Persephone Research Paper

Greek gods and goddesses: Persephone

Throughout history we have learned about many gods and goddesses and how they impacted the world today. When researching I found one that spoke volumes to me. Her name was Persephone. Daughter of Demeter and Zeus, she is the beautiful goddess of spring. She is also the Queen of the Underworld. Her story is one of abduction, love, grief, and celebration.

Persephone was a strong beautiful girl who was abducted at the expense of the resilient uncle of hers named Hades. You see Hades was taken by Persephone from the first time he laid eyes on her. He was so intrigued with her beauty that he demanded she be his. When Demeter Persephone’s mother rejected him he decided to take Persephone back to the underworld

According to Andrew Crosland’s article, Kate Chopin’s Lilacs and the Myth of Persephone, “[Eros’] arrow strikes [Hades], making him love Persephone and want her for his queen. He abducts her to the underworld. Demeter, the young virgin's divine mother, searches the globe for her daughter. When she finds her… [She] has eaten a pomegranate seed in the underworld, [and] she cannot gain complete freedom” (31). In this tale Persephone was utterly depressed and while most woman would love to be a queen, Persephone was ruling over a kingdom she hated with everything within her. Due to Persephone being in the underworld with Hades for six months Persephone’s mother Demeter goddess of harvest punished the world with unbarring crops and what we now know as Winter. Crosland explained that, “[Hades] and Demeter agree that Persephone should spend spring and summer on earth and the other two seasons in Hades as queen” (31). This is where the seasons derive from. After reading the, Kirkus Reviews based on “Persephone” by Sally Clayton, she explains that after Persephone was taken, “Her mother Demeter [was] so distraught that she cursed Earth with endless winter” (196), when Persephone is able to return so does the lovely nature along with

She was a girl whom was abducted by a man who was crazy about her, she was overwhelmed by this man who sought to overtake her and make her his wife, and yet she still stayed held together and showed qualities of a strong woman. Persephone may have grown to love Hades but in the beginning stages of their love/hate relationship you know she must have resented him. Refusing to eat until she absolutely couldn’t wait any longer and then her only eating six seeds of a pomegranate showed her strong will and determination to be her own woman for the rest of her life. She was the girl I chose to write about because of these beautiful qualities. She is everything I would want to be one day. She stood up against an overpowering man and did not back down. Of course she has to spend six months of her life with him every year but I’m sure that eventually she grew to love him and that is something a woman with great pride could not