DEMETER and PERSEPHONE
Demeter was goddess of grain and fertility. There are hints
that she was the oldest of the gods
and goddesses, and, although she does not appear in the
stories where the gods defeated the
Titans, she has power beyond many of the gods with more
dramatic responsibilities.
But the most memorable story of Demeter has to do with her
daughter, Persephone (who, in a mystical way, is also young
Demeter herself). Persephone was beautiful, and beloved
of all who met her. Stories of Persephones beauty
and loveliness came to Hades, god of the underworld and
ruler of the dead, who is, himself, the underworld. He broke
open a crack in the earth, and stole Persephone to be his
wife.
Persephone was heartbroken, and wept to be allowed back
to the world of the living. But as sad as Persephone was,
Demeter was even more bitter; she allowed the earth to fall
into perpetual winter, and would not allow anything to grow.
Finally, Zeus, most powerful of the gods, forced Hades to
allow Persephone to return to the surface world. Before
she left, however, Hades gave Persephone a pomegranate,
and bid her eat it. It was a trap; too late, she swallowed
six of the pomegranate seeds. Hades demanded that she return
to his side for six months of every year, and allowed her
to return to the land of the living and to her mothers
side.
Demeter was delighted to see Persephone, and once more,
the crops grew and the world was in bloom. But every fall,
as Persephone prepares to return to Hades, Demeter is lost
in grief over her daughter, and allows the world to grow
cold and wintry again
until the coming of spring when
Persephone will return to her mother. Persephone herself
is usually portrayed as melancholy, always aware, even in
midsummer, that the day is coming all too soon when she
will have to descend again to Hades.