The Origin of the Seasons - Review

    The Origin of the Seasons is a story written by Olivia Coolidge and we read it in ninth grade. I really like this story because I am a great fan of Greek Mythology. It was fun to see that we would study a part of it when we were in ninth grade. I enjoyed reading about Hades and Persephone because it is a controversial story. It makes you wonder if Hades actually was in love or just obsessed with Persephone, because if you love someone you want them to be happy, and she was, but with her mother.

    Demeter was the goddess of the harvest and the great earth mother. She had a daughter named Persephone, she was full of joy and with the sound of her laugh made Hades fall in love with her. Hades went to see Zeus to ask for his permission to make Persephone his wife, he agreed and when she was picking flowers with her maidens she got captured and taken to the underworld. Demeter went to look for her, she was desperate because once she found out that Zeus gave his permission she couldn't do anything. She was sad and left her duties as a goddess, which exacerbated the Earth's condition because there were droughts, nothing was growing, there was food scarcity and Demeter was glad that others were also suffering just because she was also in pain. The gods sent Iris to look for her, she offered all kinds of gifts to bring her back, but she didn't want them. She would only accept the petition to go back if her daughter would be with her too. Everything was wrong, so Zeus sent Hermes to look for Persephone. Hades couldn't decide against letting his wife go back with his mother, and Persephone wanted to go too. Since she was happy with the news, she ate seven seeds that Hades gave her. At the end, the seven seeds meant that she would have to spend seven months with Hades and five with her mother. This is how the seasons were born.