Persephone

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Persephone ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ Lois, Sarah, and Sally Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. One day she was frolicking in the country with her friends when suddenly the earth opened up and she was kidnapped by Hades, the God of the Underworld. Hades told Persephone that he had plotted her kidnapping with her father, and professed his love to her. Hades wanted Persephone to stay in the Underworld with him, but Persephone wanted to go home to her mother. Demeter, consumed by depression with the disappearance of her daughter, forgot her duties as Goddess of Grain and Growth, causing all of the plants to wither and die. She became enraged, and flew to the home of Zeus, demanding that Persephone be found immediately. She also asked every immortal being she could find about her daughter's whereabouts, until Zeus's plot was uncovered. Zeus, trying to be a good husband and make his wife happy, sent Hermes, a messenger, to the Underworld to retrieve Persephone.

When Hermes arrived at the Underworld, he discovered Persephone had taken well to her new location, and was now the Queen of the Dead. She was in charge of greeting new arrivals and getting them settled to death. She loved her position, however she was torn by the desire to see her mother and remaining Hades' wife. Hades came to his Queen with a pomegranate, telling her to eat. As she ate 3 seeds he told her that he would miss her very much, but she had daughterly duties as well. Hades sent Persephone back to the home of her mother with Hermes.

Demeter was overjoyed with the return of her daughter, and caused all of the flowers to blossom and grow again. However, there was the unmistakeable stain of red on Persephone's lips from the pomegranate. Zeus had said that the only way she could return was if she remained as pure as the day she had left. She had experienced life, and could not be forgiven. However, Zeus loved Persephone too much to send her to the Underworld forever without her ever returning to Demeter. So, every spring Persephone returns to live with her mother, bringing flowers and telling the stories of rebirth and growth. Each fall she leaves for the Underworld, causing her mother to mourn and bring winter while she waits for Persephone's return.




 * Tip-offs:**
 * pomegranates
 * eating forbidden fruit
 * the underworld (Hades/Pluto)
 * Demeter
 * seasons: spring: seeds, flowers, growth, new beginnings, earth
 * winter: dying plants, cold, halting of growth
 * kidnapping


 * Allusions:**
 * Persephone appears in many works of literature. Perhaps most notable she appears in Homer's //Iliad...//
 * "09.457 ...When Phoinix’s (Phoenix) father learned that his son had seduced his mistress, he called down curses on his son and named the Furies, Zeus of the Underworld, i.e. Hades, and Persephone
 * 09.569 ...Phoinix (Phoenix) tells Akhilleus (Achilles) about the stubbornness of Meleagros (Meleager) and how Meleagros’ mother had prayed to Hades and Persephone for the death of her own son" (mythagora.com)
 * ..and the //Odyssey//
 * **"**10.491 ...Kirke (Circe) tells Odysseus that he must go to the house of Hades and Persephone and seek out the ghost of the dead prophet, Teiresias
 * 10.494 ...Persephone had granted intelligence, even after death, only to the prophet Teiresias
 * 11.226 ...While at the entrance to the Underworld, Odysseus encountered the ghosts of many dead women sent to him by proud Persephone
 * 11.385 ...While at the entrance to the Underworld, Odysseus saw the ghosts of the women depart, scattered by Persephone
 * 11.634 ...Odysseus feels genuine fear before he finally leaves the Underworld; he fears that Persephone will send the head of the Gorgon from the house of Hades to attack him" (mythagora.com)


 * Examples of Persephone in modern culture**
 * "In the video game: Ogre Battle 64, the Goddess Danika, was seduced by Demunza, the king of the netherworld by eating a cursed fruit, which turned her into the queen of the netherworld. However, when she is summoned by someone pure of heart, she will revert to her goddess form." (Wikipedia)
 * Persephone and Hades are referenced in the Percy Jackson novel series.




 * Significance:**
 * Every time we eat a pomegranate we enter into an unbreakable marriage with Satan (not really)
 * References to the changing seasons can be allusions to Persephone
 * Good to know about Greek mythology, because allusions to the stories pop up everywhere.