Persephone

Persephone (or Core) was the daughter of the corn goddess, Demeter and Zeus. Persephone was devoted to her mother and aided her with the tending and renewing of the pastures, and bringing life from the rocks. She also enjoyed spending time with her friends the nymphs. One day she was arranging flowers with her friends. Hades, passing by in his chariot saw her, and decided that he wanted her as his wife. As he swooped towards the girls, the nymphs all fled, but Persephone stood rooted to the spot in terror. Hades snatched her and fled towards the underworld. Just before they passed under the ground she tore off her girdle and threw it into the river hoping her mother would find it.

When Demeter found her daughter was missing, she spent months wondering the islands and mainland of Greece searching for her. Eventually, in Sicily, she found Persephone's girdle in a river. She followed the river upstream until she found a small waterfall, and she rested there. The nymph of the waterfall told her of the rivers under the Earth and how, once she had fled down there trying to escape the unwanted advances of a river god. She described how she had seen Persephone sitting beside Hades on his throne.

Demeter knew that she could not go down to the underworld to rescue her daughter. She was overcome with grief, and still did not return to her tasks of bringing life to the crops. The people started suffering and cried to Zeus to help them and Demeter asked Zeus to help her free her daughter so that she could return to her work.

Zeus finally grew tired of the prayers and lamentations of the people. He decreed that if Persephone had not eaten anything while she had been in the Underworld, she could return to the world of the living with her mother.
Demeter hurried to Avernus, the Gateway of the Underworld, where Cerebus, the three headed guard dog, allowed her in. When she reached Hades and Persephone however one of the spirits of the dead told her that Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds. Demeter began to wail, and the people above who heard also wailed until Zeus heard the again. Zeus took pity on Persephone and her mother and judged that for every pomegranate seed she had eaten Persephone must spend one month with Hades, but for the rest of the year she could return to the light.

As the mother and daughter stepped out of the underworld the skies turned blue, the flowers unfurled, grass sprang under their feet and the birds started to sing again. They returned to their duties and the corn ripened and cattle bore their young. However after the six months, when Persephone returned, Demeter returned to her cave and mourned her loss. The Earth turned cold and grey and winter came to the world.