Sastila Calista Sumbayak

183211029 / 6F
A tale of Hades, Persephone and Winter

The gods locked up the titans under Mount Etna. Sometimes these titans rebelled and
tried to get out of their confinement, causing mountains to erupt and earthquakes. Hades, the god
of the underworld, was afraid that the behemoths of the titans would cause the underworld to
break down, causing a gap to open in the upper world. Therefore, he then boarded his golden
chariot pulled by a pair of immortal jet black horses and came out of the underworld to carry out
patrols. When Hades was on patrol suddenly the corner of his eye saw a beautiful sight, he saw
Persephone who was picking flowers with his friends, the sea nymphs Okeanid, in a valley called
the Valley of Nysa. It was then that Eros (Cupid), the cupid, shot Hades and made him fall in
love with Persephone who was picking flowers in the Nysa Valley. As indicated by Greek
Mythology, Persephone, the sovereign of the hidden world, was the little girl of Zeus and
Demeter, the goddess of gather and fruitfulness. She was likewise called Kore, which signifies
"lady" and grew up to be a stunning young lady pulling in the consideration of numerous divine
beings.

Hades then kidnapped Persephone and took her to her home in the underworld.
Persephone screams for his mother before his voice is swallowed up by the darkness of the
underworld. Her scream was carried by the roar of the wind to Olympus and was heard by
Demeter, her mother, who immediately got up and ran to find her daughter. She kept calling her
daughter's name and tirelessly crossed the land and sea to the place where her daughter's screams
came from.

Demeter was very sad after losing her child. Demeter searched for Persephone for days
without stopping. Finally, Demeter arrives in the green Nysa Valley, where the beautiful
Okeanid sea nymphs play. But no one knows who kidnapped Persephone. How unfortunate was
the fate of the goddess! Crying again, she ran to find Persephone for nine days and nine nights.
But there was no sign of his beloved daughter, even though he had asked everyone, even
accomplished fortune tellers. Everyone just shook their heads

Finally, on the tenth day, he met Helios, the sun god who from his golden throne never
missed witnessing everything that happened on Earth. From Helios, Demeter learns that his
daughter has now become the wife of Hades, the queen of the kingdom of the dead, who will
never see sunlight and live forever in eternal darkness.

Demeter, nevertheless, couldn't let it gone. She was enraged at this affront and
profoundly accepted that Hades was not the correct spouse for her sweet girl. She additionally
blew up at Zeus for not having uncovered this to her. To punish gods and to grief, Demeter
decided to take a long and indefinite leave from her duties as the goddess of harvest and fertility,
with devastating consequences. The earth started to evaporate, harvests fizzled, plants lost their
productivity, and creatures were biting the dust for absence of food and starvation spread to the
entire earth, bringing about untold hopelessness.
Sastila Calista Sumbayak
183211029 / 6F
Following an entire year of starvation had tormented the earth, Zeus understood that on
the off chance that he permitted Demeter to persevere, all of humanity would starve—leaving
nobody to respect and make contributions to the divine beings. Zeus sent a motorcade of divine
beings and goddesses to Demeter to implore her to return to Olympus and to reestablish ripeness
to the earth. In any case, Demeter would not move until her little girl remained close by. Zeus
had no way out: He yielded, promising to take Persephone back to her mom.

Hermes, summoned by Zeus, raced down to Hades to fetch Persephone. Hades shrugged
compliantly and agreed to let her go. Persephone had not eaten a single thing—whether from
sorrow, loss of appetite, or stubbornness—since her arrival in the Underworld. But before she
left, Hades urged Persephone to appease her terrible hunger by eating a single pomegranate seed.
Sadly, this apparent act of kindness was a trick: Anyone who tastes the food of Hades must
remain in the Underworld.

Since Persephone had eaten there, she had to dwell at least part of every year in the
Underworld. Rhea suggested that Persephone spend six months (or, according to some, three or
four months) as Queen of the Underworld and the rest of the year with Demeter. After agreeing
to the deal, Demeter restored Earth's fertility and returned to Olympus with Persephone. But
when the time came for Persephone to return to the Underworld, the earth became colder and
less fertile until her reemergence months later.
References

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Queen. (2021). Persephone, Queen of the Underworld - Greek Myths | Greeka. Retrieved
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myths/persephone/

Myth of Hades and Persephone. (2010, November 10). Retrieved February 25, 2021, from Greek

Myths & Greek Mythology website: https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-

of-hades-and-persephone/

‌Cartwright, M. (2016, March 24). Persephone. Retrieved February 25, 2021, from Ancient

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