Demeter reaches a compromise with Zeus
7. Demeter and Persephone
A grim year followed for mortals. Demeter sat alone in her new temple, longing for her graceful daughter. She ignored the seeds that nestled in the soil and let the fields fall fallow. Without a harvest, the people were forced to let their animals starve, and then, as their stores ran out, they began to starve as well.
Eventually, when the gods noticed that there was no longer any sacrificial smoke rising from their altars, they realized that they had a problem. Zeus sent Iris, his golden-winged messenger, to summon Demeter back to the company of the gods but Demeter, clutching her black robes more closely around her, refused to leave her temple.
Zeus sent the other gods, one-by-one, to plead and reason with Demeter, offering many gifts and new honors if she would return to their company and resume her duties, but she remained implacable in her anger, insisting that until Persephone returned, she would neither visit Olympus nor allow the earth to send up grain.
Reluctantly, Zeus tried a different solution. He sent Hermes to the Underworld to ask Hades to release Persephone, lest the entire world fall into ruin. After he had listened to Hermes’ speech, Hades allowed an enigmatic smile to creep across his face. He conceded that he must obey Zeus, who was, after all, the king of the gods. Then he turned to his wife:
‘Go home, Persephone, to your weeping mother. But remember what sort of husband you have married: I am the brother of Zeus himself, who rules over all the gods! Mine is a magnificent family! Do not forget, moreover, that as queen of the dead, you receive substantial glory in your own right, and hold immense power over everything that walks or creeps upon the earth. As my wife, you have the authority to punish for eternity anyone who has behaved unjustly or who has failed to honor you properly with sacrifices.’
Persephone was jubilant at the thought of leaving the dank, shadowy realm in which she had been living and she busied herself with preparations for the journey. As she was departing, Hades glanced around to make sure that no one was watching and then gave his wife a tiny pomegranate seed—blood-red and sweet. He knew that if she swallowed it, she would return to him, sooner or later.
Under Hermes’ escort, Persephone swiftly arrived at the new temple where Demeter had secluded herself and Demeter, wild with joy, rushed out to meet her. As they embraced, however, Demeter had a dreadful thought.
‘My child, please tell me that you didn’t eat anything while you were down below! If you haven’t, then you can stay up here in the sunlit world forever. But if you did eat something, then you’ll have to return to the moldering realm of the ghosts for one third of each year, as the seasons come round. And tell me as well—how did all of this happen, anyway?’
Persephone replied. ‘Well, Mother, when Hermes came to get me, I was really excited. Hades handed me a pomegranate seed—they taste so good!—and then he forced me to eat it. He did it kind of secretly. I couldn’t help it. Really! That’s what happened!
‘And this is how he snatched me away: we were all playing by ourselves, gathering flowers and having fun. Then I saw this beautiful narcissus. I reached over to pick it and suddenly, there he was! He pulled me into his chariot and took off for the Underworld, even though I kicked and screamed. It really upsets me to even think about all of this, but I want you to know exactly what happened.’
Mother and daughter embraced once more, taking pleasure and comfort in one another. While they were doing so, Hecate arrived, resplendent in a shimmering veil, and joined in their embrace. Ever since then, Hecate has accompanied Persephone wherever she goes.
Demeter’s own mother, Rhea, arrived, too, to escort Demeter back to the tribe of gods. She told Demeter that Zeus had promised to give her whatever she wanted and that he had guaranteed that Persephone would spend only one third of each year below with her husband, if Demeter would relent in her anger and allow the plants that nourished mortals to grow again.
As so it was; everything unfolded just as Zeus had promised. But nourishment was not the only gift that Demeter gave to mortals on that occasion. Summoning the leaders of Eleusis, she taught them the rituals of her mysteries—mysteries that promised to their initiates abundance during life and a blissful existence after they had descended to the land of the dead. Happy are those who have seen the mysteries of Demeter and her daughter! But the uninitiated will have no share in anything good down in the darkness and gloom.
A note on where this story comes from
My source here is the Homeric Hymn to Demeter 305-495.