Demeter

In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Demeter (/dᵻˈmiːtər/; Attic: Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr; Doric: Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr) is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. Her cult titles include Sito (Σιτώ), "she of the Grain", as the giver of food or grain and Thesmophoros (θεσμός, thesmos: divine order, unwritten law; φόρος, phoros: bringer, bearer), "Law-Bringer," as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society.

Though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and her daughter Persephone were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon. In the Linear B Mycenean Greek tablets of circa 1400–1200 BC found at Pylos, the "two mistresses and the king" may be related with Demeter, Persephone and Poseidon. Her Roman equivalent is Ceres.

Etymology

It is possible that Demeter appears in Linear A as da-ma-te on three documents (AR Zf 1 and 2, and KY Za 2), all three apparently dedicated in religious situations and all three bearing just the name (i-da-ma-te on AR Zf 1 and 2). It is unlikely that Demeter appears as da-ma-te in a Linear B (Mycenean Greek) inscription (PY En 609); the word 𐀅𐀔𐀳, da-ma-te, probably refers to "households". On the other hand, 𐀯𐀵𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊, si-to-po-ti-ni-ja, "Potnia of the Grain", is regarded as referring to her Bronze Age predecessor or to one of her epithets.

Demeter (satellite)

DEMETER (Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions) is a French micro-satellite operated by CNES devoted to the investigation of the ionospheric disturbances due to seismic and volcanic activity.

It was launched on June 29, 2004 on a quasi Sun-synchronous circular orbit with an inclination of about 98.23° and an altitude of about 710 km. The altitude was changed to about 660 km in December, 2005.

Due to the specific orbit, DEMETER is always located either shortly before the local noon (10:30 local time) or local midnight (22:30 local time). The satellite performs 14 orbits per day and measures continuously between -65° and +65° of invariant latitude.

DEMETER observed an increase in ultra low frequency radio waves in the month before the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

During the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi, DEMETER noted anomalies in the ionosphere.

Scientific operations ended December 9th, 2010.

Scientific Objectives

Demetrius of Esztergom

Demeter Vaskúti (died 20 February 1387), archbishop of Esztergom and bishop of Zagreb and Transylvania, and chancellor, was a Hungarian cardinal and politician.

Origins and early career

Nothing is known about the origin of Demetrius, who would rise to the highest ecclesiastical titles, but it is presumed that he came from a family of peasants. He was raised together with King Charles I's eldest son, Louis, who would become King Louis I in 1342.

In 1356, he became Keeper of the Seals. Three years later, he was put in charge of the royal treasury. At this time, he began his ecclesiastical career, becoming canon of Pécs in 1363 and provost of Eger. In 1364, Pope Urban V appointed him bishop of Sirmia but Demetrius did not assume the office until 1 April 1365. On 28 June 1368, Demetrius was also made bishop of Transylvania. During his tenure as bishop of Transylvania, Demetrius had a cloister built for the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit.

As chancellor and cardinal