Page 17 - Annonce Dergi | İzmir Özel Saint-Joseph Fransız Lisesi

Who is Persephone?

Persephone, the daughter of Demeter who was kidnapped by he couldn’t do anything about the situation and Persephone would
Hades.This story represents the change of the seasons. The myth stay with Hades.
of Persephone was very popular in the ancient times and her story In the underworld Persephone was starving although she was
was symbolized in the Eleusinian Mysteries. not accepting any food from Hades. While she was walking
According to Greek Mythology, Persephone was the daughter of around she came upon a pomegranate and she finally ate it. It was
Zeus and Demeter. Persephone was also called Kore, which means a trap set by Hades and now she was trapped and forced to be with
“maiden”. As she matured, she became a beautiful young lady him in the Underworld. This was the food of the Underworld and
who caught the attention of numerous gods. However, Demeter every time someone ate even a few seeds of this, after a while they
had an obsession for her only daughter and tried to keep her safe would miss life in the Underworld and they would never wanna
and sound. leave. During the gathering before Zeus, when the maiden was
Hades, the ruler of the Underworld became captivated by asked where she would want to be, she replied that she wanted to
Persephone’s beauty, being her most enduring admirer. When he stay with her husband. After hearing this Demeter understood that
asked Demeter to marry her daughter, Demeter got furious and said Hades had done something to her daughter and she got furious.
there wasn’t a chance for that to ever happen. Hades was heart- A great fight followed and Demeter threatened that she would
broken and he wanted to marry Persephone no matter what. One never make the earth fertile again and everything on Earth would
day, Persephone was gamboling in a meadow with a freshwater die. To put an end to the famine, Zeus decided that Persephone
nymph. While admiring a narcissus flower they felt the world would spend 6 months with her husband and 6 months with her
shake beneath their feet and soon the earth split and an ominous mother on Olympus. This compromise satisfied neither of them
figure arose. It was Hades. Then Hades grabbed Persephone and but they had no choice but to accept it. Persephone became the
dragged her into the Underworld and the gap in the earth closed Queen of the Underworld.
after them. Nymph shed tears with such intensity she dissolved, For the living things on Earth Persephone’s arrival represented
becoming one with the water. the start of spring. Each time she went back to the Underworld her
The whole incident had been witnessed by Zeus, father of mother mourned, and the earth became frigid and barren, making
Persephone and brother of Hades, as well as by Helios, god of the the onset of winter. Knowing Demeter couldn’t be roused from her
Sun. Zeus chose silence regarding the matter to avoid confrontation grief, the humans stocked their crops and supplies for winter and
with his brother, while Helios thought it would be better if he awaited Persephone’s return.
stayed out of this situation that didn’t concern him. Heartbroken Therefore, this myth was created to explain the change of the
Demeter looked around the earth looking for her daughter until her seasons, the eternal cycle of Nature’s death and rebirth.
good friend Hecate, goddess of wilderness and childbirth, advised
her to ask for the help of Helios. Helios felt sorry for Demeter and Ilgın Baysan
told her that Hades had kidnapped her daughter. Demeter became
incensed, so she chose to punish the gods and express her sorrow
by quitting her duties. This action had terrible results, the earth
dried up, all of the crops died and humans and animals suffered
from famine .
People who were suffering reached Zeus so he realized that if he
wouldn’t do something about Demeters rage, all humanity would
disappear and there would no longer be humans or any living thing.
So he started to look for another way to please both Demeter and
Hades. He assured Demeter that her daughter would return if it
could be proven that Persephone remained with Hades. Otherwise

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