In Ancient Greek mythology Dionysus was venerated as the god of the fertile forces of the Earth, the plant world, grape-growing and wine-making. His invariable attributes were held to be the pine-cone and a bunch of grapes, both symbols of fertility. Sometimes Dionysus is presented in the company of Persephone (or Cora), the wife of the ruler of the Underworld, who, as the daughter of the powerful fertility goddess Demeter, symbolized the continual, cyclical nature of the life of plants.
The oldest of the Eleusinian Mysteries of Ancient Greece -celebrations of the sowing and sprouting of the grain - were associated with the worship of the divine triad of Demeter, Dionysus and Cora ("the Virgin"). They took place in the city of Eleusis which was the location of the temple of Demeter and where, according to legend, she waited each year for the return of her daughter Persephone from the kingdom of Hades.