Demeter (dee-MEE-tur). Roman name Ceres. See The Olympians for more information and another picture. Demeter was goddess of agriculture, sister of Zeus and mother of Persephone. When Persephone was abducted to the Underworld by its ruler Hades, Demeter was heartbroken. She wandered the length and breadth of the earth in search of her daughter, during which time the crops withered and it became perpetual winter.