Snake Goddess

A snake goddess paintedon terracotta and found in Athens appears to be Demeter, it is alleged, the Greek goddess of the harvest (among other things). It was previously thought she was a goddess associated with the underworld – or the dead (see http://news.yahoo.com/athenian-snake-goddess-gets-identity-150708569.html She appears to have not connection, on the face of it, with the famous Minoan snake goddess – also shown with upraised arms. The Athenian goddess is flanked by snakes but the Cretan goddess was holding them aloft – and they are spatially separated in time by a thousand years.