Winter and Summer

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Persephone. The ancient Greeks believed she was the daughter of their chief god, Zeus. Her mother was Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. Persephone was very beautiful, and lots of gods wanted to marry her.  So did Hades, who ruled the Underworld. It was gloomy and dark down there, living with all the dead people, and Hades thought Persephone was just what he needed to cheer him up!  But neither Demeter nor Persephone were at all keen on the idea… Hades was furious and decided to get her somehow or other, no matter what.

Persephone often went outside and for walks with her friends. One day she went to pick some wild flowers, and she saw a gorgeous narcissus. As she bent down, the ground turned into a sink hole and Hades popped out with his coach and horses. He grabbed Persephone, and took her down into his underground Kingdom. The sink hole closed up again. This all happened very quickly.

Because of this, none of the other girls noticed. They had no idea where Persephone had gone. However, Zeus knew: he often watched what his daughter was doing, and also he was Hades’ brother, and he wondered what Hades was up to with her. But Zeus didn’t do anything, and neither did Helios, the Sun God, who had watched it all.

Demeter was very worried when her daughter didn’t come home and went to look for her. A friend said ”Why not ask Helios to help?” So Demeter did. Helios told her that Persephone had been kidnapped by Hades.  Demeter wanted to take revenge, but Helios said that Persephone would be a Queen (in Hades) and that wasn’t so bad, was it?

Demeter just didn’t agree. She thought it would be awful for her daughter to live down in the Underworld with Hades and the dead.  She was furious with Zeus, and also because she was so upset, she decided not to do her work as goddess of the harvest. This was awful. The earth dried up, crops and plants died, and the animals and people did too as there was nothing for them to eat.

Zeus heard the cries of the starving and suffering. He realized he had to do something or everyone would die.  He needed a solution that would satisfy both Demeter and Hades. He promised Demeter to restore her daughter Persephone to her if Hades was keeping her against her will. Otherwise, she would belong to him.

Somehow, Hades learnt about this. Persephone cried all day and night, but he persuaded her to eat a few seeds of pomegranate. This was the food of the Underworld and if someone ate it, it meant that he or she would want to live there.  

Zeus called Hades and Persephone, and he asked Persephone where she wanted to live. She said she wanted to live with her husband. When Demeter heard this, she was furious and accused Hades of tricking her daughter. Demeter said the earth would never grow anything again, and that everyone would die. To stop this, Zeus said that Persephone was to spend 6 months with her husband in the Underworld, and 6 months with her mother. No-one was happy, but they had to accept this solution.

So the beautiful Persephone became the wife of Hades and Queen of the Underworld. During the six months there, her mother was sad and did nothing for the harvest. According to the ancient Greeks, these were the months of Autumn and Winter, when nothing grows. Whenever Persephone went to live with her mother, Demeter would shine from happiness and the land became fertile and fruitful again. These were the months of Spring and Summer.

So the story of Persephone explains the changing seasons.

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