The myth of Hades and Persephone - Iseult Gillespie
Every year before the ancient Greeks
sowed their seeds of grain,
they celebrated Demeter,
the goddess of agriculture.
On Earth, each morsel of food
was sweet sustenance,
while in the land of the dead,
it ensured a permanent stay.
Demeter tended to Earth’s fields
with her beloved daughter, Persephone,
who inherited her mother’s passions
and grew into a bright young woman.
But all the while, a shadowy figure
watched from below.
One day, Persephone was frolicking
in a meadow
with a freshwater nymph, Cyane.
As they admired a blooming
narcissus flower,
they noticed it tremble in the ground.
Suddenly, the earth split,
and a terrifying figure arose.
It was Hades, god of the dead
and the underworld.
He wrenched Persephone from Cyane,
dragged her into his inky chariot,
and blasted back through the earth.
Cyane wept so hard she dissolved,
becoming one with the river.
By the time Demeter arrived
at the scene of the abduction,
the crater in the meadow had closed—
and Cyane and Persephone had vanished.
Demeter sped to Mount Olympus for help.
Many of the gods had witnessed the scene.
And they knew about the deal
that paved the way for it:
Zeus, Persephone’s father,
had granted Hades her hand in marriage
without her consent— or Demeter’s.
But when faced with Demeter’s pleas,
the other gods stayed silent,
So, she searched alone.
In her grief and desperation,
she neglected her usual tasks.
Crops withered, and a great famine
plagued the Earth.
As mortals began to perish,
the gods grew wary.
Who would worship them and
offer tributes if the humans disappeared?
So, Zeus ordered Demeter to stop
her crusade and returned to her duties.
But she refused.
Deep below, across the frigid river Styx,
and through the halls of the underworld,
Persephone was waging her own protest.
Hades expected her to serve
as his wife and queen.
But Persephone rebuffed the god’s advances
and refused food.
As she longed for her mother’s company,
her friends’ laughter,
and the sun’s warmth,
Persephone grew colder and lonelier.
And she was starving.
She hungered for satisfying grains,
crisp vegetables and fresh fruit.
Wandering the ghostly gardens,
she contemplated the pomegranates
that hung heavily on their branches...
Meanwhile, Demeter continued her hunt.
She appealed to the all-seeing sun god,
Helios,
whose rays had long warmed her crops.
Indeed, when Helios drew his golden
chariot across the sky that fateful day,
he saw what happened—
and he knew of the deal.
Out of respect and sympathy for Demeter,
Helios told her of Hades’ demands,
Zeus’ betrayal and Persephone’s abduction.
Furious and heartbroken, Demeter sped
to Mount Olympus and confronted Zeus,
demanding their daughter’s return.
But Zeus declined: in her ravenous hunger,
Persephone had eaten a few seeds from the
pomegranate that grew in the underworld.
Though a meager amount, it was enough
to ensnare her in Hades forever.
Demeter wouldn't accept this fate.
She swore that if she wasn’t
reunited with Persephone,
the fields would never be fertile again,
and the distinction between the Earth
and the underworld would soon dissolve.
So, they made a pact.
For two thirds of every year, Persephone
would return to the land of the living,
But for the remainder, she would stay
in the world of the dead.
When Persephone ascended to Earth,
she and her mother rejoiced.
Together, they showered the fields
with rain and nurtured them with sun.
For mortals, Persephone’s arrival came
to herald the start of spring.
But her descent always came too soon.
Each time she returned to Hades,
Demeter mourned,
and the earth grew cold,
dark, and unyielding,
ushering in the winter months.
Knowing Demeter couldn’t be roused
from her grief,
the humans stored their crops,
stoked their fires,
and awaited Persephone’s safe return.
And so it was that her transit marked
the gradual turning of the seasons
and the bittersweet compromise
between life and death.
