Persephone's Purge
By: Alexander Gonzalez
Persephone was running in the fields on a beautiful day, gathering flowers with her friends. Suddenly, the Earth split open, and a god named Hades, who was riding his chariot, took Persephone down to the Underworld. There, Hades made Persephone queen. Persephone wanted to go back to her home. Persephone was too scared and she never ate nor drank. Demeter heard the echoes of Persephone's screams. She knew something was wrong, so she went to the sun, Helios and cried to him, "My daughter is imprisoned in the underworld, never to be seen again!" Then Demeter became angry, and caused the earth became cold and barren, plants unable to grow, and cattle dying, suffering with her. Zeus pleaded to her that she will let the world be green again, but Demeter wouldn't. Not until Persephone returned, so Zeus summoned Hermes to go down to the underworld and ask Hades to let Persephone go. Before she left, Hades gave Persephone 4 red pomegranate seeds, which If she ate just one, Persephone needed to return to him. Persephone ate them, waved good-bye, and drove to Earth. Zeus then realized after Persephone told him that he ate the Pomegranate seeds. Thus, every four months of the year, Persephone went down to the underworld. In this period, Demeter makes the world cold and barren. The rest of the year she could spend her time with her mother, and spring comes along. This is why the seasons happen. It's the wonderful cycle of earth!