Persephone Research Paper

Together, the two patriarchal figures conspire to kidnap and force Persephone to marry Hades. This is done behind Demeter’s back, intentionally removing her from her role as mother. Their actions directly diminish or outright remove the will of Demeter, a symbol of women in Greek culture (The Homeric Hymn to Demeter 29-30). This theme of a removal of female autonomy is mirrored later in the text when Hades tricks Persephone into eating pomegranate seeds. This action is a deliberate attempt to remove Persephone’s ability to choose for herself, condemning her to spend the winter months in the underworld with him. Not only does this subjugate Persephone to Hades’ will, but it also lends justification to the subjugation of women by men (372-400). By removing the sovereignty of the female mind, the myth promotes male authority.

Zeus’s role in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter has him being shown as someone who can be seen as thoughtless, but still highly regarded. While Zeus is being put in the spotlight for giving Persephone to his brother, Demeter is wreaking havoc on the mortal world trying to find Persephone with Hekate. Demeter is Persephone’s mother and Zeus has given her to Hades to be his wife. Zeus’s prominence is being displayed as he is shown to be an important figure in both Persephone’s rape and the Hymn itself, but he is also being showed in a light that allows the reader to see that even the almighty Zeus can make mistakes. Zeus is being shown as someone who does not think before acting, allowing him to give his own daughter to his brother as his wife without

In the beginning of the myth, Perseus’ grandfather, King Acrisius, was told by a priestess that his daughter would have a son and that her son would kill him. So Acrisius goes out of his way to rid himself of his daughter. He locks her in a castle in hopes that she won’t come across other people and become pregnant. Once he finds out that his daughter does have a son, Perseus, he locks them

Perseus commences the quest ignorant to the perils and tribulations that lie ahead. Luckily, Hermes and Pallas Athena decide to

     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).

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.

Innocence, desire, and obsession are all facets in the story of Persephone and Hades. The arranged abduction broke a divine mother’s heart enough to affect the course of life on Earth forever. Persephone, or commonly called Kore meaning “the maiden,” was sought after by Hades, ruler of the underworld (Persephone 1). Hades enlisted Zeus’s help to abduct his daughter with Demeter, Persephone. Those events would become known as The Abduction of Persephone. This myth would become one of the most iconic and widely known in Greek history because it would explain one of earth’s most important cycles, reinforce the idea that the gods and goddesses have control of the earth, and fostered an agrarian cult’s religious rites.

Hades was perplexed by such a rushed decision. Even though he failed in his attempts, he still loved Persephone so he kidnapped her. Thus, one can assume that Hades’s judgement was clouded by his grief, which is why he captured Persephone. Therefore, the audience can learn to not let one's emotions blind their judgement as Hades did, between what is right and what is wrong. This shows that one can look at Hades’s past failures and learn from them to better one’s self. Furthermore, folks often assume that Hades is as evil as the Biblical Satan himself, due to his status as god of the underworld. However, in truth Hades obtains no joys from the pain and torture of the dead, unlike Satan who is sadistic deity. It is just his job to control those who enters the underworld, which was a judgement that Zeus deemed him after the defeat of Cronus and the selection of the

In Ovid Metamorphoses, the Roman literature described the ruthless act of Pluto of rape, to seize and carry away Proserpine without the consent of Ceres and in parallel in the Homeric Hymns of Demeter; Persephone was seized and carried away by Hades without the consent of Demeter. The invariant theme that was identified in both the Greek and Roman literature was the loss of innocence of Persephone/Proserpine. Despite the various differences the story was presented, it reinforced the innocence that was stolen from the god of the underworld, Hades or also known as Pluto. Throughout this paper, it will discuss the similar characteristics of the two myths such as the motive that led and encouraged the god of the underworld to kidnap

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.

The most famous myth about Hades is The Kidnapping of Persephone, his wife. The myth of Hades was that he fell in love with a girl named Persephone, on one of his rare trips above the underworld. He asked Zeus to help make a plan to trap her. They made the ground split in half while she was picking flowers in a meadow. Persephone fell between the cracks and into the Underworld.

One of the reasons why Hades is malevolent is because he kidnapped Zeus’ daughter Persephone. According to Ancienthistoryencyclopedia.eu, Hades fell in love with Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and abducted her to live with him. This evidence proves that Hades is a malevolent god. He is a malevolent god because he kidnapped Persephone to live with him without her permission.

Hades hefted Persephone over his shoulder and began to carry her off. She snapped out of her trance and began to kick and scream in a futile attempt to fight off Hades. Hades simply threw her into the chariot and held her tight. Despite her struggling, Persephone could not escape the clutches of death.

One of the two tricks that Hades played on Persephone was the seven seeds of the pomegranate. He tricked her by taking a pomegranate and tricking Persephone into eating seven of the seeds that Hades gave to her. That means that Persephone has to stay with Hades for seven months and five months she stays with her mom. Hades wants Persephone to stay with him because he loves her. According to the story “The Fates have said that if you ate anything in the land of shadow, you must return to Hades and rule with him as his queen. However, Persephone ate not the whole pomegranate, but only seven of the seeds. For seven months of the year, therefore, you must dwell in the underworld, and the remaining five you may live with me’’. This statement explains

While Hades is leaving, he labels Perseus as a demigod. Then, Hermes informs Zeus that his son Perseus is alive and is in Argos. Zeus refuses to protect his son since he is residing in enemy territory.