There are many versions of the Myth of Demeter and Persephone. I plan to use one of them at the front of the book, as it demonstrates the intensity of the mother-daughter bond.
Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest, controlled the seasons, performing the divine functions of nourishing the Earth, her daughter Persephone always by her side. One day Hades, God of the Underworld, saw Persephone and instantly fell in love with her. He asked his brother Zeus for help, and the two of them concocted a plan to trap her. One day, as the child played with her companions, they caused the ground to split underneath her. Persephone slipped beneath the Earth, and Hades stole her to the Underworld where he made her his wife. It is said that after much protest, Persephone came to love the cold-blooded Hades.
Consumed with rage and sorrow, Demeter abandoned her divine functions in order to look for Persephone. She went to Helios, the Sun God, and demanded the name of her daughter’s abductor. Helios told her it had been Hades, and said he thought Persephone might have done worse for herself. Far from being comforted by this information, Demeter continued to wander the Earth in misery. Vegetation languished, animals ceased to multiply, and the Hand of Death was everywhere.
With all of existence under threat, Zeus intervened, sending his messenger Hermes to demand Persephone’s release from Hades. He agreed to let her go only on condition that Persephone spend just two-thirds of the year with her mother, and return to him for the other third of the year, to live as his bride, Queen of the Underworld.
And so it was arranged that Persephone could be with her mother Demeter for two-thirds of the year, but would spend the remaining months with her husband. Accepting this compromise, Demeter agreed to let seeds sprout from the Earth for all but those three months — the time known as Winter — when Persephone was with Hades.
Thus, when Demeter and Persephone, Mother and Daughter, are together, the Earth flourishes with vegetation. But when Persephone returns to her husband in the underworld, the Earth once again becomes a barren realm. Whenever the seasons change, we remember Demeter and Persephone.
liked the summary – it appears there is a typo in the first sentence. Shouldn’t it say – Demeter, goddess of the harvest, controlled the seasons. Thought you would want to catch that.
Thank you so much! Do you know how many people have read this, with not one noticing my mistake until now? I always say, every writer deserves an editor. Thanks for acting as mine.–MS
Note re: paragraph 3: Hermes is the messenger of Zeus. (Mercury is the Roman equivalent.) This is a Greek myth so you might want to be consistent with the names.
Thanks for informing me; I’ve changed it to Hermes.–MS
This summary has really helped me! thx! I’m currently writing a greek mythology report for school and this was a quick reference that doesn’t go too much into depth but is still good!
Always glad to be of service–especially when I don’t get “too much into depth.” (chuckle)–MS
This summary was very well written and was very helpful for me. Thank u so much!:-)
this is a good review for me and it’s not long and boring like most stories about this topic, thanks mommy
This is a very good story and i’m glad there is one like this out here on the web with out the other mumbo-jumbo stuff on it. I like this a lot better because it is simple and easier to understand than most versions of this same myth.
Thank you. It’s funny, you are not the first to say something along these lines. I guess people need the info for school, and can’t find simple explanations. I’m just using the myth to show the agelessness of these kinds of situations among mothers and daughters, as a segue into my memoir. I read a few different versions of the myth and combined them to make one coherent story. — MS
how would you characterize the myth of its creative knowledge and think. i think that reading this is not a boondoggle and i hope you would hastily put more mythology of greek or roman nature, instead of this mother and daughter literature.
Um, I don’t know what you’re talking about in your first sentence, but as for the rest–I happen to be writing a memoir about myself and my mother and my daughter, not a book on mythology. So sorry to hear it doesn’t suit your purposes! — MS
Have you read Skellig by David Almond? Beautiful mother daughter relationship described and myth used poetically. I wanted a straightforward retelling of the myth but can’t use yours because I’m looking for very simple language – kind of hewn out of rock quality. Nice retelling, though. Thanks