February 1: Love Month

The wedding of Kadmos and Harmonia was the Olympian society-event of the century. But quite unexpectedly, the bride had to share the limelight with the rather inconspicuous goddess of harvest, Demeter. When she showed up with a plus-one, the dashing demigod Iasion, everyone was shocked. Supreme god Zeus most of all, given the fact that Iasion was one of his sons and Demeter was his sister. Not to mention his ex-wife. He wore some fine arm candy himself (his new fiancé Leto), but still felt jealous. And when the amourous couple sneaked back in after some time outside, with Demeters back showing traces of intimate moments in a hayfield, his dismay clearly showed. I suspect Demeter secretly enjoyed the stir she caused. She had no regrets and her alliance with Iasion lasted till he died of old age. To make their happiness complete, they even welcomed a child. Baby Ploutos, meaning “Wealth”, was born with a cornucopia in his little fists, and he’d provide for whatever they needed. Which in this case, was really not that much.

Female figure feeding infant Plutus from Horn of Plenty, relief,

Brooklyn Museum Archives, New York, USA

Jupiter bids Ceres farewell, D.M. Viani,

kademie der Bildende Künste, Wien, Austria