Persephone

Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, goddess of life, death & agriculture, was the daughter of Demeter, by (surprise, surprise!) Zeus. Demeter was the goddess of the harvest and fertility and was essentially the Ancient Greek version of Mother Nature.

While Persephone was young, Demeter was happy and the world flourished; harvests were good and the sun shone. Persephone soon grew into a beautiful young lady. As such, she attracted the unwanted attention of many of the other gods, but her mother was protective and kept her hidden away from men.

 

This all changed when uncle Hades (brother to both Zeus and Demeter) saw Persephone and desired her for himself. His cold heart warmed at the sight of her youthful joy and he believed himself in love. At first, he approached Demeter and asked for her daughter’s hand in marriage, but was heart-broken when Demeter outright refused to allow her daughter to go with him.

 

Hades swore he would have Persephone and, with the approval of Zeus, he arranged to kidnap Persephone. One day Persephone went out to pick flowers in the valley, when she saw the most beautiful narcissus flower and stopped to pick it. As she did so, the ground beneath her opened up and Hades rode up on a chariot pulled by black horses. Before Persephone could react, Hades grabbed her and took her down to the underworld, marrying her and making her Queen of the Underworld.

 

Persephone’s kidnapping had been witnessed only by Zeus and Helios (the all-seeing Titan god of the sun) and both decided to keep silent and allow it to happen.

 

Persephone, naturally, was not all too pleased about this kidnapping and refused to eat. Meanwhile, her mother, Demeter, desperately mourned the loss of her child. She searched the world for Persephone, with the help of her friend Hecate (goddess of magic and childbirth), who held the torch during the search. Finally, Hecate advised Demeter to ask Helios after her daughter.

 

Demeter pleaded with Helios to tell her what had happened to Persephone and Helios eventually gave in, telling her that Persephone was in the underworld as Hades’ bride. She also discovered that Zeus knew about it all. Naturally, Demeter was infuriated and sought revenge, but Helios advised against that action. Demeter was a woman scorned and, as we all know, you do not want to mess with a woman scorned.

 

Demeter ceased all of her work for the Earth, causing the world of man to fall into ruin. Crops failed, the world grew cold and dark and the rains would not fall. All creatures of the earth started to die of the famine until eventually their cries of woe reached the ears of Olympus. Zeus finally realised he needed to step in and sent messenger god, Hermes, to the underworld to collect Persephone.

 

Persephone had wept day and night since her kidnapping and was overjoyed to see her mother again. however, the happy reunion was suddenly halted when it was discovered that Persephone had eaten six seeds of a pomegranate whilst in the underworld. Sources differ as to whether this was because she could not keep up her hunger strike, or because Hades had tricked her.

 

Due to ancient laws. her consumption of the pomegranate seeds meant that Persephone had to remain in the underworld. Demeter refused to allow it and Zeus proposed a compromise. Because she had only eaten six seeds, Persephone would remain in the underworld for six months of the year. The other six months she would spend on Olympus with Demeter.

 

This seemed to be a satisfactory result for the gods of Olympus. However Demeter was still not pleased with this. As such, after the six months of Persephone’s time with Demeter, during which the earth flourished, Persephone would return to the underworld, and to her husband, and at this point Demeter would once again avoid her duties, leaving the Earth to die.

 

This myth was used to explain the seasons. Summer was a happy and warm time because Demeter had her daughter by her side. As Persephone left for the underworld and Demeter left the earth to perish, the cold swept in and Autumn and Winter arrived. Then, when Persephone returned to Olympus, the sun would shine again and Spring would arrive.

 

The story of Persephone has been told and retold, with a fair few changes made along the way. In most modern adaptations, Persephone and Hades are a more happy couple and their story is one of forbidden love. But the myths of the ancient Greeks didn’t tend to have much free choice for the women in their stories and by all accounts, in the original tales Persephone did not consent to going with Hades, or remaining with him in the underworld, at least in the beginning of their relationship.