The pomegranate, it’s the reason for seasons!

In Greek mythology, Persephone is the daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and agriculture.  Hades, the god of the dead and king of the underworld, had fallen in love with Persephone and had long plotted to make her his queen. 

One day, while picking flowers in a meadow with her friend, the water nymph Cyane, Hades arose from the underworld and stole Persephone away with him.  When Demeter heard news of her daughter’s abduction, she fell into deep despair, neglecting her duties as goddess of agriculture, causing crops to fail, and plunging the world into cold and darkness.  As famine spread, Zeus knew he had to intervene.  He sent Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to Hades commanding him to release Persephone and allow her to return to her mother.  Hades couldn’t say “no” to the king of the gods and did as he was told. 

However, Hades devised a plan.  Persephone, who had refused to eat during her imprisonment in the underworld, had grown famished.  Before letting her go, Hades tricked Persephone into eating 6 pomegranate seeds from his trees that hung heavy with the fruit.  In her weakened state, Persephone neglected to remember the ancient rule that anyone who ate or drank anything from the underworld was bound to it and could not leave.

When it was time for Persephone to go home and be reunited with her mother, Hades protested and revealed how Persephone had eaten the fruit of the underworld and was therefore obligated to stay.  Knowing this could spell doom for mortals, Zeus struck a deal with Hades and Demeter.  For half of the year, Persephone would live with Hades in the underworld as queen of the dead.  For the other half of the year, she would live in the clouds with her mother on Mount Olympus.

And so, for half the year while Persephone is with her mother, Demeter is happy and the world is warm and bright, crops flourish, and we have summer.  However, for the half a year Persephone abides in the underworld, Demeter is depressed, making the world cold and dark, and we have winter. 

The pomegranate, it’s the reason for seasons!