Lovely Persephone was the daughter of Zeus, King of the Olympians, and Demeter, revered goddess of the Harvest. As such, along with her beloved mother, Persephone was worshipped as the all-pervading goddess of nature, who both produces and destroys everything.

Others claim that, being the infernal goddess of death, she was the daughter of Zeus and Styx. In the ancient area of Arcadia she was worshipped under the name of Despoena, and there her parents were said to be Poseidon and Demeter; in that version of the myth, Persephone was said to have been brought up by the Titan Anytus.

Us darned Greeks could never make up our minds, I tell ya! Can we reach a consensus already, folks?

Let me confide to you a little bit about this intriguing personage, before we get into the story of her vile abduction and the ensuing bedlam. I promise to not be too tedious.

Persephone's name is commonly derived from 'pherein phonon', which translates "to bring or cause death," with the actual name Persephone initially occurring in the ancient poet Hesiod's Theogony (Birth of the Gods).

From Hesiod we first find out about Persephone's cruel kidnapping at the hands of Hades, Lord of the Underworld, and the terrible anguish of a mother who loses a child.

The poet Homer calls her Persephoneia and he describes her as the wife of Hades, and as 'the formidable, venerable, and majestic queen of the Shades, who exercises her power, and carries into effect the curses of men upon the souls of the dead, along with her husband.'

Homer makes no mention of the abduction story. Probably didn't want to antagonize Hades and provoke retribution. Hey, it was hard enough being a blind poet; that's all he needed, the Lord of Death on his case!

The dreaded Erinnyes  -- the Furies, feared avenging spirits that tormented evildoers -- were daughters of Persephone by Hades. Groves sacred to her are said by Homer to lie in the western extremity of the earth, on the frontiers of the Lower World, which is itself called the House of Persephone.

The place where Persephone was alleged to have been carried off differs among the various local traditions, so don't write me bitching about how wrong I am. The Sicilians, among whom her worship was probably introduced by the Corinthian and Megarian colonists, believed that Hades found her in the meadows near Enna, and that the well named Cyane arose on the spot where he descended with her into the Lower World.

The Cretans thought that their own island had been the scene of the rape, and the Eleusinians mentioned the Nysaean plain in Boeotia, and said that Persephone had descended with Hades into the Lower World at the entrance of the western Oceanus. Later accounts place the kidnapping in Attica, near Athens.

Seems like everybody, not just randy Hades, wanted a piece of Persephone.

Alright, enough boring stuff! Her story is fascinating, I promise!

Even as a young maiden, Persephone's noble beauty was overpowering. Her family tree wasn't too shabby, either -- naming Zeus and Demeter as parents on one's birth certificate does give one serious street cred, and opens many a door. Impressive lineage, to say the least.

The Olympian gods Hermes and Apollo had for years wooed gorgeous Persephone but Demeter had other plans for her girl. The goddess of the Harvest rejected all their gifts and entreaties and hid her breathtaking daughter away from the company of the persistant Olympian deities, hoping to keep her chaste.

Good luck with that, mom.

Apollo and Hermes respected Demeter, thus, even though disappointed at the flat-out rebuttal,  they didn't press the issue. It wasn't as if there weren't queues of nubile Grecian maidens more than eager to hook up with these two handsome Greek gods! The boys would just have to slum.

Hades didn't care about Demeter's feelings one iota. The dreaded Lord of the Underworld, just like his brothers Zeus (the Heavens) and Poseidon (the Seas) was in absolute charge of his domain. Serious control-freak issues.

Hades had no qualms about his uninhibited passion for Persephone, who just happened to be his niece -- Demeter was his sister and Zeus was his brother as previously mentioned.

The Lord of Darkness had recently fallen madly in love with the maiden, having espied her as she leisurely bathed alone at a crystal clear lake. Can you say 'lust at first sight'? She was spectacular, and Hades knew he had to make her his bride!

Still, discretion was paramount. Hades knew that he had better first run this by Zeus, cognizant that the Lord of the Sky had the ultimate say in all things, and not being of any mind to upset his omnipotent brother.

You just did not mess with Zeus! Remember the thunderbolts! Remember them well!

Hades was not about to ruffle Zeus' feathers, or those of his gigantic pet eagle, which perched majestically at the feet of his grandiose throne and ominously retrieved its master's hurled lightning bolts.

Thus Hades found it prudent to approach the King of the Heavens in order to confess his ardent infatuation with the sweet maiden.

Zeus knew that Demeter would never permit her daughter to leave for the Underworld willingly. He tried to dissuade Hades from carrying out his abduction but was unable to shake his brother's determination.

Zeus gave to Hades his reluctant permission to carry away Persephone.

One fine morning soon thereafter, while Persephone was gathering flowers with Artemis (virgin goddess of the Hunt), Athena (virgin goddess of Wisdom and War), and the lovely Oceanids (virgin goddesses of the Seas -- do you sense a pattern here?), Hades suddenly burst through a cleft in the earth and carried the young girl off.

What an acid trip! One moment pure Persephone was happily plucking bright flowers in a pristine meadow, the next moment she was in Hell.

The maidens - all of them dedicated virgin goddesses. strong and confident - were laughing and chattering idly when suddenly, with a great and furious sound, the earth next to them split open, and from the cleft burst out grim Hades.

I must confess, he made a very impressive entrance. Poor Persephone didn't know what to think, the scene was both awesome and terrifying.

Lord of the Dark Hades commandeered a majestically constructed, ornate black chariot, steered ably by four of the most incredibly beautiful black stallions ever, the intimidating quartet of super-steeds capable of attaining extreme speeds.

The thunderous sound of their hooves, even from a distance, was enough to scare you to death. As if that weren't enough, the chariot of Hades was also capable of streaking like lightning through the sky. Wow.

Nice ride, even though it was only four horsepower. Too bad that the industrious god of the forge, Hephaestus, at the request of Hades stopped making that model. Wouldn't mind owning one, I love black!

Before any of the maidens could react, Hades, shrouded by a dark cloud which concealed his identity, swept up the hysterical Persephone and disappeared back into the crevice from which he had just emerged.

At once the earth closed behind the chariot, leaving scant evidence.

'What just happened?', wondered Athena, Artemis and the Oceanids, as the black cloud dispersed. 'Did anyone get the license plate of that chariot? And where in dreaded Hades is Persephone? '

Little did they know that Persephone was in dreaded Hades, deep inside the Dark Palace to be precise!

INTERMISSION - GO GRAB YOURSELF A BEVERAGE!

EXCITING CONCLUSION IN PART TWO - CLICK HERE!

ZODIAC

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