When she asked the Nymphs that she had left to watch over her daughter, they had no answer. When Demeter returned, her daughter was nowhere to be found. Upon seeing her friend descend deep into the underworld, she began to cry until she melted into a pool of her own tears form in the river Sion. The nymph Sion had seen the abduction, and she attempted to rescue Persephone, but she was no match for Hades. He grabbed Persephone before she was able to scream for help. From that chasm emerged Hades and his chariot of black horses. When she stooped down to pick the flower, the earth beneath her began to quake, and a gaping chasm soon appeared. Wandering into the garden alone, Persephone saw the narcissus flower and was immediately drawn to its beauty. Knowing that the nymphs would never let Persephone out of their sight, for fear of Demeter’s wrath, Zeus had Gaia plant a narcissus flower in a nearby garden. The ancient Greeks used this myth to explain something that affects how plants grow.The next morning, Demeter and her daughter descended upon the earth, and Persephone was left with the nymphs of the sea as her guides and Watchers while her mother tended to the earth. From then on, whenever Persephone was with Demeter on Earth, Demeter would be so happy and crops, fruit and plants would grow and flourish beautifully – but when she went back to the Underworld, to live with Hades for six months, the plants would stop growing entirely. Zeus and Hades agreed that Persephone would have to spend six months in the Underworld, but that she could return to Earth for the other six months of the year. Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds. Hades said, ‘Persephone can only leave if she hasn’t eaten any of the food that I’ve given her.’īut she already had. Zeus visited Hades to ask him to let Persephone leave. Meanwhile, Hades wanted to make it more difficult for Persephone to leave the Underworld, and gave her some delicious Underworld food – a fruit called a pomegranate. Zeus could see how Demeter’s sadness was affecting Earth and so he agreed to help her. She went to Zeus, the king of the gods, to ask him to help get her daughter back from Hades. Crops, fruit and nature all stopped growing. She was so sad, it affected the harvest across Greece. How do you think Persephone felt?ĭemeter could no longer see her daughter and missed her hugely. He wanted the lovely Persephone to be his wife. Hades – the God of the Underworld – arrived through the hole and captured Persephone. One day she was walking in a beautiful meadow and gathering flowers to take home when a huge hole opened up in the ground. Demeter had a kind and beautiful daughter, called Persephone, who she loved very much. She was a very important goddess to Ancient Greek people, who farmed a lot of their food. Or maybe you could tell someone a myth that you've made up!ĭemeter was the Ancient Greek goddess of the harvest.Can you try and tell someone else the story of Demeter and Persephone now you have heard it?.Who do you think the hero of the story is?Īncient Greek people loved to tell the stories of their gods from memory.Watch the video below of story of Demeter and Persephone or read along.
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