god
Ceres and Libera
also: Cereris, Ceres, Cereri et Liberae, Ceres et Libera
Roman goddess of grain (Greek Demeter), worshipped at Henna in Sicily together with her daughter Libera (Proserpina); Sicily was held to be the goddess's especial home. The plunder of her shrine at Henna and the missing statue from Catina anchor the religious indictment of In Verrem 2.4.
Reading notes
- On the Laws §2.21 the Greek rite of Ceres
The cult of Ceres at Rome was conducted in Greek by Greek priestesses, modelled on the Eleusinian worship of Demeter. Cicero's law permits women to be initiated only in this established rite, barring other nocturnal mysteries.
- On the Nature of the Gods §2.60 we call the crops Ceres and wine Liber
A standard ancient figure (metonymy) by which a god's name stands for the god's gift: Ceres for grain, Liber/Bacchus for wine. Balbus uses it to introduce the Stoic naturalist account of how gods got their names.
- On the Nature of the Gods §3.41 When we call grain Ceres and wine Liber
A common Roman figure of speech using the god's name for the thing in his charge (Ceres for grain, Liber for wine). Cotta grants the idiom but denies that anyone really believes the food he eats is a god.
- Against Verres, Second Hearing, Book IV §106 Ceres and Libera
The myth of Sicily's consecration to Ceres and Libera (Demeter and Persephone): Persephone was carried off from the grove of Henna by Father Dis; Ceres lit her torches at Aetna's fires to seek her. The whole island is the goddess's domain --- "the navel of Sicily," Henna at the centre.