Demeter and Persephone - Part 2
Excerpt from The Storytellers
Demeter flew to Mount Olympus where most of the Greek gods lived.
Zeus rested an elbow on the arm of his great throne, looking at Demeter and absently stroking his beard.
He waved a kingly hand, "Please. Do tell me why you've come to visit after hiding yourself away for so long.”
Demeter didn't care for his tone. But she needed him so she chose to ignore it.
"Persephone is missing. I ask for you to help me find her."
He scowled. Demeter had always been overly involved with her daughter and he did not approve. “You have not heard? The mortals crying out in hunger and want? You neglect my creations.”
Demeter pushed down her frustration. She kept her voice even and said, “Help me find Persephone. Then I can give my full attention to my other duties.”
Zeus knew Demeter had searched the world over. He’d heard her shouting. He’d thought she would see her daughter was gone and return to taking care of the mortals before now. The father of the gods might find his human creations aggravating at times but they did offer pleasing prayers. When they weren't starving.
So, he said, “Persephone resides in the underworld. She traveled there with its Lord, who claimed her in his chariot.”
Demeter felt rage rise within her. Hades had made off with Persephone? How dare he take her child! Her baby girl! Stolen from the field of flowers where she was supposed to be safe! Persephone must be distraught, especially after being in the underworld for so long! Demeter berated herself for not coming to Zeus sooner.
Demeter dropped to her knees. “Please! Help me get her back! If you have any mercy, please!”
Zeus said, “I’ll allow Hermes to take you there. But you know the rules.”
Only Hermes - or Hades himself - could travel the roads of the dead, and the food of the dead bonded one to an existence in the kingdom of ghosts. This was what kept the living and those who had passed on, separate. Without such boundaries, order, life, and the very creation Demeter nurtured, could not exist. Even Zeus must obey such rules.
Demeter flinched and nodded.
Hermes stepped to Demeter’s side. As he took her arm, the wings on his shoes fluttered, lifting them into the air and carrying them down the snowy slope of Mount Olympus.
Across the countryside they flew until they reached one of the openings to the underworld and plunged into a cavernous maw. Demeter heard water, and soon they traveled along the banks of the Stix, the river that would ever separate the living and the dead. If Hermes felt her tremble as they flew over it, he wisely chose to say nothing.
When they entered Hades’s throne room, Demeter gasped. Instead of Hades's solitary seat, two great stone chairs stood on the dais.
One was occupied by Persephone. line of shades, the souls of the dead, stood below the steps. Persephone looked down at them, her face a mask of concentration as she listened to their concerns. Her golden hair lay in ringlets over her breasts, framing her high cheekbones and lavender eyes. Her long fingers rested lightly on the arms of the chair and one slender leg was visible through the side slit of her dress.
Hades sat in the other chair watching her, his mouth curled in an expression Demeter had never seen on him before.
The god of the underworld smiled.
Although the ancient stories do not say it, Hades loved Persephone. It is her influence that made Hades a place of respite for the dead.
Hades’ smile disappeared when he noticed Demeter and Hermes, for what man takes delight in a visit from his beloved’s mother?
Hades rose, and the soft murmuring of the shades stilled.
In the silence, Demeter heard her daughter say, “I thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Know I have heard you and will see you again soon.” The shade in front of Persephone bowed low. “Thank you my queen.” He said, and disappeared.
Demeter could not believe what she’d heard. Her child could not have agreed to be Hades’s wife!
Persephone saw Demeter standing there and her expression became very still. She too had heard her mother calling and refused to answer. Today she would say the words that her mother had ever pushed away.
She looked back at the assembled shades and said, “That is all for today. Please return to your homes.”
The shades bowed and disappeared, leaving the immortals alone in the long, stone room.
Persephone rose to stand next to Hades, and Demeter hurried forward to embrace her. But Persephone’s rigid posture made her hesitate.
“You haven’t eaten anything have you?” Demeter asked. “Even if you have, we’ll find a way to get you home.”
“This is my home, mother.”
Demeter froze. She had expected… told herself… that Persephone longed to be back in her fields of flowers.
She told herself then, that Hades had been telling Persephone what to think. He was, after all, a god.
Demeter put out a hand to her daughter. “Just come to me, and you’ll be safe.”
Persephone’s violet eyes flashed. “I don’t want to be safe,” She stepped to the edge of the dais standing next to Hades, her shoulder just below his.
For a moment, Demeter wondered when Persephone had grown so tall. But are not all parents surprised thus?
“He has bewitched you, my daughter. Hermes! Help me!” Demeter demanded.
But the messenger stayed by the entrance to the throne room, leaning on his staff with its twining snakes. “This is not my business, Lady of the Grain,” he said.
Demeter looked upon Hades with anger. Even though she knew he was stronger, she meant to strike him. It seemed only right that he should feel the pain she felt.
Persephone stepped forward and Hades grabbed her hand in a gentle grip. The expression on Persephone’s face as she looked back at him froze Demeter in her tracks.
Persephone cared for Hades, loved him.
Persephone let go of the god’s hand and walked down the steps toward Demeter.
“Mother, I ate a piece of pomegranate. It was my choice.” She cast a look back up at Hades, “Our choice.”
What mother can bear to hear her child making a choice she had not condoned? But it is a truth that all children must become adults and decide for themselves, or the world will forever stay the same.
Demeter sobbed but Persephone held up a hand. “There were only six seeds. I will return to the surface for half of a year. I love my husband and the life he offers me. But I still love flowers and growing things, and he has no wish to take from me that which brings me joy. It was our compromise.”
“But… How can you love him?” Demeter spat the words like a curse. “You’ve only been here a little while!”
I’m not asking for paid subscribers, but if you like this then perhaps you could…
Or
Persephone raised her eyebrows. “How long do you think my husband has been courting me? Do you believe he simply snatched up a child? I have not been a child in a long time. Now the humans are starving and crying because you neglect your duties. While you looked for me the earth has become cold, and crops are dying. They think themselves cursed that you do not answer their prayers although it has only been a few cycles of the moon.”
Demeter cried. “How could I not search for you?”
Persephone put a hand on her chest and spoke quietly. “Look at me. I’ve not been a child for centuries. Yet you’ve held me to you as if I had no will or desire of my own. I was angry with you for so long, and you didn’t even notice!”
Demeter could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Your life is idyllic…”
Persephone looked sad. “That is exactly the problem. What is my worth if I do nothing but wander fields and pick flowers?”
“You are worth everything to me!” Demeter emphasized the last word as if her daughter might heed the anguished plea.
Persephone reached out and touched her mother’s face. “But I need more. I cannot be a child forever.” She turned away, putting one foot on the steps, then looked over her shoulder, blonde hair glowing in the dim light. “Go tend to your people mother, I’ll be home to visit soon. Let the mortals be your children now. It is they who need your care.”
Demeter proclaimed, “When you are here, I will grieve and do nothing.”
“Maybe that’s for the best.” Persephone looked sad. “Perhaps the mortals also need to be more than they have been. Like me, they cannot be children forever.”
And so it is that the earth had winter and summer, and mortals learned to plan and conserve the summer’s bounty in order to survive the winter.
If you’re curious about Paganism/Heathenism/Wicca, please feel free to message me and I’ll be happy to answer questions.
Selina Rifkin, M.S. [Nutrition], LMT, has been Pagan since she was 14 [which was a long time ago] and been to Hades in a handbasket. More than once. This has given her some opinions. She has direct communication with her gods and they’ve always given her answers when she asks. [One does have to ask.] Like most of her generation [X] she’s okay with snark. Most days she tries for good writing. But the snark, and side comments creep in. Be warned.