Persephone was a high-spirited, sunny girl who loved springtime and flowers and running outdoors with her friends. She was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and she and her mother spent more time on earth than on Mount Olympus.
One bright day on earth Persephone was picking lilies and violets with her friends. She could not gather enough of them, though her basket was overflowing.
“Persephone, it is time to go home," called her friends.
"Just one minute longer," she called back. "I see the sweetest flower of all- a narcissus, I think. I must have one." She wandered into a far corner of the meadow, and just as she was about to pick the narcissus, she heard a deafening noise. Suddenly the earth split open at her feet. Out dashed a golden chariot pulled by black horses and driven by a stern-faced man in black armor.
Persephone dropped her basket and started to run, but the driver grabbed her by the wrist. He pulled her into his chariot, which descended back into the earth as quickly as it had risen. Then the earth closed up after it.
Persephone screamed and wept, but her friends could not
hear her. Though they searched for her everywhere, all they found was her basket, with a few crushed flowers lying next to it.
Down into the earth the chariot sped, through dark caverns and underground tunnels, while Persephone cried, "Who are you? Where are you taking me?"
"I am Hades, king of the underworld, and I am taking you there to be my bride."
"Take me back to my mother," screamed Persephone. "Take me back."
"Never!” said Hades. "For I have fallen in love with you. Your sunny face and golden hair will light up my dark palace."
The chariot flew over the river Styx where Charon, the boatman, was ferrying ghostly souls across the water. "Now we are at the gate to my kingdom," said Hades, as they landed next to the huge three-headed dog who guarded it.
Persephone shivered, and Hades said, "Oh, that is Cerberus. He guards the gate so that no live mortals enter and no souls of the dead escape. Nobody escapes from the underworld."
Persephone became speechless. Never escape from this terrible place full of pale, shadowy ghosts, wandering through stony fields full of pale, ghostly flowers!
Beautiful Persephone, who loved sunshine, became Hades' queen and sat on a cold throne in his cold palace. Hades gave her a gold crown and bright jewels, but her heart was like ice and she neither talked nor ate nor drank.
Persephone's mother, Demeter, knew that something terrible had happened to her daughter. She alone had heard Persephone's screams, which had echoed through the mountains and over the sea.
Demeter left Olympus, disguised as an old woman, and wandered the earth for nine days and nine nights, searching for her daughter. She called to the mountains and rivers and sea, "Persephone, where are you? Come back. Come back." But there was never an answer. She did not weep, for goddesses do not cry, but her heart was heavy. She could not eat or drink or rest, so deep was her grief.
Finally she reached a place called Eleusis, not far from the spot where Persephone had disappeared. There a prince named Triptolemus recognized her and told her this story: "Over a week ago, my brother was taking care of the royal pigs. He heard a thundering noise, and the earth opened up. Out rushed a chariot, driven by a grim-faced man. He grabbed a beautiful young girl, and down into the earth they went. They were swallowed up, along with the pigs."
"That man must have been Hades," cried Demeter. "I fear that he has kidnapped my daughter."
Demeter hurried to the sun, Helios, who sees everything. And the sun confirmed Demeter's fears. Demeter cried, "Persephone, my gay, lovely daughter, is imprisoned in the underworld, never again to see the light of day or the flowers of spring."
Then Demeter became stony and angry and she caused the
earth to suffer with her. The earth became cold and barren. Trees did not bear fruit, the grass withered and did not grow again, and the cattle died from hunger. A few men succeeded in plowing the hard earth and sowing seeds, but no shoots sprouted from them. It was a cruel year for mankind. If Demeter continued to withhold her blessings from the earth, people would
perish from hunger.
Zeus begged Demeter to let the earth bear fruit again, but Demeter said, "The earth will never be green again. Not unless my daughter returns!"
Then Zeus knew that he must take action to save people from starvation. "I will see that Persephone returns," he told Demeter, "but only on one condition. She must not have eaten any of the food of the dead."
Zeus sent Hermes, messenger of the gods, down to the underworld to ask Hades for Persephone's release. When Persephone saw that Hermes had come to take her home, she became lively and smiled and talked for the first time that year.
To her delight, Hades did not protest but said, "Go, my child. Although I love you, I cannot keep you here against Zeus's will. But you must eat a little something before you leave, to give you strength for your journey." Then he gave Persephone several seeds from a red pomegranate, which was the fruit eaten by the dead. He knew that if she ate even one, she would have to return to him.
Persephone ate four seeds quickly. Then she climbed into the golden chariot and waved good-by. Hermes drove her to earth, to the temple where Demeter waited, and mother and daughter hugged and laughed and said they would never be parted again. Then Demeter remembered Zeus's warning and said, "I hope you did not eat anything while you were in the underworld."
“I was too sad to eat,” said Persephone. "I didn't eat or drink all year."
"Not anything at all?” said Demeter.
"Oh, just a few little pomegranate seeds before I left," said Persephone. "Why do you ask?"
"Because, my dearest," cried Demeter, "if you have eaten any of the food of the dead, you must return to Hades."
Zeus heard the loud wails of Demeter and her daughter, and he decided to compromise. Persephone must spend just four months of each year in the underworld, one for each of the seeds she had eaten. The rest of the year she could be with her mother on earth. That is why every year, for four months, the earth becomes cold and barren. Persephone is in the dark underworld and Demeter is overcome with grief.
And every year, when Persephone returns to earth, she brings spring with her. The earth is filled with flowers and fruits and grasses. And summer and autumn, the seasons of growth and harvest, follow in their natural order. Every year Demeter and the whole earth rejoice that Persephone has returned.
From Greek Gods and Heroes by Alice Low
Illustrations by Arvis Stewart
Simon and Schuster, Books for Young Readers 1985
Macmillan publishing Company New York