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In the later Olympian pantheon of Classical Greece, Persephone is given a father: according to Hesiod's Theogony, Persephone was the daughter produced by the union of Demeter and Zeus. "And he [Zeus] came to the bed of bountiful Demeter, who bore white-armed Persephone, stolen by Hades from her mother's side". Unlike every other offspring of an Olympian pairing of deities, Persephone has no stable position at Olympus. Persephone used to live far away from the other deities, a goddess within Nature herself before the days of planting seeds and nurturing plants. In the Olympian telling,[6] the gods Hermes, Ares, Apollo, and Hephaestus, had all wooed Persephone, but Demeter rejected all their gifts and hid her daughter away from the company of the Olympian deities. Thus, Persephone lived a peaceful life before she became the goddess of the underworld, which, according to Olympian mythographers, did not occur until Hades abducted her and brought her into the underworld. She was innocently picking flowers with some nymphs-, Athena, and Artemis, the Homeric hymn says-, or Leucippe, or Oceanids- in a field in Enna when Hades came to abduct her, bursting through a cleft in the earth; the nymphs were changed by Demeter into the Sirens for not having interfered. Life came to a standstill as the devastated Demeter, goddess of the Earth, searched everywhere for her lost daughter. Helios, the sun, who sees everything, eventually told Demeter what had happened. Finally, Zeus, pressured by the cries of the hungry people and by the other deities who also heard their anguish, could not put up with the dying earth and forced Hades to return Persephone. But before she was released to Hermes, who had been sent to retrieve her, Hades tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds, (seven, eight, or perhaps four according to the telling) which forced her to return to the underworld for a season each year. In some versions, Ascalaphus informed the other deities that Persephone had eaten the pomegranate seeds. When Demeter and her daughter were united, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for four months each year, when Persephone returned to the underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm. This is an origin story to explain the seasons.

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2008-09-25 04:07:21
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Q: The story of Persephone and the seasons?
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What is the purpose of the myth Demeter and Persephone?

It explains the seasons. Although, in the story there are really two seasons: winter, persephone in the underworld; and spring, persephone with demeter.


What natural phenomenon is explained by the story of Persephone?

seasons


What is the moral of the story of Demeter and Persephone?

It explains why there are seasons.


What is the meaning of the story of Persephone?

The story of Persephone is meant to explain why there are different seasons. A moral of the story could be to be wary when on one's own.


Is Dionysus the reason for the four seasons?

No, the story of Demeter's daughter Persephone is about the seasons among other things.


What does Persephone's story symbolise?

It explains the cause of the winter/spring cycle. When Persephone is with her mother, it is spring. When she is with Hades, it is winter.


Why were the seasons affected by Demeter?

Well in the story of Demeter and Persephone Persephone has to stay in the underworld for 6 months so when Persephone is on earth it is warm and things grow and harvest but when Persephone is in the underworld nothing grows and it is cold


Persephone and seasons have to do with each other?

Persephone is the goddess of spring.


Why did ancient Greeks believe the story of Persephone brought spring and winter?

It related to the gods to continuously explain the seasons with the accent of Persephone in spring and the decent to the Underworld causing winter.


What is the point in the story of Persephone?

Persephone's story talks about the changing of the seasons. Throughout Fall and Winter she is in the Underworld which is why it's all cold, because her mother is sad. Then when she is reunited with Demeter, it is Spring and Summer, which is why it's all warm.


Persephone is the goddess of what?

the 4 seasons


What Greek myth tells the story of Persephone?

The myth of Persephone is tied into the story of both Hades and Zeus. Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and is kidnapped by Hades. She managed to negotiate spending some time on Earth so she could see her mother. The myth is used to explain the changing of seasons.

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