In the beginning of the Demeter-Persephone myth (told in detail
in the previous chapter), Persephone was a carefree girl who
gathered flowers and played with her friends. Then Hades in his
chariot suddenly appeared out of a vent in the earth, took the
screaming maiden by force and carried her back to the underworld
to be his unwilling bride. Demeter did not accept the situation, left
Mt. Olympus, persisted in seeking Persephone’s return, and finally
forced Zeus to heed her wishes.
Zeus then dispatched Hermes, the Messenger God, to fetch
Persephone. Hermes arrived in the underworld and found a discon-
solate Persephone. But her despair turned to joy when she found
that Hermes had come for her and Hades would let her go. Before
she left him, however, Hades gave her some pomegranate seeds,
which she ate. Then she got into the chariot with Hermes, who took
her swiftly to Demeter.
After the reunited mother and daughter had joyfully embraced,
Demeter anxiously inquired if she had eaten anything in the under-
world. Persephone replied that she had eaten pomegranate
seeds—because Hades had forced her “unwillingly, violently” to
eat them (which was not true). Demeter accepted the story and the
cyclic pattern that followed. Had Persephone not eaten anything,
she would have been fully restored to Demeter. Having eaten the
pomegranate seeds, however, she would now spend one-third of
the year in the underworld with Hades, and two-thirds of the year
in the upper world, with Demeter.
Later, Persephone became Queen of the Underworld. Whenever
the heroes or heroines of Greek mythology descended to the lower
realm, Persephone was there to receive them and be their guide.
(None found her absent. There was never a sign on the door saying,
“Gone Home to Mother,” although the Persephone-Demeter myth
says she did so two-thirds of the year.)
In the Odyssey, the hero Odysseus (Ulysses) journeyed to the un-
derworld, where Persephone showed him the souls of women of
legendary fame. In the myth of Psyche and Eros, Psyche’s last task
was to descend into the underworld with a box for Persephone to
fill with beauty ointment for Aphrodite. The last of the Twelve Tasks
of Heracles (Hercules) also brought him to Persephone: Heracles
had to get her permis-
Goddesses in Everywoman