Greek Myth: The Rape Of Persephone

Death and Rebirth is a common theme throughout Greek mythology within many of the myths. Specifically, these themes can be seen within the Greek myth The Rape of Persephone. At its heart, The Rape of Persephone myth was used to explain to the mortals, the turning of the seasons on earth. There are several variations, however, typically the story begins with Hades, the king of the underworld, confiding in Zeus that he has seen Persephone’s great beauty, and wants permission to take her as his bride in the underworld. Zeus, as king of the gods, agrees to his union; however, he doesn’t tell Persephone or her mother Demeter, who is the goddess of agriculture, of his agreement with Hades. One day when picking flowers in a meadow, Hades abducts

The main characters within this story each have a strong connection to the themes of Death and Rebirth. Demeter, as the Goddess of Agriculture has a strong connection to the theme of rebirth as it is her responsibility to ensure healthy harvests for the mortals on earth. In contrast, Hades is the king of the underworld, or the lord of the dead, and this associates his character greatly with the theme of death. Finally, Persephone is tied with the themes of both death and rebirth in a very strong manner, through both her titles as the Goddess of spring and queen of the underworld. Within this myth it is not only the gods and goddesses who are affected physically and emotionally by the themes of death and rebirth, the whole world around them mirrors this cycle of death and rebirth experienced by the characters. When Persephone experiences her symbolic death through her return to the Underworld with Hades, simultaneously, the whole world experiences a collective death due to her disappearance, with the arrival of winter and the death of plants and harvests throughout the land of the living. However, when the goddess experiences a symbolic rebirth with her return to the land of the living, she brings spring to the world, in which plants and animals experience a rebirth after the death of winter. The story of Persephone captures the spirit of the natural process of the world, as the descent and return of the goddess bring about the changing of the seasons. This transition also resembles the birth and death cycle that all living creatures experience on this