Zeus is forced to relent and sends the messenger Hermes to the Underworld to get the girl back. But, just as she is going, Hades prevails on her to eat the seed of a pomegranate to prevent her from staying with her mother above the earth all her days. Persephone is therefore forced to spend one-third of each year under the earth with Hades, and two-thirds with her mother and the community of gods on Mount Olympus.
Whereas she might have expected an immortal existence with her mother on Olympus, Persephone becomes the central figure in a new cycle of life and death. She is both queen of the Underworld, as wife of Hades, and associated with the new life that rises with the spring. Death and life are no longer mutually exclusive, but co-exist in both the upper and lower worlds. There is life in death, and death in life.
The Demeter Hymn contains the foundation myth of the Eleusinian Mysteries - renowned religious rites which took place at Eleusis, near to Athens. Initiation into the Mysteries held out the prospect of making death less threatening. Previous myth: The Amazons Next myth: Prometheus, the friend of man.
Contact us Contact us. Sign In. Discover the myth of Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld The abduction from Hades According to Greek Mythology, Persephone, the queen of the underworld, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility.
Desperately looking for Persephone The other girls had not seen anything because everything happened very quickly. Trying to find a solution Demeter, however, could not let it gone. The final solution The crafty Hades learned this agreement and tricked his reluctant bride, who was crying all day and night from despair, to eat a few seeds of the pomegranate fruit.
The explanation of the myth Thus the lovely maiden Persephone became the rightful wife of Hades and Queen of the Underworld. Famous Greek people. Best beaches in Greece. Greece in photos. Greek culture. About Greece. Where to go in Greece? What to do in Greece? Destinations by popularity. Book your holiday with Greeka. Island hopping proposals.
In this time period, during the first nine days her mother, Demeter , was distraught and searched for her. Hekate saw her one of the nine days and told Demeter. Demeter became intensely sad and stopped caring about nature and the Earth. This cause nature to die, and the first winter to occur. Persephone longed for a friend, and hated Hades.
However, he soon grew on her, and experienced true freedom In Hades, at least. Soon, Hecate came down and befriended her, and Hades grew happy for Persephone. Zeus then ordered Hades to return Persephone,and sent Hermes to retrieve her, but Hades sent a wonderful gift to Zeus. Persephone also ate six pomegranates, which cursed her to stay there for six months. Zeus was taken by the gift but was torn between it and nature. When Demeter discovered that Persephone was missing, she searched all over the Earth for her until Hermes her what Hades had done.
Demeter continued searching for her daughter but did not find her. Then, she caused a great drought to fall on the land to force the gods to confront Hades so that he would release her daughter. Eventually, Zeus sent Hermes to convince Hades to let Persephone go. Hades agreed but offered Persephone pomegranate seeds before allowing her to leave.
Unsuspicious, Persephone ate the seeds. Because she had consumed food from the Underworld, she was no longer able to be released.
However, a compromise was reached in that she would be allowed to go free for part of the year as long as she returned to Hades at the end of summer. Through this tale, ancient Greeks explained the existence of the seasons because of the dual residences of Persephone. In the spring, she would return, bringing life with her and making her mother happy so that the lands prospered.
Then, as she left in the fall, everything would turn grey and lifeless again until her return. In many ways, the relationship between Hades and Persephone mirrors the relationship Zeus had with Hera.
Each couple was powerful in its own right and influenced Greek mythology in different ways as well. But despite their bad methods of seduction, each god loved his wife in his own way. The difference here was how they handled that love. Hera, as the goddess of marriage, wanted a husband who would honor his vows, but Zeus was nothing if not the playboy go constantly seducing anyone that crossed his fancy.
0コメント