Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds

Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds

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  Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture and her daughter Persephone lived happily together in the countryside, with Demeter tending her garden and planting flowers and seeds.
  

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  Hades, the God of the Underworld, was lonely and unhappy because he ruled the Kingdom of the Underworld and lived in darkness. One day he saw Persephone and decided he wanted to marry her.
  

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  He kidnapped Persephone and carried her off to the Underworld. Although Persephone begged to go home, Hades insisted on making her his Queen. Persephone screamed for help and luckily the river heard her. Persephone threw off her belt of flowers and asked the river to carry them to her mother.
  

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  Meanwhile, Demeter searched high and low for Persephone. She saw the flowers in the river and the water whispered what had happened to Persephone. Demeter went to Mount Olympus and asked Zeus for help. Zeus sent Hermes to the Underworld to find Persephone.
  

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  But Hermes was too late! Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds meaning that she had to stay in the Underworld forever! Persephone begged Zeus to help her and he declared that because she had only eaten six seeds, she must stay in the Underworld for six months of the year. During the other six months she could return to Demeter.
  

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  When Persephone returns to Demeter, the flowers bloom, the grass is green and the trees blossom. But for the six months of the year when Persephone is in the Underworld, the crops and flowers stop growing and the trees drop their leaves. This is because Demeter does not tend the earth, as she is missing her daughter.