The Abduction of Persephone

Perhaps the most intriguing love story of all time, among all of the Gods between King Hades and Persephone, Goddess of the Spring!

Persephone, the goddess of spring, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and fertility. Sometimes Persephone was also referred to as Kore, which means “maiden”. Persephone grew up to be a beautiful girl and she attracted the attention of many of the other gods, but Demeter was very protective of her only daughter and had an obsessive love of her, so she hid her away from all men.

Being an older god coupled with his personality, Hades was generally a hard, unyielding character that lived in the dark shadows of the Underworld with the Dead. It is said that when he looked upon Persephone though, his heart softened, and he felt more youthful and fresher.

Being a just and righteous man, Hades approached Demeter and asked for Persephone’s hand in marriage. Demeter was furious at this request and stated that there was absolutely no possibility that, that could happen. Walking away defeated and heart-broken, Hades decided that he must has Persephone not matter what, with any means necessary.

One day while Persephone was out playing with her friends and picking flowers in a valley, she noticed the most enchanting narcissus flower that she had ever seen. When she went to pick the flower, the Earth beneath her feet gave way and out came Hades riding on his chariot with his black horses. Before Persephone could cry out for help, Hades grabbed her and descended back into the Underworld with her as the gap in the Earth closed back up behind them.

While Persephone’s friends did not see the incident occur because it happened so quickly, there were others that did witness what had transpired: Zeus and Helios, the god of the Sun. Zeus decided not to say anything so that fight would not occur with his brother while Helios decided that it was not his place to get involved in anything that didn't concern him. When Demeter noticed that her only daughter was missing, she became distraught and heartbroken and began wandering the Earth looking for where Persephone could have gone. In Demeter’s distressed state, Hecate, goddess of wilderness and childbirth and a good friend to Demeter, approached her and told her that she ought to seek out the assistance of Helios, who is an all-seeing god.

Helios felt sorry for Demeter when she approached him in such a distraught state and as such, he reviled that Hades was the one that had taken Persephone. Demeter wanted to seek revenge against Hades for having taken Persephone, but Helios advised Demeter against it and stated that it might be better for Persephone to be the Queen of the Underworld alongside Hades because it would further advance and solidify her place amongst the gods.

Demeter didn’t particularly like Helios’ advice because she believed that Hades, who only spent his time amongst the dead, could not be a suitable husband for her wonderful daughter. Demeter next went to go see Zeus and was upset with him for not having revealed what had happened to their daughter to her, since Zeus is also an all-seeing god.

Zeus would not act against Hades despite Demeter’s cries so in her anguish, she sought to punish the gods by taking an indefinite leave from her godly duties as the goddess of the harvest and fertility. The effect that this had on the mortal realm was devastating and the Earth began to dry up, crops would not grow, animals were dying due to a lack of food and famine spread across all of humanity.

An increase of dead started to flood the Underworld and the cries of the mortals that were suffering on Earth reached Zeus where he finally realized that he must do something to end Demeter’s rather while also pleasing Hades desires. He decided that if it could be proven that Hades was holding Persephone against her will, then she could return to Demeter, but if not, Persephone was to stay with her husband Hades in the Underworld.

Hades had learned of this agreement between Demeter and Zeus and not wanting to lose his wife, he tricked her in that he gave her a pomegranate from the Underworld to eat. In the Underworld, if someone eats any food that is grown here, then they become bound to the Underworld and they must stay there. In addition, the more food that one eats, the less that they desire to return to the world of the living.

After committing to his agreement with Demeter, Zeus summoned Hermes to go to the Underworld and fetch Persephone so that she could confess to whether she wanted to stay in the Underworld and be with Hades or rejoin her mother.

When Persephone came up to Mount Olympus, before Zeus and Demeter, with Hades by her side, she confessed that she wanted to stay in the Underworld with Hades, being under the influence of pomegranate seeds.

After she had said this, Demeter went and confronted Persephone asking her if she had eaten anything from the Underworld, having known that eating anything would have bound her to the Underworld. When Persephone revealed that she had only eaten a pomegranate, Demeter became struck with grief because this had meant that she was bound to always stay the Underworld.

Zeus, having the interest of mortal men in mind and wanting to resolve the famine that they were experiencing at the hands of Demeter, stated that Persephone was bound to only stay in the Underworld for half of a year while during the other half she could return to the Overworld and spend time with her mother Demeter.

For mortals, these events caused them to experience the changes in seasons on Earth for when Persephone was with her mother Demeter, the Earth was plentiful and bountiful with vegetation and life, but for the other half of the year, during the fall and winter when Persephone would be with her husband in the Underworld, the Earth turned cold due to Demeter’s grief at being without her daughter.