ThE STORY OF PERSEPHONE

On our walking tour in Athens, we heard some of the more famous stories from Greek mythology. One of them was the story of Persephone, the goddess associated with spring and agriculture.

As the story goes, one day Persephone was picking a flower and Hades, the God of the Underworld, saw her and fell in love. Hades went to Zeus, his brother, to ask for help to abduct her, he helped her and sucked her into the underworld. At first, Persephone was unhappy and upset, but then eventually fell in love with Hades and liked living in the underworld. 

Meanwhile, on Earth, Demetres (Persephone’s mother and goddess of all living things) was heartbroken and devastated. She searched for her daughter for years. Finally, Elusis (another god) convinced Hades to release her. 

Zeus and Hades made an agreement to let Persephone live on earth for 6 months of the year, and then return back to the underworld for the other 6 months. But, before she left Hades forced six pomegranate seeds into her mouth. According to legend, this would make her come back. While Persephone was with Demetres on Earth, it was spring and summer because Demetres was happy. When she went back to Hades, it was fall and winter because she was sad. 

During our visit, we learned that agriculture is one of the biggest drivers of the economy in Greece, with cotton, olives, pistachios, and figs being among the most grown. On our train rides, flights and hikes throughout Greece, we saw many fields in the countryside, sycamore trees and fig trees in the forests, and even orange and olive trees in the middle of the city – all thanks to Persephone!