The
Judgment of Demeter
Goddess of the Earth, Rich East
Zeus, dear
brother, I am honored you have chosen me as a candidate to be your
apprentice. Brother, you see my greatness each and every day when you
step
out of your home and onto your land. Look at the life in the plants
and flowers and
remember that it is I who allows them to grow. Remember, brother, that
I was
the one who taught the Greeks how to grow the crops that feed them and
keep them alive. Do not overlook how the humans worship me each and
every
day of their lives!
Zeus, brother,
you know the
greatness I bring to our world! I need not to tell you more about my
contributions.
Let me remind you now, though, that not all of the gods care for our
world as I do. Brother, not all of the Gods I compete with today bring
something
as wonder as I do to our land. Some of my fellow gods, brother, even
take things away.
Let me remind you, dear brother, about the story of my daughter,
Persephone, and that awful brother of yours, Hades! My innocent daughter
was simply playing in the meadow one day while watching over the land
when, out
of
nowhere, the earth opened below her and Hades
came up from his underworld kingdom and stole her from our land!
Remember now, brother, how Hades tricked Persephone
into staying in his kingdom forever.
My sweet
young daughter had no idea what hit her! She was young and did not
understand
the rules and consequences that came of eating pomegranate from the
underworld! She did know that pomegranate was a love apple, brother;
she
had no idea one bite of the sweet fruit would keep her in the
underworld forever!
Now, brother, do
not forget Persephone's role in the growth of the land. Remember she is
the one who watches over the seeds, protects them and
ensures their growth! Do not forget that the selfishnesses of
Hades, my
competitor here today, is the reason why the crops grow bare in the
winter!
You know, brother, how hard I tried to
keep the fields full after Persephone was taken. The
devastation of losing my daughter overtook me ,though, and without her
to help, it
was simply impossible for me to care for all the seeds!
I know that Hades had your permission to
take Persephone as his queen,
but, brother, you saw the
consequences it brought upon our world! You
saw a mistake was made. You saw what
happened after Hades took Persephone to his kingdom! Without
Persephone to care for them, the seeds could not grow, the fields grew
bare, and the men grew hungry! Brother, you saw the error of your ways!
Hades has yet to realize the error of his ways!. Hades did not care
what happened above him, he did care
about the bare fields, he did not care about the men, brother, he did
not care about you!
I do thank you,
brother, for seeing the mistake and intervening to allow
Persephone to return to live with me for part
of the
year. I know the men are all grateful to you for the months when
the crops grow
back and food is plentiful.
Think now, though, about the months of
the year when Persephone is gone, when devastation returns to us all as
the seeds do not grow and the fields become bare! Remember now, it is
Hades who is the reason for that
time of suffering!
I
ask you only to remember this when you make your final judgment,
brother: who do want by your side? No other god has done or can
do what I have done for our land and for the humans! The other gods do
not love the people like I do, the other gods do not love you like I do! I ask you,
brother, look at your window and see the green grass, notice the
blooming flowers, and see men gathering food for their dinner! Know,
brother, all that is possible because of me! It is me you want by your
side brother, it is me you need by
your side! It is me, Demeter, your sister, who helps grow the
crops
that keep the men strong. The men, brother,
are thus able to continue honoring you! I ask you again, who
do you want by your side?
Authors Note
The original story of Demeter, from "Greek Gods,
Heroes, and Men" by Caroline H. and Samuel B. Harding is told from a
third person point of view. The original story contains a section about
Demeter during the time Persephone lived with Hades, before she was
able to return to her mother. That section emphasizes how distressed
Demeter was and tells us about a family who took in Demeter without
knowing
she was a goddess. The family cared for Demeter and asked her to stay
to help nurse their baby boy. Demeter grew attached to the boy and
tried to make him immortal by burning him to take away the mortal part
of his body.
The boy’s
mother saw this occur, screamed at the sight and the charm of it was
broken. As a result, Demeter was unable to turn the boy into a
god
as she had hoped, though he did turn into a great and noble man. I did
not include
this information in my retelling because I feel it is irrelevant to
Demeter's
case for becoming Zeus's apprentice.
Demeter's
story
is important because Demeter has a chance to tell Zeus why she wants to
be his apprentice. I had Demeter focus on the negatives of her
competitor,
Hades, because he has so much to do with how her life, and how the life
of
humans turned out. Demeter’s focus on Hades also tells the reader a
lot
about her personality; she obviously has very strong feelings about
Hades and has not forgiven him. This becomes important as Zeus make his
final judgment.
Story: Demeter, The Earth Goddess
Author: Caroline H. and Samuel B.
Harding
Book: Greek Gods, Heroes, and Men
Year Published: 1905
Web Source: Balwdin
Project