Just so that I remember to read this myth again in the future

Myth of Demeter of Persephone

In the complex myth of Demeter and Persephone, there is a theme present: the relationship between life and death. Persephone causes despair for Demeter, her mother, after Hades takes her forcefully into the underworld to be his wife. This myth creates juxtaposition: the life (fertility) that comes out of the death of her childhood and relationship with her mother (losing her virginity).

            In Greek culture, when a girl becomes married and thus, loses her virginity, a metaphorical death occurs. This is the death of childhood. A main purpose of marriage in Greek culture is to keep the family line alive. In ancient times, childbirth often meant death. Therefore, along with the death of childhood or the “plucking” of the flower, marriage meant literal death. In this sense, life is usually a product of death.

Persephone, as portrayed in this myth, is connected to the cycles of earth. While Persephone is in the underworld, Demeter, as “ripener of bountiful harvests” (5) denies the blooming of seeds and crops—this is the phase of winter. Upon Persephone returning to the world of immortals, crops are once again restored to the mortals—she is thus the bringer of spring. Because of this cycle, it can be easily interpreted that not only is Persephone a representation of Greek women but she is also a representation of the life cycle. When coming back to earth, it is as if she a symbol of birth. When returning to Hades’ lair as his wife, she is mimicking the phase of death. The fact that Persephone’s heart is “warmed at the message” (336) that Hades tells Persephone demonstrates that Greeks perhaps do not view death as the worst of things.

            Furthermore, Demeter herself is a symbol of Greek beliefs. Greeks often had to accept that death was a common thing, especially amongst women who had to bear children. Demeter’s compliance to Persephone living in the underworld for one third of the year is in itself a reflection of the way that Greeks had to come to terms with death. Death is part of the life cycle and Demeter’s progression of acceptance of her daughter’s metaphorical death represents this.

         Demeter and Persephone’s myth is a perplexing myth that touches on the relationship between girls and mothers in ancient Greece, the life cycle and the acceptance of death. Therefore, this myth clearly depicts the relationship between life and death.