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GreeK myth
Persephone:TheStoryofSpring
Have you ever wondered why we have seasons? Why everything is so alive and fresh in the spring and summer and everything wilts and dies in the autumn and winter? Well, there is an ancient Greek myth about
a lovely young maiden called Persephone that explains just why we have different seasons.
Persephone was the daughter of Zeus, the god of thunder and ruler of all Olympus and Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. Demeter and Persephone lived among the mortals in the island of Sicily, right off the coast of Italy. Every day Persephone would play in the fields, among the vines, through the lush hills. She would laugh with her friends and pick blooming purple crocuses, royal blue irises, and fragrant hyacinths. She loved frolicking through the vines of grapes and rows of grain that her mother had blessed. She was enchanted by the beauty of nature, the warmth of the sun, the bounty of the earth. She truly was a nature-child. The people of Greece were grateful for Demeter’s goodwill, for if it were not for her, there would be no certainty for the harvest.
One day, while Persephone was out picking flowers, she saw the most magnificent flower she had ever seen. It was a narcissus. As she reached down to pluck it, her feet began to tremble and the earth was split apart under her. Her life was about to change for the worst!
From the gaping crevice in the ground swiftly emerged Hades, the god of the underworld, and before Persephone could even think of escaping she was whisked off her feet onto Hades’ dark chariot. No one heard her pleas
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