Ceres Rediviva

Now this is a place after my own heart. I hope this concept succeeds-- it is brilliant.

Ceres was the ancient Roman goddess of cereal grains, whose analogue in Greece was Demeter. Goddesses of this kind are commonly lumped in a category called "fertility," which incorporates sexuality, plant and animal growth, the earth, nature, and civilization. Way too vague a term.

But if you consider that cereal-- that is, hot barley or wheat cereal boiled in water and seasoned with olive oil, salt, and maybe a few greens-- was the food that fueled the ancient world, you'll see why Ceres had a say in so many areas of Roman life.

Demeter was undone not by grains of wheat, but by pomegranate seeds, which her daughter Persephone ate in the underworld, and which bound her to her husband Hades forever, much to Demeter's chagrin.

Scholars will always argue about the significance of the seeds, but Hades knew that sharing a meal creates bonds. That's why we might first suggest a movie, a bike ride, or a group event with a potential significant other rather than dinner. Dinner is much more serious even than lunch. That sentiment goes back all the way to Hades and Persephone.

Cold cereal is relatively modern phenomenon, but it has taken over an entire aisle of the supermarket. For me, it defines "comfort food," something that can be eaten at any hour of the day. So I could walk into a Cereality at midnight and have a bowl of Rice Krispies and bananas.

Although Cereality's base price for a bowl of cereal is fairly steep at $2.95 (whole boxes of some cereals retail for less than $3.00), you also get your choice of two brands, a topping (including pop rocks, for the full mouth-feel experience), and as much milk as you can pour into the Chinese take-out cartons that hold the cereal.

Of course, cereal is not a nibbling, conversational food like a scone or a muffin. Linus, of Peanuts fame, used to have a terrible time deciding what to read with a bowl of cereal (because reading is what you do when you eat cereal). By the time he'd decided, the cereal was soggy. Nibblers beware.

Also, if you subscribe, as I do, to the five-bowl-with-graduated-quantities method of eating cereal, you will be out quite a bit of money when you get to that last bowl of eight squares of bite-sized Shredded wheat and a handful of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.

I'm waiting for that hip screenplay that updates the Hades-Persephone-Demeter story with Persephone's post-wedding meal being a bowl of Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries. Very addicting, and very mythologically accurate.

Comments

[Eric]

Here's my rebuttal.

http://sabaisays.blogspot.com/2008/10/are-you-cereal.html