The union of Demeter and Iasion on the island of Crete produced Plutus, the god of wealth. His parents conceived him after laying in a thrice-ploughed field, his parents conceived him, so Plutus initially specialised in augmenting agricultural bounty. The choice of Crete as his birthplace must be attributed to the island’s legendary fertility. Pseudo-Hyginus claimed that Demeter gave birth to two sons, Plutus and Philomelus. They were never on good terms, for Plutus refused to share his wealth with his brother. Poverty forced Philomelos to improvise. He used whatever money he had to purchase two oxen and invented the wagon to support himself by ploughing and cultivating the land. Demeter rewarded his ingenuity by placing him among the stars as Bootes, the ox-driver.

Unfortunately for the young god, Zeus was determined to prevent him from favouring exclusively righteous men, so he blinded him. The epic poet Hesiod described him as a kindly god who went everywhere over land and the sea's broad back to bestow his benevolence on anyone who managed to capture him. The author of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter celebrated those among men on earth whom they [Demeter and Persephone] freely love. They were truly blessed because the goddesses would send Plutus, who gives wealth to mortals, as a guest to their house. Diodorus Siculus credited Plutus with introducing diligence into man’s life and acquiring and safeguarding property. Apparently, before his birth, people neglected to guard their possessions. 

According to the Christian author Hippolytus, the hierophant in Eleusis appeared in the Telesterion bathed in the light of a great fire and shouted the sacred words “Our Lady [Demeter] has borne a holy Son [either Plutus or Dionysos], Brimo Brimos.” The meaning of these words or the veracity of the account is disputed, but Hippolytus’ account remains a majestic reminder of Plutus’ connection to Demeter and his importance for the mystai and their future prosperity.