How does the myth of Demeter explain the seasons of spring and winter?
Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, was abducted by Hades to be his queen of the underworld. Demeter went looking for her and neglected her duties: to see crops grow. People and animals complained to Zeus, who asked Hades to give Persephone back. Hades told Zeus that Persephone had eaten while with him (if only a piece of a pomegranate) and so had her home in the underworld. But Hades agreed to a compromise: Persephone was to return to her mother for one half of the year. During this part of the year Demeter is happy, during the other halv she grieves and nothing grows on the earth. (You may find small variations of this story.
