Persephone Goddess of Spring

Persephone Goddess of Spring-
Persephone, was a Greek Goddess known in her time as Kore, as a child which meant 'young maiden'.

Persephone

She was the child only of the union of the Demeter Goddess of the bountiful harvest & Zeus the Mighty King of the Olympians.
The Greek goddess Persephone was born when the Demeter Goddess was Zeus's consort, long before his marriage to the Great Goddess Hera.
By all accounts the goddess Persephone had an idyllic childhood, raised by her nurturing mother the goddess Demeter of bountiful harvest and playing with her father's (Zeus) daughters the Greek goddesses Athena and Aphrodite.
She was always a cheerful and non-compliant child. Persephone was a parents dream-
According to the Greek Mythology.
But Persephone life was going to soon change very suddenly and harshly.
As signs of an womanly beauty began to shine through the youthful looks of Persephone, her

 Persephone

childlike
innocence, adolescent was slowly slipping away.
And the Goddess Persephone unwittingly attracted the attention of the Greek God Hades,

Persephone

of Zeus Brother and Ruler of the Underworld.
One could hardly blame Hades, because the Underworld in Greek Mythology was the realm of the sleeping and the Dead.
It probably needed some "Brightening Up."
Hades option was that of the young goddess Persephone who's radiance would assuredly liven up his deathly, dank and dreary home in Hades option.

Picking Flowers 

The God Hades, however did not bother to woo the young Persephone Goddess in the traditional way of Greek Courting into marriage. He decided to just go to the source and by asking for and receiving her fathers approval for Persephone hand in Marriage.
Then Hades simply abducted the beautiful Persephone on one bright sunny day when she had stopped to
pick a basket of narcissus from a field of wildflowers very near her home.

Hades snatching Persephone from Earth

While picking the narcissus flowers in the area of the field the earth suddenly opened wide and Hades suddenly reached out his hand and snatched the beautiful Goddess Persephone away from the meadow and her her home that was only a few yards away. Her screams were heard miles away even from her own home. He took her down into his underworld Kingdom, closing the earth and making her his Queen of the Underworld.
Although the young Goddess Persephone grew to love Hades, she remained loney for her mother and her life on earth.
Now her mother, the Goddess Demeter of the bountiful harvest of the earth, had heard

Persephone's loud screams in the meadow that day when Hades had grabbed her daughter near their home. From that day she began an intensive search for her only daughter, and  was consumed with grief ans sorrow.
The Goddess Demeter then demonstrated her outrage to Zeus by with holding her blessing as the Goddess of bountiful harvest of the earth, until Persephone was returned to her.
So until the time Persephone was returned to her, the Goddess Demeter would created first great floods, droughts and then the earth would lay barren of any food. Mankind was facing a major famine.
So Zeus finally relented to his ex demands, and sent the God Hermes to bring the young Goddess
Persephone back to her mother the Goddess Demeter so that the earth would be full of bountiful harvest once again.
But as the Legend and Myth of Persephone there are many different versions of this tale.
This is just one of many. I found that In most of the lend of the Goddess of Persephone it is of these
version. But as you the reader you can of course choose your own thoughts on which way this beautiful goddess would decide in those Greek times.
Back to the legend of Persephone....

So Once in the Kingdom of Hades and being Queen for a time, Persephone had grown rather fond of the God Hades and rather enjoyed her role as Queen even if it was the Queen of the Underworld. Yet there was a part of her that did miss her mother horribly.
So While preparing to returned to earth with Hermes Persephone accepted a Pomegranate offered by Hades.
Persephone knew full well that anyone who eats while in the Underworld would not be allowed to return, even an Goddess.
She decided to go ahead and ate seven of the seeds her choice. This of course would prevent her from ever being fully restored with her mother the Goddess the Demeter, But did open up the possibility of a
compromise...

So Hermes was able to negotiate an agreement on her behalf  between

Hades and another God, 
who is usually rather cold-nature Zeus,  And the self centered Demeter Goddess. Which wasn't the easiest thing to do. But alot of Gods seemed to do a great many things for the beauty Persephone...
Anyway, what the God Hermes was able to do for the beauty Persephone goddess was this:
She would be allowed to stay with her husband and King Hades in the Underworld for four months of the year [ the winter] and would return to earth to her mother the remaining months of the year as
Persephone Goddess of Spring...
As the Springs ends each year, the Goddess Persephone is joined again with her husband in the Underworld as Queen. Greek Mythology tell us that the Goddess Demeter of bountiful harvest would begin her grieve and bring on the cold barren winter, until a few months later when her daughter Persephone returns and brings with her Spring.
The Goddess Persephone is associated with the awaking of the threat of spring and will return and its
verdantly grows in her wake. Thus were the seasons were established-

The Goddess of Persephone did not sloughed off any of her responsibilities as Queen of the Underworld.
Having made the decision to consume the 7 seeds of the pomegranate that Hades offered her, while in the underworld, just before she was to leave. This showed that she wanted to stay in the underworld with her King and husband the God of Hades.

While in the Underworld Persephone has manged to somehow always be there when others come

to be
received into the underworld. To serve as their hostess and guide and help new faces, ease into the Underworld with a beautiful kindly face, so that their first coming into the Underworld isn't so bad.
The Greek Goddess Persephone represents both the youthful, innocent and a joyous maiden. Also the  aspects of a womanly self, who has lost their innocence, family attachment but can begin to decide for herself her own decisions on what she feels is best for her own womanly self as being a goddess, Queen,
wife, daughter, ruler of a kingdom, finding her own womanhood, finding her own power as an Queen, and ruler of the underworld, and the joys of being reunited to earths spring bountiful harvest.
I found Persephone to be a interesting goddess.
She has so many different aspects to her personality.
I choose this one because it show her choosing her own path and making all the different paths and different roles that she has work in my opinion..
I hope that you all find this to be a interesting read.
Wendy.