In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, we see this description of Dēmophōn as an infant hero:
|233 And so it came to pass that the splendid son of bright-minded Keleos, |234 Dēmophōn, who was born to the one with the beautiful waist, Metaneira, |235 was nourished in the palace, and he grew up [aexeto] equal [īsos] to a superhuman force [daimōn], |236 not eating grain, not sucking from the breast. But Demeter |237 used to anoint him with ambrosia, as if he had been born of the goddess, |238 and she would breathe down her sweet breath on him as she held him to her bosom. |239 At nights she would conceal him within the power source [menos] of fire, as if he were a smoldering log, |240 and his dear [philoi] parents were kept unaware. But they marveled |241 at how full in bloom he came to be, and to look at him was like looking at the gods.
Homeric Hymn to Demeter 233-241
I highlight the wording that describes the hero Dēmophōn as he is being nurtured by the goddess Demeter: ‘he grew up [aexeto] equal [īsos] to a superhuman force [daimōn]’ (verse 235); and I highlight the parallel wording that describes the hero Achilles as he in turn is being nurtured by the goddess Thetis: ‘he shot up [an-e-dramen] equal [īsos] to a seedling [ernos] (verse 56). These descriptions, replete with vivid imagery centering on the wilting of plants, are typical of cult heroes who are destined to die and then receive as compensation some form of immortalization after death.