Tale #16 -- The Story of Persephone

The ancient Greeks believed that there were many gods and goddesses. Zeus, the ruler of gods and men, lived in a palace on Mount Olympus, high up in the sky where no human being had ever climbed. His brother Dis, the king of the underworld, lived deep, deep under the earth. People who visited his kingdom never returned. The goddess Demeter had the job of looking after all the growing green plants. The people of the earth often made sacrifices to her and prayed for good crops.

Demeter had a beautiful daughter called Persephone. Persephone enjoyed picking flowers, even after she was grown up. She wandered everywhere, looking for the most lovely blossoms she could find.

One day, Dis decided to visit his brother Zeus on Mount Olympus. He told his servants to hitch his four black horses to his chariot, and drove up a long tunnel until he reached the surface of the earth. On his way to Mount Olympus, he saw Persephone picking flowers.

"What a beautiful young woman!" he said. "I want her to be my queen."

Dis was used to getting what he wanted, so he did not ask Persephone if she wanted to live with him. He drove up in his chariot, grabbed her, and headed back down the tunnel to his kingdom.

Persephone did not like the dark kingdom. She missed her mother. She missed the beautiful flowers of the earth. She cried and cried and refused to eat. Meanwhile, her mother was looking for her everywhere. She was so upset that she forgot to look after the growing plants, and they withered and died.

The people were frightened. "Help us, Father Zeus!" they prayed. "Mother Demeter has stopped looking after the plants. Without food, we will all die."

Zeus sent his servant Hermes to find out what was wrong. Hermes could fly, so he had no trouble finding Demeter. "My daughter is missing," Demeter told him. "There will be no crops until she comes back."

Hermes was a good detective, and soon found out what had happened to Persephone. Zeus sent Hermes to the underworld to order Dis to release Persephone. "If there are no people," Zeus said, "no one will pray to us or make sacrifices to us. We will be all alone."

Dis did not want to let Persephone go, but he didn't want to upset his brother. He finally agreed to let Persephone leave, but only if she had not eaten anything in the underworld. When Persephone heard the news from Hermes, she began to cry. She had taken one bite of a pomegranate and swallowed six seeds.

Demeter and Dis went to the palace on Mount Olympus to plead their case before Zeus. Finally, Dis agreed that if Persephone would stay with him for six months every year -- one for each pomegranate seed she had eaten -- he would allow her to go home to her mother for the other months.

Each year, when Persephone comes home to her mother, Demeter is happy. Green plants grow up everywhere, the weather is warm, and the breezes are gentle. When Persephone leaves to take her place as queen of the underworld, Demeter is sad. The plants slowly die, the weather grows cold, and storms bring rain and snow. That is why we have the seasons.