This story comes from Ancient Greece and tells the story of
Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest.
In the days when gods and goddesses walked on the Earth, the
three most powerful gods were brothers. Zeus was ruler of the
sky, Poseidon was god of the sea and Hades was the Lord of the
Underworld.
The Underworld was a terrible place, a place without light,
where the spirits of the dead went. Having entered the
underworld, and having eaten there, no-one was allowed to
re-enter the world of the living.
A beautiful girl lived on the Earth and her name was
Persephone.
One day Hades visited Earth and rode past Persephone while she
was gathering flowers in a field. He was dazzled by her beauty.
He wanted her. And being one of the three most powerful gods, he
kidnapped her and drove off in his chariot.
Persephone was terrified. She was pinned to the floor of
Hades' chariot while he drove faster and faster, down and down,
into the darkness of the underworld. In the black halls of Hades,
Persephone crouched and cried, refusing all food, refusing to
speak to the god who had snatched her away. Days passed.
Persephone's hunger grew. At last she could resist no longer, she
ate some pomegranate seeds and, having eaten, she could not
return to the world above.
Meanwhile, her Mother, the goddess Demeter, grew distracted.
She knew what had happened but she could do nothing. She raged
all the more because she was powerless against Hades. She went to
Zeus, the king of gods, and she begged him to bring about
Persephone's return. Zeus could not bear Demeter's crying. Her
tears were destroying the harvest. He had to do something.
Unfortunately, he was too late to stop Persephone eating the
Pomegranate seeds. The rules of the Underworld had to be obeyed.
Yet, Zeus being Zeus, the rules could be stretched a little. He
sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to strike a deal with
Hades. The deal was this. Persephone would marry Hades and remain
Queen of the Underworld, living there half the year. In the
spring she could return to earth, and live there in the warm,
bright light of the summer.
And this is what happened. While Persephone lives in the
underworld, the days are short and dark and cold. But with her
return to Earth in the spring, the flowers start to bloom, the
leaves to bud, and the birds to sing in the sky.
The Creation Stories
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