The Myth of Spring

...And she returns, and with her, growth returns to the crops, flowers to the gardens, bounty and wealth to mankind... and her return is the spring of life and the joy of the earth.

...Good Demeter, goddess of good things, merciful giver of blessings, who colors the blossom and ripens the fruit, who grants the fields their green... Demeter dwelt in a lofty palace overlooking the plains of the island of Sicily that are loveliest in beauty, sweetest, and most balmy of air. When morning breathed, she would put on her fresh crown, which she had plaited of ears of wheat, grasp in her right hand her scepter studded with chrysolite, and then mount her splendid chariot and set off in it to roam the ends of the earth, passing by every farm and stopping at every vine, giving the wheat of her breath so that it grew by her blessings, and giving the ripening things of her breaths so that they grew sweet... Then she would return at nightfall, and her little daughter Persephone would run to her, joyous and beaming, and wind her two beautiful arms around her mother's legs.

And the girl Persephone would pass the length of the day, until her mother's return, in a flock of her companions, the fair daughters of the forest: they would go on picking flowers and gathering sweet herbs; then one of childhood's battles would break out among them, and they would pelt one another with roses, tender lilies, and clusters of white iris. The brooks rippled beneath them, and the branches cooed above them...

...Now Pluto, god of the dead and lord of the last abode, had wearied of this stillness brooding over the kingdom of the graves beneath the earth (Hades), and had grown sick of these phantoms drifting about him here and there in the surrounding darkness, and of the souls of the dead, moaning and lamenting in every corner of his desolate, mournful realm... So he harnessed his huge chariot and set its steeds aflame with his cruel whips, and off it flew, carrying him to... the first abode... where life is... Pluto, breathing this sweet breeze that floods the kingdom of his brother Zeus, quenching his thirsty soul with the sight of the water nymphs and the daughters of the forest... And as he devoured the earth with his chariot, behold, he heard ringing laughter, musical voices, and talk like dinars of gold... as though what he heard were warbling and song.

He parted the branches of the wood and saw the white doves playing on the grass, as if there were sweet smiles about their feet...

And Pluto went mad... and swore that he would carry off this sweet girl from among them!!

"How long shall I remain in this pitch darkness,
"alone?! And how long must I suffer my far
"exile, without friend or companion?!
"And what is my vast kingdom worth, so long as
"I have no comrade to cheer me, no companion, save my demon minions
"and my dogs, and Charon, the gloomy misshapen one,
"keeper of the gate of hell.
"I have grown weary... and I must have this fair young maiden!
"She has a tender speech... and she
"bends like a bough... alas... for her...
"....
"....
"....
"And her feet!!
"O the rounded heels... and the melody that sings in them!!
"And the soft arms
"and the ivory back!!
"And the golden hair —
"alas...

And this smile that hovers about the mouth — it is lovelier than apple blossom in the first days of May... and than the almond blossoms in April.

"...O my mouth, how you thirst for a kiss to press upon those two daisy-white lips. I shall carry her off! I shall seat her beside me on the throne of Hades! She shall become queen of the abode of the dead! She shall scatter the darkness of my kingdom with her beautiful, radiant face... and the souls of the dead shall bow down at her feet!!..."

* * *

And Pluto lashed his steeds to fire... and they sped toward the girls; and how terrified they were when they glimpsed his dust-gray face, with the dark shadows flickering over his gigantic frame.

Behind him followed his dog Cerberus of the three heads, casting terror all about... The fair ones fled in panic... all but Persephone: Pluto seized her by the arm and dragged her into the chariot... and off he went, racing the winds... The water of a fountain barred his way... and swiftly the water surged up and began to boil, so that the giant grew fearful and afraid...: but he took up his terrible scepter and struck the earth with it, and it shuddered and quaked and split open into

a great chasm of unfathomable depth...

Now Persephone had realized that one of the water nymphs had learned everything of her plight, and that she might be able to do her a service; so Persephone undid her white silken girdle and threw it down at the edges of the fountain, in the hope that one day it might reach her mother...

And Pluto plunged on through the darkness of the chasm until he reached his kingdom... and settled upon his throne... and set about appeasing Persephone, while she only grew more defiant and more averse... He carried her about the reaches of his vast kingdom and showed her the shores of the rivers of hell; he took her through the valleys of serpents and scorpions, and the lowest pit of the fire, and the garden of traitors and thieves, with its blazing trees... and with all this he only doubled her terror.

Demeter returned... and did not find Persephone; and in vain she tried to come upon some trace of her. The mother thundered and trembled and went about crying like a madwoman: "Persephone, where are you, Persephone?!"

She came to her brother's son Hephaestus, god of fire, and he lent her a great torch to light the world's darkness for her, that she might find her way to Persephone...

She scoured the forests, pierced the valleys, searched the shores, penetrated to the depths of the caves, and ranged over the chasms of the mountains... and did not come upon her. And the goddess of fertility and good things sat down, sorrowful and grieving...

And she vowed that no field should flourish, no plant should sprout, and no tree should bear fruit so long as her daughter was far from her! So the plains dried up, the stalks of wheat withered, the orchards withered, the beasts of the earth grew restless, and hunger spread the banners of ruin through all the world.

* * *

In her wandering, Demeter came to the fountain at which Persephone had thrown down the silken girdle.

The water nymph saw her moaning and lamenting, and knew that she was the goddess Demeter, and she spoke to her, saying: Be of good cheer and dry your eyes, for it is Pluto, lord of Hades, who carried off Persephone! And here is her girdle... Deliver the girl, for she will not taste food...

And Demeter took her daughter's girdle and knew it; then she fell to pressing it to her eyes and her breast... pouring out her tears.

She went straight to Zeus and told him what the water nymph had said, and swore before him that unless he ordered his brother to return Persephone, she would surely destroy his worshippers by famine, and neither crop nor udder would thrive for them.

Zeus was moved by her words, and then said: "Very well, let Persephone return, then... but on condition that she has not tasted food in Hades; for if she has done so, she will no longer be fit for life in this first abode."

Now Persephone, on that very day on which Zeus promised her return to the world, had eaten six pomegranate seeds! When Zeus learned of it, he amended his judgment, and decreed that Persephone should stay in Hades, with his brother Pluto, six months of every year — that is, a month for every pomegranate seed!?

And she returns to her mother and stays with her another six.

And with her return, growth returns to the crops, flowers to the gardens, plenty and wealth to the people; and her return is the spring of life and the joy of the earth.

And life would have been all spring — but for that villain Pluto...