Persephone was the Greek goddess of the Spring. The story of Persephone and her mother Demeter, goddess of the Harvest, served as an explanation of the seasons.According to myth, Hades, the God of the Underworld, fell in love with Persephone’s beauty as she played in a lush field picking flowers.
He kidnapped her to be his bride and carried her off screaming to the underworld. Distraught at losing her daughter, Demeter withheld her nurturing touch and all plant life on earth shrivelled and died. There were no flowers, fruit, vegetables, or grain.
For a year mankind starved until the other Gods forced Hades to relinquish Persephone to her mother. Upon their reunion, the bleak fields immediately burst with life and colour; gardens again offered their bounty and man was saved.
However, before leaving the underworld, Persephone ate a few pomegranate seeds. The law of the land proscribed that if you eat food of the dead, you must return to the dead: so, for each seed she ate, she was required to return to Hades for one month each year. That annual departure from earth reignited her mother’s anguish, causing winter.
Persephone’s return to earth and reunion with Demeter each year ushered in spring. As long as Persephone was on earth, Demeter allowed flowers to bloom and crops to flourish. When she was gone, fields froze.
great story. a couple more pics would be good
ReplyDelete