Demeter
"Okay, Hera, why don't you
tell us more about your family life?"
What do you mean by that? I
have shared with you stories that include both my daughter, husband and
even my step-daughter!
"I know and they have been
wonderful, but don't you have any siblings?"
As if you didn't know. Of
course I do! Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, and ummm Zeus of course!
"Well, do you have any
stories involving them?"
Well, actually I do. It
involves my sister Demeter, but it is kind of a sensitive story for
her.
So in this story I will ask you to listen with kindness and please do
not judge her, as this story was extremely hard for her and she has
suffered for many years.
"I promise I will keep it
tasteful."
Thank you. Well, it all
started when Hades, our brother, fell madly in love with Persephone.
Persephone is Demeter's daughter. Yes, I know what you all are
thinking: Who is Demeter married to? Well, she is not married and there
has always
been a bit of confusion on this part of the story. Of course, my
husband Zeus gets blamed for impregnating her, but the real story is
that Persephone was the parthenogenic daughter of Demeter.
Parthenogenic is a hard word for most people to understand so let me
explain. It is basically just an asexual form of reproduction found in
females. Obviously, not every female has this ability but my sister is
a goddess! So please don't question it! Obviously, her child was going
to be a girl because she had no fertilization by a man, especially not
Zeus! So this proves that Demeter had Persephone legitimately!
"Are you sure about that? I
mean, I have never heard of such a thing. Well, I have heard about it
occurring in some reptiles..."
Please do not question me! I
think I would know about my own sister! Are all reporters this nosy?!
Anyway, do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?
"I am sorry. I was not
trying
to offend you. Please continue."
I will as long you do not
continue to interrupt me. No one has manners these days and you should
pride yourself on them if you do. Now please show me the respect of
acting like a civilized human being.
As I was saying, Hades our
brother had fallowed Demeter's daughter all over the earth until he
kidnapped her. He had some help in secretly
kidnapping her. Obviously, Zeus and I had no idea where poor Persephone
was, but we made an effort to help our sister Demeter find her
daughter. Demeter
hardly slept, I felt so badly for her. I could not imagine
losing one of my daughters! As the goddess of grain and fertility, she
had the power to nourish the entire green earth! But because she was so
angry and depressed she refused to do her job! She was too busy
looking for Persephone. The entire earth was at risk because of
Demeter! The Hermionians accidentally told Demeter that Hades
had kidnapped Persephone and she was absolutely furious! She went to
Zeus to
tell him what had happened and he told her that he would get her
daughter
back as long as she started doing her job again because the entire
existence of man was at risk! She agreed as long as she could see her
daughter again. Zeus, being the great god that he is, demanded that
Hades send Persephone back from the underworld and in the hands of
Demeter. Persephone left the underworld and rejoined her mother.
Demeter was thrilled!
The oddest part about this
story is that Persephone has to go back to the underworld once a year.
I heard that our tricky brother made Persephone eat pomegranate seeds
before she left. This forces her to return to the underworld for one
season out of each year. Anytime Persephone and Demeter are together,
the earth flourishes with food and flowers. But because Demeter has to
grieve every year for four months, the earth is always barren until
Persephone returns home.
"Wow, that is an amazing
story. I had no idea that Demeter had so much power over our food and
the seasons."
Well, if you would not have
been so nosy you probably would have learned more!
"I am sorry. Hera, it will
never happen again."
I expect it won't.
Author's Note:
I wanted to keep this
story's facts as close to the original ones as possible. Because this
is the first story that Hera is actually a little more sensitive I
thought it deserved more accuracy. The story of Demeter is not as well
known as some stories of the other gods and goddesses but I thought it
was an interesting one. It is said that Persephone was the daughter of
Demeter and Zeus but I also read in Wikipedia that Demeter could have
been parthenogenic. I thought this would be kind of a fun way for Hera
to defend her sister's honor. The original story also said that Zeus
was a part of the kidnapping. I wanted to make sure that Hera seemed as
if she knew this information but was very consistent about covering up
her husband's crime and making him seem perfect and innocent. In the
original story it was no accident that the Hermionans told Demeter that
Hades had kidnapped her daughter. I also wanted to show more of Hera's
family. She never really mentions that Zeus is actually her brother so
I put a funny line about that in there as well. I felt like we got to
learn more about Hera through Demeter because we kind of get to see her
scramble to make this tragic story into something that seems like it
almost has no betrayal in it. She is so nonchalant with what happened
no one would think twice about it! I hope this story showed you a
different side of Hera.
Image information:
Title: The Return of Persephone
Artist: Frederic Leighton
Year: 1891
Bibliography:
Wikipedia: Persephone
Theoi: Demeter and
the Rape of Persephone
ArtHistory.sbc.edu: Demeter
and Persephone