Demeter

Hello, my name is Demeter, and I love to make the world grow. Long ago, when the world was always sunny and warm, I would walk through fields of golden wheat and paint the meadows with wildflowers. My greatest joy was my daughter, Persephone, whose laughter was as bright as the sun. We were always together, but one day, everything changed. This is the story of how the seasons began, a myth the ancient Greeks told to understand the world: the story of Demeter and Persephone.

One afternoon, while Persephone was picking flowers in a meadow, the ground rumbled and a mysterious, shadowy chariot appeared. It was Hades, the quiet king of the world below, who was lonely and wanted a queen. He gently took Persephone with him down to his shimmering, underground kingdom. When I realized my daughter was gone, my heart filled with sadness. I searched every corner of the earth, calling Persephone’s name, but there was no answer. As my sorrow grew, I forgot to care for the world. The flowers drooped, the leaves on the trees turned brown and fell, and a cold chill filled the air. The warm, sunny world became quiet and gray. This was the very first autumn and winter. People who lived on the earth were cold and hungry, and they wondered why I, the goddess of the harvest, was so sad that I had let the world fall asleep.

Finally, the other gods on Mount Olympus saw my sadness and the sleeping earth. Zeus, the king of the gods, sent a messenger to the Underworld to ask Hades to let Persephone return. Hades agreed, but before Persephone left, she ate a few tiny, jewel-like seeds from a pomegranate. Because she had eaten food in the Underworld, she had to return for a few months every year. When Persephone and I were reunited, my happiness made the world bloom again. The sun shone brightly, flowers burst from the ground, and the trees grew new green leaves. This was the first spring. Now, every year, when Persephone returns to me, we have spring and summer. When she goes back to the Underworld, I miss her, and we have the quiet, sleepy seasons of autumn and winter. This story helped people long ago understand the beautiful, changing cycle of the seasons.