Myth and Meaning #5

Demeter's relationship with Zeus had not always been so strained: He was the father of her much-loved, white-armed daughter, Persephone. Persephone grew up to be a beautiful young woman who enjoyed playing with the other goddesses on Mt. Aetna, in Sicily. There they gathered and smelled the beautiful flowers. One day, a narcissus caught Persephone's eye, so she plucked it to get a better look, but as she pulled it from the ground, a rift formed. Demeter had not been watching too carefully. After all, her daughter was grown. Besides, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena were there to watch -- or so Demeter assumed. When Demeter's attention returned to her daughter, the young maiden (called Kore, which is Greek for 'maiden') had vanished. Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena didn't know what had happened, it had been so sudden. One moment Persephone was there, and the next she wasn't. Demeter was beside herself with grief. Was her daughter dead? Abducted? What had happened? No one seemed to know. So Demeter roamed the countryside looking for answers. After Demeter had wandered for 9 days and nights, searching for her daughter as well as taking out her frustrations by randomly torching the earth, the 3-faced goddess Hekate told the anguished mother that while she had heard Persephone's cries, she had not been able to see what had happened. So Demeter asked Helios, the sun god -- he had to know since he sees all that happens above the ground during the day. Helios told Demeter that Zeus had given their daughter to "The Invisible" (Hades) for his bride and that Hades, acting on that promise, had taken Persephone home to the Underworld. The imperious king of the gods Zeus had dared to give Demeter's daughter Persephone away to Hades, the dark lord of the Underworld, without asking! Imagine Demeter's outrage at this revelation. When the sun god Helios insinuated that Hades was a good match, it added insult to injury. With Demeter's depression setting in she had set a curse on the earth for crops to die and no longer grow. Soon it was arranged for Persephone to be with her mother for two thirds of the year and return back to the underworld. Demeter removed the curse from the earth and everything could grow healthy and strong.