Demeter and her Daughter Persephone

by E2BN

Have you ever wondered how the seasons came about? Would you believe that it was all the result of a family drama?

Zeus, King of all the Gods, had a sister, Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest, responsible for the crops and for feeding the people. Demeter was loved by all humans for her gift of soil and gentle, mild weather to grow their crops. Persephone was Demeter’s only child. Like her mother, she was kind and caring, with a happy nature and the most dazzling smile. She was the sort of person who spread light and happiness wherever she went and so, naturally, she was loved by everyone but most especially by her mother.

So you can imagine how distraught Demeter was when her beloved daughter disappeared one day.

It happened like this. Persephone was wandering in the meadows gathering flowers for Demeter, when she espied the narcissus and stooped to savour its perfume in full. Unbeknown to Persephone, Hades, mighty ruler of the Underworld, had spied her on one of his trips to the world above. He was dazzled by her beauty and her elegance. He decided that he must have her as his wife. Knowing that Demeter would never agree to her daughter living with him in his gloomy world of the dead, he decided to visit his brother, Zeus, to discuss the matter. Surprisingly, the great god Zeus agreed to Hades’ plan, to abduct the young woman and take her to his realm.

Persephone glanced up from the magical bloom and noticed little birds anxiously fluttering like trapped moths in a spider’s web. The sky began to turn grey and then darkened still further until it was black. There was a deep rumble that seemed to shake the very air around her and the ground began to shift and shudder. A crack suddenly appeared in the surface of the earth and, as Persephone watched in fear, a great chasm opened up before her. With a deafening boom, a hiss of steam and clouds of inky-black, billowing smoke Hades appeared, driving his horse drawn chariot of black and gold. Persephone froze in shock, the freshly picked flowers spilling from her fingers. Hades leant from the chariot, scooped her up and turned his horses back towards the opening. Persephone screamed, “Mother, mother, help me”, as down, deep down, into the widening crack in the earth the chariot plunged. Cavernous rocks split apart to make way. It was a world of sparse light; all black and grey.

Hades had led a sad and lonely life in the depths below, but now, could the dark lord of the underworld really be in love? Using all his powers of persuasion, he pleaded with her to stay and be his bride, to rule with him in the underworld. But this was not the world in which this beautiful, bright young woman wanted to live.

At first, Persephone cried until she had no more tears left to weep. She refused all offers of food, for she had heard the legend that those who eat in the Underworld can never return. Each day, Hades would bring dainty morsels to tempt her and declare his love. Each day, she turned away. However, gradually, she began to admire the soft, silky furnishings and the sparkling bejewelled surfaces.

One day, she turned and looked at Hades' dark, strong face and hypnotic eyes, filled with sadness and affection. He stretched out his hand and the girl tentatively put hers into it. “Come, my love, let me show you my domain. Come and see the world to which you bring such light and of which you can be Queen, if only you will marry me.”

Meanwhile, Demeter was beside herself with grief. She roamed the countryside, searching far and wide. The crops did not thrive, the land became barren and sorrow began to creep over the earth like a thick fog. “Who will help me find my daughter?” wailed Demeter with her arms lifted towards the sky.

It was at that moment that Helios, God of the Sun, took pity on the distraught Demeter and told her the truth. “Hades has stolen your daughter and taken her down to his dark realm to be his bride,” he explained. “Fair Demeter, I only tell you what I know. I am sorry to be the one … but Zeus himself agreed to the union.”

At that, Demeter’s wrath knew no bounds. Anger most terrible and most savage flared in her heart. She strode to the foot of Olympus and called upon Zeus to hear her oath. “Never again shall I let the ground be fruitful and yield its crops, until I once again behold my beloved daughter whom you have conspired to steal from me.”

Zeus, watching from on high and listening to his sister’s words, became worried by how events were turning out. “If the crops failed the people would be hungry,” he thought to himself, “and they would blame me and then who would worship me?” He had to do something. He sent Hermes, his messenger, to bring Persephone back.

Meanwhile, Hades' sincerity and patience were winning Persephone over. She still missed her mother terribly, but she had begun to enjoy the company of this elegant, powerful and adoring god, and was intrigued by the idea of being Queen of the Underworld.

As Hermes arrived, he saw Hades hold a pomegranate in his hand. “Persephone, I am so worried that you will fade away if you do not eat. Look at this sweet fruit, taste just a little.” Persephone carefully reached out her hand and took the luscious fruit to her lips. Deliberately, she swallowed just six seeds.

“Oh no!” Hermes thought, “I'm too late.” Persephone was now committed to Hades and the Underworld. Hades knew why Hermes was here, and knew that he would have to part with Persephone. But now she had eaten of her own free will, he also knew she would have to return to him.

“She has eaten six seeds,” said Hades triumphantly. “I am willing to let Persephone go to her mother for six months each year and for the following six months she will return to rule with me as my Queen.”

And so, it was agreed. Every Spring Demeter makes sure flowers blossom on the meadows and the mountains bloom to welcome home her loving daughter Persephone.

Every Autumn Demeter cries, the leaves fall and the crops are at an end, as her daughter returns, willingly, as Queen of the Underworld to Hades, her husband.

Until the Spring, when the cycle starts again!