordial hospitality was especially pleasing to Ceres. In the temple of the goddess there was an archive of the commoner class. Every year, worthy people were chosen from this list to take care of the temple. Ceres was always accompanied by the god and goddess of viticulture - Liber (his other name is Bacchus or Bacchus) and his wife - the kind and beautiful Libera.

(Source: “Dictionary of spirits and gods of German-Scandinavian, Egyptian, Greek, Irish, Japanese mythology, Mayan and Aztec mythologies.”)

Marble.
III centuries BC e.
Rome.
National Museum.


Synonyms:

See what "Ceres" is in other dictionaries:

    - (Latin ceres, Greek Demeter, i.e. mother of the earth). 1) the goddess of agriculture and grain fruits, whose festivities were distinguished by mysterious rituals. 2) an asteroid, discovered in 1801. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

    Ceres- Ceres. Marble. 2 1st centuries BC. National Museum of Rome. Ceres. Marble. 2 1st centuries BC. National Museum of Rome. In the myths of the ancient Romans, Ceres is the goddess of fertility, as well as the underworld, sending madness to people, the goddess of motherhood and marriage.... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of World History

    Demeter, harvest, goddess, motherhood, marriage Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Ceres noun, number of synonyms: 10 asteroid (579) ... Synonym dictionary

    In Roman mythology, the goddess of agriculture and fertility. Corresponds to the Greek Demeter...

    One of the largest (diameter about 1000 km) minor planets (N 1), discovered by G. Piazzi (Italy, 1801). The distance of Ceres from the Sun varies from 2.55 to 3.05 AU. e... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    In the myths of the ancient Romans, the goddess of fertility, as well as the underworld, sending madness to people, the goddess of motherhood and marriage. Identified with the Greek goddess Demeter... Historical Dictionary

    CERES, the largest ASTEROID, the first discovered by scientists, was discovered by Giuseppe PAZZI on January 1, 1801. Its diameter is 913 km. It moves in orbit in the main asteroid belt, its average distance to the Sun is 414 million km, which coincides with... ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

    I in Roman mythology, the goddess of agriculture and fertility. Corresponds to the Greek Demeter. II one of the largest (diameter about 1000 km) minor planets (No. 1), discovered by G. Piazzi (Italy, 1801). The distance of Ceres from the Sun varies from 2.55 to... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    Roman goddess; belongs to the number of the most ancient gods of Rome (so-called di indigetes). Its main function is to protect the crop at all moments of its development; therefore, her ancient cult is closely connected with the cult of the even more ancient goddess Tellus... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

    This term has other meanings, see Ceres (meanings). Ceres ... Wikipedia

Books

  • Slave, Warrior, Queen, Morgan Rice. Seventeen-year-old Ceres, a beautiful, poor girl in the Empire city of Delos, lives the hard and merciless life of a commoner. During the day, she takes the weapon forged by her father to the palace training ground, and at night...