Persephone

In Greek myths, Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter.



One day while she was out picking flowers, Hades, god of the underworld, kidnapped her ( with Zeus’s permission) and took her to the underworld to become his wife.



Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, searched ceaselessly for her daughter and vowed that the earth will remain frozen and no crops will grow until Persephone is returned.



Eventually, Zeus demanded that Persephone be returned to her mother. Before she left the underworld, however, Persephone ate 6 pomegranate seeds. In Greek myth, anyone that consumes any food while in the underworld must remain there. As a result, Zeus declared that Persephone could return to the surface and her mother for part of the year but must spend one-third of every year in Hades.



When Persephone is in the underworld every year, the world is plunged into winter. When she returns to her mother, the world flourishes and blooms.