Citizens of Aquilonia, gather round, for now I will speak of a child touched by both fire and fate — the story of Demeter and her fosterling, Demophon, and of a mother’s attempt to make a mortal child immortal.

In the days when gods still walked among men, there came a time of grief for Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Her daughter, Persephone, had been taken by Hades to the realm of the dead, and in her sorrow Demeter wandered the earth in disguise, a mortal woman, old and weary.

She came at last to Eleusis, to the house of King Celeus and Queen Metaneira. They welcomed the stranger, offering her a place at their hearth. And seeing their infant son, Demophon, Demeter’s heart softened. She resolved to repay their kindness by granting the child a gift greater than any treasure: she would make him deathless.

Night after night, while the household slept, Demeter laid the baby into the sacred flames of the hearth. Fire would burn away his mortal frailty, consuming what bound him to death, while Demeter anointed him each dawn with ambrosia, the food of the gods. Slowly the child grew in beauty and strength, radiant with something not of this earth.

"Flame of night, ambrosia’s breath,
Burn away the chains of death,
Child of man, to godhood rise,
Immortal light in mortal eyes."

But one night, Queen Metaneira kept watch. She saw her guest place the child into the fire and cried out in terror. Demeter drew him back from the flames, unharmed, but the rite was broken. Revealing her true form — tall, golden, crowned with ears of barley — the goddess declared what might have been.

“Foolish is mortal fear,” she said. “For I would have made your son ageless, undying, honoured among men. Now he shall remain but mortal, though he will grow wise and noble, and I will give your city a greater gift: the rites of Eleusis, by which mankind shall find hope even in death.”

"Mortal cries, the gift undone,
What was lost, cannot be won,
Yet in sorrow, wisdom lies,
Hope shall bloom where harvest dies."

Thus Demophon lived a mortal’s life, but the city of Eleusis was blessed with the mysteries of Demeter, which promised men a glimpse of peace beyond the grave. And so the tale is told: that even a goddess’s hand cannot grant immortality, if mortal fear should break the bond.