Hearing this, Demeter was certain that something terrible had happened to her.ĭemeter began searching the world over for her missing daughter. With no other witnesses, she had no idea where Persephone had gone.Īccording to some sources, Persephone had only had time to let out a single scream before she was taken into the Underworld. Others said that they were so frightened that they could not speak.Įither way, Demeter could receive no information from them when she realized that her daughter was missing. Some versions of the story claimed that the nymphs who were with her that day fled in terror. One day when the younger goddess was collecting flowers with some nymphs, Hades burst out of the Underworld in his chariot and grabbed her, pulling her to the land of the dead and closing the entrance before anyone could react. They waited for one of the rare moments when Persephone and her mother were not together. The two gods decided, therefore, not to tell Demeter what they had planned for her daughter. She would not want to be separated from her beloved daughter, who would be taken to the Underworld as the bride of Hades. He knew, however, that Demeter would object. His brother was the lord of his own realm and a powerful god, so he felt that it was a good match that would benefit both. As the king of the gods, and possibly her father, he had the right to arrange her marriage to the man he chose. Zeus, however, decided that Persephone’s time as a young maiden who spent all her time with her mother would come to an end. Persephone was known for her beauty and grace. One of the most popular versions of the story claimed that Zeus was her father, although others did not name him.ĭemeter was extremely devoted to her daughter and the two were constant companions. The Story of Hades and PersephoneĪccording to Greek mythology, Persephone was the beautiful young daughter of Demeter, the goddess of grain. The Hades and Persephone story illustrated not only marriage, but also the complex relationship between life and death in the ancient world. ![]() ![]() While the Greeks had a much different idea of marriage than modern readers, many saw the union of Hades and Persephone as one of the most important among the gods. Modern readers examine the kidnapping of the young goddess into a forced marriage. This myth is a symbol of the budding and dying of nature.In both the ancient world and the modern one, the marriage story of Hades and Persephone has been one of the most often-discussed in Greek mythology.Īncient people saw the marriage of the god of the dead and the goddess of spring as the heart of the cycles of the seasons and of life and death. When Persephone was in Hades, Demeter refused to let anything grow and winter began. The other months she stayed with her mother. When she later ate of it, it bound her to underworld forever and she had to stay there one-third of the year. Hades grudgingly agreed, but before she went back he gave Persephone a pomegranate (or the seeds of a pomegranate, according to some sources). Knowing this could not continue much longer, Zeus sent Hermes down to Hades to make him release Persephone. ![]() Demeter was so angry that she withdrew herself in loneliness, and the earth ceased to be fertile. None but Zeus, and the all-seeing sun, Helios, had noticed.Broken-hearted, Demeter wandered the earth, looking for her daughter until Helios revealed what had happened. One day, when she was collecting flowers on the plain of Enna, the earth suddenly opened and Hades rose up from the gap and abducted her. Persephone was such a beautiful young woman that everyone loved her, even Hades wanted her for himself. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Persephone is the goddess of the underworld in Greek mythology.
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