PERSEPHONE’S POMEGRANATE

by JAYNE COHEN

Itwasthetimebeforetimewheneverydaywassummersoft,eachonemeltingintothenextlike sugar into water...when moist furrows stretching to the horizon swelled with waves of barley and the sweet smells of ripe apricots and almonds were everywhere...when Demeter, goddess of all that grew on earth, lavished her dominion with a mother’s love and made the world her eternal garden where everythingwouldbloomatonce.

But greater still was Demeter’s devotion to her own beloved daughter, the slim-ankled tender beautyPersephone.Everprotective,Demeterkeptherunderwatchfuleye,awayfrompredatorygodsand jealous goddesses, leaving the girl with the graceful nymphs, daughters of Oceanus, as her sole companions.

On that day Persephone and her friends were picking flowers, a gift for Mother Demeter. But even as the maiden goddess gathered armfuls of roses and sweet violets, crocuses, lilies and fragrant hyacinths, a giant exotic bloom pulled Persephone lodestar-like just beyond and ever ahead.At last she reached it: a gorgeous narcissus, the stalk swollen with a hundred blossoms. Enveloped in its powerfully seductivefragrance,shelaughedandreachedouttopluckit.

Suddenly the earth cracked apart and a golden chariot burst from the unknown depths below.The driver grabbed the girl and carried her off. And yes, Persephone did scream for her mother for she recognizedherabductorastheformidablegodoftheunderworld,Hades.

The air grew colder and colder still during the chariot’s headlong descent into the netherworld. Hadessawhiscaptive’sfragilebodyshiverandhedrewhisvoluminouscapeprotectivelyaroundher. Finally entering his realm, they sped past the roiling pools and inky rivers until the fearsome steeds pulled up before the somber palace. Hades brought the frightened goddess into a night-dark room filledwithcouchesandsoftpillowsandbadehermakeherselfcomfortable.Thenhekneltbeforeher.

And he murmured that during his infrequent trips to the world above, he would watch her dance joyfully with the daughters of Oceanus. “Afterwards I would dream that same vital spark might one day lightupmydarkkingdom.Becauseonedayyouwouldgreetthenewarrivalshereandruleoverthedead soulsofthenetherworldwithme.”

And,thenheconfessed,hewenttoZeus,hisbrotherandfathertoPersephone,andtoldhimofhis desperate loneliness and melancholy. “At last Zeus relented and devised a plot. It was Gaia, the Great MotherofAll,whoplantedthemarvelousnarcissustoentrapyou.

“So now I ask but humbly for your forgiveness. I love you: that is my only defense. Persephone, bemypartnerandsharemykingdomwithme.AndonedayIhopeyouwillconsenttobemybride.”

By now she was weak with hunger, her bones aching from the dank underworld cold. Yet still Persephone was mesmerized by the room where Hades led her next. He knew she loved her flowers in the the world above, so the god had covered the ebony tables here with a profusion of strange blooms. But no, she saw, they were not blossoms at all, but dazzling imitations carved from emeralds and rubies, diamondsandsapphires.

For Hades was the possessor of all that is found in the subterranean world beneath the earth, the wealthiestofthegods.

Light radiated from Persephone’s exquisite face and bounced about the glittering gems. Slowly shesmiled.AndgloomyHadessmiledback.

“Come,myQueen.Takesomethingtoeat.Youhavenottastedanythingallthistime.”

Inbetweenthejewelsonthetablesshesawplattersofbeatengoldthatbeckonedwiththefoodof the gods: fragrant ambrosia from Mt. Olympus and decanters of silken nectar.There were silver platters too, and these held the favored food of mortals. Soft goat cheese drizzled with honey from thyme flowers, roasted baby lamb, purple figs and grapes big as fists. Olives and their grass-green oil. Amphorae filled with finest wine.And most seductive of all, pomegranates slashed open to reveal their juicyseeds,redastherubyflowers.Redyesasblood.

And Persephone was sorely tempted. But she had heard the stories and would not taste anything atall.

In the world above, at the very moment the chariot had plunged deep within the earth, Demeter feltapiercingstabrunthroughherheart.Andsheknew.Sheknewwhatshehaddreadedmosthadcome topass.Despiteherwatchfuleye,hertenderchildhadvanished.

In vain the grieving goddess wandered the earth and roamed the seas in search of her daughter. And inconsolable with bottomless sorrow, Demeter refused to return to the other gods at Mt. Olympus. She would not eat the celestial ambrosia, or sip the nectar of the immortals. She would not even wash herbody,soconsumedshewaswithmisery.

And then she raged, cursing the earth as she cursed herself. In place of her eternal garden, there would always be winter now, for not a single plant would she allow to live. And so crops died in the fields; flowers and even weeds could not thrive. Famine settled over a barren world. Every mortal—humanandanimal—wasstarving.Soontheywouldalldie.

On Olympus, the gods knew that should the entire race of mortals perish, there would be none to offer up gifts and sacrifices to them, none to worship them and glorify their exploits.And to none of the godswasallthismoreimportantthantoZeus,thekingandmostpowerfulofthemall.

And so it was that Zeus sent the gods one by one to plead with Demeter and shower her with gifts,butnoonecouldmeltherangryheart.Andwitheachshesentbackthesamemessage:“Neverwill theearthbearfruitagainuntilmydaughterisreturnedtome.” request.“PleaseletmehavebutsometimealoneherebeforeItakemyleave.”

SoZeusdispatchedhismessengerHermestobringbackthegirl.

But when the messenger entered Hades’palace, it was not a girl he found, but a Queen Consort. Persephonehadgrownintoagoddesswiseandstrongashermother,hergirlishcharmstransformedinto regalbeauty.

Hades and Persephone, the King and Queen of the Underworld, looked at each other. “It is time, mydearestPersephone,”hesaid.

SheturnedtoHermes.Shewaseagertobereunitedwithhermotheragain,butshehadonesmall request.

AndPersephoneslippedintotheroomwiththecutgemstoneflowers.

AfewmomentslatersheflewbacktoMt.Olympuswiththewingedmessengerandintothe arms ofDemeter.

Her mother, overjoyed, was awed by the change in her regal daughter whom she scarcely recognizednow.Andallatoncetheearthbegantobloomagain.

Butwhatwasthis,thoselipssoredasrubies?

Then did Persephone admit to Demeter that before she left Hades she had tasted his tart-sweet pomegranateseeds.Itwastheirjuicethatstillstainedherlips.

Demeter sunk into despair, for all immortals know that if one consumes anything in Hades’ kingdom, one is doomed to spend the rest of eternity there. But before the goddess could bring back eternalwintertotheworld,ZeusaskedPersephonehowmanyseedsshehadeaten.

“Justfour.”

Now Zeus looked down at the mortals gathering the tender new green shoots of spring and tending the ripening barley stalks. White flowers spilled from the almond trees and scented the moist earth.

And the powerful king of the gods proclaimed, “For eight months of every year, Persephone shall join her mother. Then mother and daughter together shall bring every growing thing to life, just as theearthrejoicestoday.

“But,” he continued, “for the remaining four months—one for every pomegranate seed Persephonedidswallow—shemustspendbelowinthenetherworld.”

And so it is that every year when Persephone takes her leave, Demeter mourns her daughter’s absence,bringingsadwintertoearth withitsbarrenfieldsandbrowngardens...

...whilebelowtheearth,Persephoneisreunitingwithherhusband,KingHades.Andthensideby side,theregalQueenandKingruletheUnderworldwithwisdom.