Barbette Stanley Spaeth

This is a study of the goddess Ceres, to show how the Romans themselves viewed her, as far as can be told from archaeological and literary evidence. I hoped it wouldn't be too academic and technical for a non-specialist like me, and was happy to discover that it's pretty accessible. My major annoyance while reading this was that Spaeth doesn't define Latin terms right away, and since I don't know much about Ceres, I had to Google a few things to keep up. For instance, porca praecidanea isn't explained until page 36, which is well into the second chapter of the book (it's a sow sacrificed to Ceres before the harvest). She does explain all the terms eventually: be patient!

Overall, this is a great source of historical information on Ceres. Spaeth doesn't talk about the mythology of Ceres much; the focus is on showing how the Romans linked Ceres with the plebs and with women, and used her functions of fertility and liminality to stabilize their society. Spaeth summarizes each of her arguments at the end of its chapter, which was helpful in keeping them all straight. And by the end of the book, Ceres was a distinct goddess in my mind, and not just Demeter with a Roman name.… (meer)