CEREOP'SIS (Gr. wax-face), a genus of birds of the family anatida, to which the New Holland goose (C. .Youx Ifollan,clia) belongs. This bird has been known since the southern shores of that country were first visited by navigators. There, and on the adjacent islands, it is found in great abundance; and the earlier navigators easily sup plied themselves with fresh provisions by knocking them down with sticks, so little were they acquainted with the danger to be apprehended from man. The cere is remark ably large, whence the name.
CE'RtS, among the Greeks named Derniter, daughter of Chronos (Saturn), by Rhea (Ops), sister of Jupiter, Neptune, Juno, etc. She had the misfortune, along with her other brothers and sister, to be devoured byher father, who, however, vomited her forth again after taking the emetic which Mods gave him. By her brother Jupiter she became, the mother of Persephone or Proserpina (q.v.). The chief myth relating to C. tells how her daughter Proserpina was stolen by Pluto, and how the mother wandered far in quest of the maiden. After traveling in human form nine days, and everywhere dis tributing her gifts to mankind, she excited the pity of Jupiter, by whom Mercury was dispatched to bring back Proserpina from the infernal world, but on the condition that she must spend there a third part (or, as others say, one half) of every year. The myth
of C. was symbolical of the growth of grain ; some consider that this is intimated in the name Demeter, which is thought to be equivalent to ge meter, "Mother Earth." The relations of the worship of C. with agriculture, social order, etc., were expressed in her two great Eleusinia (q.v.) and Thesmophork (q.v.). C. was especially worshiped in Crete, Delos, Sicily, Asia Minor, Arcadia, Argolis, and Attica. Bulls, cows, pigs, and fruits were offered to her. Among the Romans, her fes tivals were styled CEREALIA ; and of these, the most interesting was the feast celebrated by the rural population shortly before harvest, when the country people, dressed in white, and crowned with oak-leaves, danced and sang harvest songs in honor of the goddess. The feast in April lasted several days, and was celebrated by games of the circus. C. was represented, most commonly, in a chariot drawn by dragons, having her head crowned with a garland of corn-ears, and holding a torch, a basket, or a poppy in her hand.