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Demeter and the Force of Fire
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In Greek mythology, Metaneira, the queen of Eleusis, had a young boy with the name Demophon.
One day Demeter, the goddess of Agriculture, transformed into and old woman named "Doso" and asked for hospitality in Metaneira's house.
The queen felt compassion for the old woman and wanted to help.
So she asked Demeter to serve as a nurse for Demophon and the goddess agreed. Every single day Demeter fed the child with ambrosia, the food of the gods, and every night she burned him over the fire, stripping off his mortal flesh, in order to make him immortal.
But one night Praxithea, a woman who was asked to keep an eye over the child, saw the child buried in the fire. Helplessly, the woman started screaming in agony. As a result,
Demophon became consumed by the fire and the goddess had to reveal her true identity.
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