Pluto

Pluto, Roman god of the underworld, from Latin Pluto, Pluton, from Greek Plouton "god of wealth," from ploutos "wealth, riches". This was also alternative Greek name of Hades in his function as the god of wealth (precious metals and gems, coming from beneath the earth)...

But there was another Plutus, also god of wealth. He was either the son of Demeter and Iasion, or the child of Pluto and Persephone. In the theology of the Eleusian Mysteries he is regarded as the "Divine Child" portrayed carrying the horn of plenty...

Considering that Demeter and Persephone are one and the same goddess, Mother Earth, in two of her yearly phases, does that mean that Iason and Pluto (Hades) are one and the same god in two of their yearly phases? Just an open question here. I will come back to this later...

The story how Plutus was conceived from the affair between Demeter and Iason is very interesting. "Demeter, bright goddess, was joined in sweet love with the hero Iasion in a thrice-ploughed (triple-furrowed) field in the rich land of Krete (Crete)"...

This "thrice-ploughed" (triple-furrowed) thingy is very interesting. Apparently, "the cutting of three furrows was part of fertility rites performed to inaugurate the new agricultural year"...Anyone knows where I can find reference to this in Greek texts???

Interestingly, in "Bulletin of the ethnographic museum of Serbia, Volume 10" from 1935 we can read that in some parts of Serbia, cutting of three furrows in the field was also a ritual marking the beginning of the agricultural year...

Once the three furrows were cut, an egg was buried in and then the spring ploughing of the field continued...At the end of harvest, people slaughtered a cockerel in the field. Ploughing-sowing-harvesting...Egg-Cockerel...

Interestingly, Persephone, the winter Demeter, holds chicken and grain in her hands while sitting on the throne in the "underworld" next to Pluton god of wealth...Her return from the "underworld" announces the return of Spring which is celebrated with painted eggs...

But there is a much deeper link between grain, chickens and the dead, preserved in Slavic folklore. I talked about it in my posts "Diduch", "Cock bashing" and "Third death"

Now rolling around the triple ploughed field didn't produce just Ploutos, the god of wealth. It also produced Philomelus, God of Husbandry, Tillage/Ploughing and Agriculture... Agriculture=Wealth...

Also rolling around triple furrowed field with Demeter = Death. Jealous Zeus, who was by the way Iason's father, killed Iason with a thunderbolt...

Hmmm...In Slavic mythology, Jarilo, young sun, the youngest son of the Thunder god Perun, seduces Vesna, young earth. They "roll around fields in spring". Their affair produces all the "wealth" of the summer...

But after spring comes summer. Jarilo has become Veles, the Dragon, Vesna has become Mokosh (wife of Perun). Ups 🙂.  And so, at the end of summer, jealous Perun kills Veles, (old Jarilo) with his thunderbolt. But Mokosh is already "pregnant" with all the wealth of autumn...

In Slavic languages, Jarilo, spring consort of Mother Earth, comes from the root "jar" which means: green, young, bright, hot, raging...Also in Slavic languages the word "jasan" means: clear, brigh, shiny...IASION was an agricultural hero and the springtime consort of Demeter...

Very interesting, right?

Well, Iasion's name has no meaning in Ancient Greek. The best etymology is: "...name may refer to bindweed, a small white flower that frequently grows in wheat fields..." Compare that with Jasan (Clear, Bright, Shining)...And you know how old gods get demoted by new gods...Also have a look at this:

"Demeter, bright goddess, was joined in sweet love with the hero Iasion (Bright one) in a thrice-ploughed (triple-furrowed) field in the rich land of Krete (Crete)"...

And considering that Iasion is one of the people credited with the introduction of the Demeter (Da Mater, Giving Mother) worship in Greece, the Samothracian Mysteries...I wonder...

O! by the way, in Slavic languages, sija means "shines" and sije means "sows seeds"...

One last thing for this article. You know how in some sources Gemini twins are said to be Triptolemus, the hero whom Demeter sent to teach the world how to grow grains, and Iasion, Demeter's lover with whom she "gave birth to wealth and agriculture"???

PS: is that Thyrsus, symbol of Dionysus stuck into the ground in front of the throne...The symbol of fertility...I talked about Thyrsus in this post...