The Story of Persephone

Come springtide I am bound to earth, to my mother’s sunfilled meadows...

-excerpt from “Persephone Speaks” by Amrita

Persephone was the daughter of Zeus, the sun god and Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and agriculture. Her story is a quiet one, until she is abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld.

Persephone was known for her beauty and innocence, and spent her days in the meadows gathering flowers. One day, while she gathered, the earth suddenly split open and Hades emerged from the underworld in his chariot. Hades, captivated by Persephone’s beauty, took her to be his wife.

Mourning the loss of her daughter, Demeter refused to let anything grow, and wandered the earth searching for Persephone. The world plunged into a harsh and barren winter, as the result of Demeter’s sadness.

Meanwhile in the underworld, Persephone sat at the thrown of Hades kingdom. She wanted to return home and refused to eat, knowing that should she ingest part of the underworld, she would become part of it herself. According to the rules of the underworld, anyone who consumed food there was bound to stay. Hungry, Persephone eventually conceded and ate 6 pomegranate seeds from the hand of Hades, and her fate was sealed.

Back home, Zeus, the king of the gods and Persephone’s father, intervened and negotiated a compromise with his brother Hades. It was decided that Persephone would split her time between the surface earth and the underworld. She would spend 6 months with her husband down below, as queen, and 6 months with her mother in the surface world.

At the joy of her daughters return, Demeter brought forth a bountiful harvest. The return of growth to the earth became what we know as spring and summer, while her daughters return to the underworld led to the barrenness of autumn and winter.

And so, the story of Persephone became intertwined with the cycle of nature, representing the eternal cycles of life, death, and rebirth. She became a symbol of fertility, transformation, and the interconnectedness of the human and divine worlds.

And here on Block Island her spirit lives on through the bountiful harvest Persephone’s Kitchen provides in spring and summer, and with her return to Hades, our kitchen sleeps in preparation for it’s rebirth each year.