PERSEPHONE, QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD.
The goddess Persephone, the innocent daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of corn, grain and the harvest. Who was abducted by Hades and became the queen of the underworld. The story was used by the ancient Greeks to explain the changing of seasons. The image of Persephone in people’s mind was a naive little girl who is stuck between the protection of the mother and the love of her husband.
It is said that Persephone, the lovely young maiden has a beauty that enchanted the Gods. However, Demeter had an obsessive love for her only daughter and kept her away from men. The most persistent among them all was Hades, the god of underworld & death. He was a middle-aged man, who lived in the dark among the
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One day, when she was playing and picking flowers with her friends in a valley, she was tempted by narcissus. When she bend down to pick the flower, the earth below her cracked open and Hades came out on his chariot with black horses. He grabbed her before she could scream for help and went to the underworld while the crack closed after them.
The girls did not notice the disappearance of Persephone since the whole incident happened in a flash. Unfortunately, it was witnessed by Zeus and Helios, the god of the Sun. Zeus kept it silent since he wanted to avoid a fight with his brother while Helios did not want to be involved with anything that did not concern him. Demeter was horrendously upset to have lost her daughter and began searching the world.
Demeter’s good friend, Hecate, the goddess of wilderness and childbirth suggest her to seek help from Helios. Helios felt sorry for her and told her that Persephone was kidnapped by Hades. In her anger at her daughter's loss, Demeter laid a curse on the world that caused plants to wither and die, and the land to become desolate. Upon hearing this, Zeus interfered and tried to bring her back to the living. However, since Persephone had eaten the seeds of a pomegranate while she was in the underworld, Hades had a claim on
In the myth “Persephone”, as retold by Anne Terry White, Hades falls instantly in love with the Goddess of harvest and takes her to the underworld with him. Have is all the sudden alarmed by the heaven, fire breathing beasts that had been buried underground, so he comes up to the land. Anthradite, Goddess of love, spots Hades and commands her son, Eros, to shoot with an arrow of love, hoping it would make Hades release the beasts kindly. Hades suddenly gets shot and his heart slowly begins to soften. Suddenly, in the distance, Hades sees Persephone, goddess of harvest, gracefully working in the meadows and he instantly falls in love with her. As a result, he decides to practically kidnap he and takes her down to the underworld with him.
(AGG)The greek goddess Demeter had a daughter, Persephone, who was kidnapped by Hades, she was brought to the underworld, “Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and brought down to the underworld. Demeter searched desperately everywhere for the maiden but could not find her”(Cartwright), Demeter’s loss of her daughter gave her a goal, but she was impacted and she became sad because she did not have her daughter by her side every day.
Hades was a bitter middle-aged man whose heart softened once he saw Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. So he kidnapped her and brought her down into the Underworld. Demeter had become infuriated with Hades and released her anger on the earth in the form of a time where no crops should grow. Meanwhile, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds which made her want
The Rape of Persephone began as a simple story of peace and unchanging atmosphere. Demeter, goddess of the earth, agriculture and fertility in general, withheld her gifts from the earth in an act of isolation and depression once she lost Persephone. Before tragedy struck, she was loved by all for providing a climate for crops to flourish year round.Persephone held the sweetest disposition and was admired by all who knew her- including the God of the dead, Hades. However, unbenounced to her and her mother, her father Zeus had agreed to the turmoil that would soon ensue. As Persephone quested for the most enchanting flower, Hades, “the lord of the dark underworld, the king of the multitudinous dead, carried her off underneath the earth, driving a
“From this gaping crevice in the ground emerged the awe-inspiring God of the Underworld, Hades, and before Persephone could even think to utter a word, she was whisked off her feet onto the God's golden chariot. As the crack of the whip upon his majestic horses brought her to her senses, she realized she was about to take into the black depths from which he would come. The thought of this brought terror to her heart, yet any screams of protest were soon lost within the darkness, as they descended quickly into the Underworld
Innocence and maturation are two key aspects of the human experience. The innocent mind allows you to live with less doubt and worry but it leaves you vulnerable to manipulation and people taking advantage of you. Thomas Hart Benton’s Persephone portrays the myth of Persephone and Hades. The Rape of Persephone goes as so; Zeus gives Persephone to Hades to have as his wife. Persephone is out and about and Hades takes her to the Underworld. A heartbroken Demeter, goddess of harvest and agriculture, Persephone’s mom, refuses to grow anything until Persephone returns. Persephone is allowed back but Hades tricks her, making her unable to leave the underworld permanently. Demeter compromises that Persephone can be in the Underworld part of the year but that nothing will grow while her daughter is away, forcing Persephone’s return and creating the seasons. Taking a new turn on the ancient myth, Benton sets the painting in a rural scene and illustrates a bare Persephone lying leisurely, surrounded by greenery with Hades and his chariot lurking behind her. The juxtaposition between the foliage, Persephone’s nude figure, and the wrinkled Hades in the background creates an imbalance between maturation and sexuality with a blithe young woman caught in the middle. Overall, Benton’s Persephone accentuates the bliss of naivete coinciding with the overwhelming malevolence and sexualization present in the world.
“Go in peace” she replied, “and be happy in your daughter; I have lost mine.” (Bulfinch’s Mythology, pg 54, para 1). The farmer and his daughter sat with Demeter and cried with her. They invited her to stay for the night and introduced her to the sick son of the farmer. Demeter healed the boy and tried to make him immortal, but was stopped by the farmer’s wife. Demeter left the farm still searching for Persephone. Demeter came across a river nymph that knew what happened to Persephone. She dared not to tell, because she fears Hades. The nymph did give Demeter the girdle that Persephone dropped. Demeter sure her daughter was dead blamed the earth. Blaming the earth Demeter stopped fertilizing the land. The cattle died, the crops weren’t growing, there was too much sun and rain. Seeing this the nymph told the goddess what she saw. The goddess Demeter heard this and rode her chariot to meet Zeus. Zeus agreed to help,
Demeter refused to do anything unless her daughter was returned back to her, so Zeus, fed up with Demeter's behavior, sent the messenger god, Hermes, to bring back Persephone from the underworld.
As she knelt down to pick a narcissus flower, she fell through a crack in the earth. Naturally, Demeter noticed her daughter's disappearance and flew all over the world searching for the fair maiden over nine days and nine nights. While doing so, she then abandoned her duty of blooming and creating the harvest for the humans. After asking around for her daughter, Demeter was told by the Sun God, Helios, that Hades had taken her. Although she knew where her daughter was, getting to the underworld was a huge obstacle even for a Goddess. Along her journey to find her daughter, Demeter had to avoid her abusive and vengeful brother, Poseidon. and Zeus, being the careless father he was, initially gave Hades the permission to take Persephone for all he wanted. But when the humans were starving from the lack of crops, He intervened the situation by forcing an agreement
Hades, Persephone and Demeter Page 1: Demeter 117 Have you ever sat and wondered how the four seasons were created? Are you curious to know when Summer met the sun, or why Autumn first let go of its leaves? This tale goes back to ancient times, back when people worshipped Demeter, the Greek goddess of the harvest. Demeter cared for everything that grew on Earth, every plant, fruit and grain. She taught men and women how to plant seeds and plough fields.
At the moment of Persephone’s abduction, she began to loudly protest but no one heard her cry for help, aside from her own mother. Demeter is allowed to spend time with Persephone after she threatens the gods by creating famine which restricts offerings. Making this arrangement with Zeus put Demeter in a position of power. In most situations, men had much more control over their own lives although some women, like Demeter, made their voice heard. However, this shift in power is temporary and partial.
The Homeric Hymn to Demeter addresses the fate of Persephone is in the hands of others and is removed from freedom of choice as she is portrayed as a minor. In effect, it is symbolic of the power family holds as the actions of her mother, her father Zeus and her husband Hades determine her path. The text accustoms nickname Persephone throughout the passage as the ‘Core’, the ‘Girl’, or ‘Virgin’. These nicknames assume her role as an underage girl not responsible for her life decisions. The Hymn begins with highlighting the role of the patriarch in a family Zeus as both the head of the family and the other gods who must defer to him as he arranges Hades to take Persephone against her will. As Demeter struggles with the mourn and loss of her child she begins to abandon her reproduction responsibilities and Persephone is ordered to go to the side of your dark robed mother. However, Hades persuades Persephone to eat pomegranate seeds, representing the loss of her innocence as it spiritually bounds her to Hades. Zeus accustomed to be acknowledges as the father of justice and good government rectifies the issue with the arrangement that Persephone remains with Hades however returns to her mother and the Gods for 2 thirds of the year. The Fate of Persephone portrays the common marriage cycle that pertained in Ancient Greece whereby it held the connotation of death for the maiden and submission and adaptation into their Fathers orders.
As the myth goes, Demeter, the goddess of harvest, had a daughter named Persephone with the greek god Zeus (“Persephone”). Originally their daughter was called Kore, meaning Beautiful Maiden (“The Original Persephone”). She was so beautiful that it caught the attention of many gods, including Hades himself. This was a problem for Demeter, since she wanted to keep all men away from
Demeter’s inability to rescue her daughter from Hades’ clutches diminishes the power of female will. She is unable to even discover where her daughter is until Helius, a male god, takes pity on her and tells her what has happened (The Homeric Hymn to Demeter 70-77). The image of the matriarchy is not good enough to solve her own problems and must rely on a man to do so for her. Again, this sentiment is echoed towards the end of the story, when Zeus is the one to rescind his order to Hades. This order is given under duress, but the fact that Demeter must once again rely on a male god to rescue her child is an obvious depiction of male dominance
Hades is one of the brothers of Zeus. He is the unlucky one who got to rule the underworld. He is cruel and unforgiving. Only two have ever gone to Hades domain and returned, Hercules and Odysseus. Hades fell in love with Zeus’s daughter and devised a plan to abduct her. With Zeus’s help they succeeded in the capture of Persephone. Her mother Demeter was so enraged she cursed the Earth. She continued the curse even after she was released. It was only after her mother Rhea was allowed to see her that she let the Earth prosper (message).