The Myth of Hades and Persephone
The myth of Hades and Persephone is one of the well known Greek myths.
Hades was the brother of Zeus and the god of the underworld.
Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, the Goddess of nature.
The myth of Hades and Persephone is one more myth of love and abduction in the
Greek mythology.
Hades and Persephone: the beginning of the myth
Hades fell in love with Persephone and decided to kidnap her. The myth says that in
one of the rare times he left the Underworld, he traveled above ground to pursue her,
while she was gathering flowers in a field.
One day Hades, God of the Underworld, saw Persephone and instantly fell in love
with her. Hades told his secret in his brother Zeus, asking for help, so the two
of them made up a plan to trap her. As Persephone played with her companions
(nymphs), they made the ground split underneath her.
Persephone slipped beneath the Earth and Hades stole her to the Underworld where
he made her his wife.
The myth says that Persephone was very unhappy, but after much time, she came to
love the cold-blooded Hades and lived happily with him.
Goddess Demeter (mother) trying to find Persephone
Demeter rushed back to where she had left Persephone, her daughter and found
only the Cyane river there with the other nymphs weeping. Worried as she was, she
asked all as to the whereabouts of her beloved daughter.
Nobody could tell her anything at all; and she was very furious that they couldn’t
protect her daughter, she cursed all the nymphs into monsters with urgly bodies and
rough feet, called the sirens. It was only the river Cyane who helped her by washing
over the belt of Persephone, indicating that something seriously wrong had
happened.
Demeter went mad and hunted for her daughter everywhere. The myth says that she
even disguised herself as an aged lady and with lighted torched in her hands roamed
the Earth for nine long days and nine long nights.
Finally, she met Hekate, the deity of magic, witchcraft, spirits and crossroads, at the
dawn of the 10th day who had pity at her mournful condition and asked her to seek
help from the all seeing Helios, the sun god. Helios told Demeter all about how
Hades had kidnapped Persephone into the underworld.
Persephone in the Underworld
Persephone’s mother, Demeter, begged her brother, Hades to allow Persephone to
come back to the livings, denoting that the young Persephone was not supposed to
live in the underworld. Hades consulted with Zeus; and they both decided to allow
Persephone to live on earth for six months each year, while the rest of the time she
would be on his side in the Underworld.
Before leaving the underworld, Persephone had been persuaded to eat four seeds of
a pomegranate. In ancient mythology, to eat the fruit of one’s captor meant that one
would have to return to that captor or country, so Persephone was destined to return
to the underworld for four months of the year. But she was allowed to spend the
remaining two-thirds of the year with her Earth Mother, Demeter.
The myth of Hades and Persephone is linked with the coming of Spring and Winter:
When Persephone comes to the Earth, it’s springtime. When she goes down to stay
with Hades, it is winter.