It is from the story of Demeter and her daughter Persephone that we get the ancient Greek story that explained how the seasons came about.
The goddess of cereals and crops, Demeter was devastated when Hades, god of the underworld, abducted her daughter Persephone while she was picking flowers, and took her below the earth in his dark chariot.
The mother was so distraught at the loss of her daughter that she stopped making the crops grow and the first winter resulted. Later, Hades allowed Persephone to leave his dark kingdom and rejoin her mother, but only for part of the year. Down below, she had eaten five pomegranate seeds. Having ingested food in the underworld forever tied her to the shadowy world of Hades.
The mother goddess still grieved for her daughter while she was with Hades; thus, she neglected her duty of producing grain, the crops withered, and winter came. With the annual return of Persephone, Demter rejoiced and the world became fertile and productive once more.
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