Greek mythology · 5 chapters

Demeter and Persephone

A mother's grief withers the world until the earth itself learns to mourn and bloom.

When Hades carries off her daughter Persephone into the underworld, the harvest goddess Demeter abandons her duties, and famine grips gods and mortals alike. Her desperate search ends in a hard bargain: having tasted the food of the dead, Persephone must spend part of each year below. Her descent and return become the turning of the seasons, winter's death and spring's rebirth.