Research Paper On Persephone

According to the Greek Myth Persephone is the daughter of Zeus (Head God) and Demeter (Mother Earth), she is Goddess of Spring and helps Demeter to take care of plants.

It is known that Hades, Lord of the Underworld, was smitten with Persephone and asked Zeus for her hand. Zeus didn't consent it, because he feared Demeter's reaction (she had depression problems). So Hades takes Persephone to the Underworld anyway and makes her Queen of the Underworld.

But Demeter was really sad without her daughter and stopped tending the plants and wandered the Earth looking for her. People and animals began to starve.

Demeter insisted in Persephone being returned to her. So under pressure from Demeter, Zeus went to talk to Hades and begged that Persephone leave the

Underworld to help Demeter again (before everyone on Earth starved to death).

When Hades protested, Zeus exercised his power, and declared that Persephone's marriage would be void. But if Hades was able to make Persephone eat something from the Underworld Garden, she could still live with him part of the year. Hades was sad to see Persephone go away and attracted her with a pomegranate, so that act consummated her marriage to Hades.

Her return from the Underworld marks the beginning of spring. But because Persephone tasted the pomegranate; she must return to the Underworld with her husband a particular part of the year. That is the end of harvest and winter begins. Reason why Demeter feels sad again, stops tending the plants, and little by little cold and darkness take over the Earth.

This myth basically explains the change in seasons and natural processes. The descent of the girl, represents winter and autumn because she can't take care of harvest and plants and her return represents spring and summer because she makes the vegetation grow again.

My outfit, which represents the mythological goddess Persephone nowadays, consists of a black shirt and trousers (because Persephone comes from the Underworld where the main characteristic is darkness).

But because she returned to the Earth, I added a colored blue shawl and a crown of flowers (to represent spring).

Persephone was the name used by the Greeks, but she was venerated by the Romans under the name of Proserpina. She appears as a beautiful young maiden, who has reached womanhood.

While most sources indicate Persephone was not happy to be married with Hades, others assert that she ate the pomegranate as a way of being free from her mom, and that she was actually content with the final arrangement.

Persephone has been represented in different ways. The main symbols of Persephone and their meanings were as follows:
The Pomegranate: was also known as the "fruit of the dead" and anyone who ate it was committed to stay in the Underworld.
The Torch: relates to the pair of flaming torches Demeter carried in her search for Persephone.
The Bat: symbolized death and rebirth.
Wreath of Flowers: were associated with birth and life after death. Flowers also symbolized with the return of spring after

winter.