Post by Shaman on Aug 16, 2007 3:01:24 GMT -5
Ceres and Proserpina
A Greek Myth
One day Proserpina, the young maiden of spring, was picking wildflowers with her mother, Ceres, the goddess of grain. Entering the cool, morning woods, Proserpina filled her basket with lilies and violets. But when she spied the white petals of the narcissus flower, she strayed far from her mother.
Just as Proserpina picked a beautiful narcissus, the earth began to rumble. Suddenly the ground cracked open, splitting fern beds and ripping flowers and trees from their roots. Then out of the dark depths sprang Pluto, god of the underworld.
Standing up in his black chariot, Pluto ferociously drove his stallions toward Proserpina. The maiden screamed for her mother, but Ceres was far away and could not save her daughter.
Pluto grabbed Proserpina and drove his chariot back into the earth. Then the ground closed up again, leaving not even a seam.
When the mountains echoed with Proserpina's screams, her mother rushed into the woods, but it was too late. Her daughter had disappeared.
Ceres grieved. She searched every land for a sign of her daughter. For nine days the goddess did not rest, but carried two torches through the cold nights, searching for Proserpina.
On the tenth day, Hecate, goddess of the dark of the moon, came to Ceres. Holding up a lantern, she said, "I also heard Proserpina's screams, but I didn't see her. Let us fly to Helios, the sun god, and ask him what happened."
Ceres and Hecate flew to Helios; and weeping, Ceres asked Helios if he'd seen her daughter as he shined down on the land.
"I pity you, Ceres," said Helios, "for I know what it is to lose a child. I did see what happened to Proserpina. Pluto wanted her for his wife and Jupiter gave permission to kidnap her. She now reigns over the land of the dead with Pluto."
Ceres screamed in rage and thrust her fist toward Mount Olympus, where the gods resided. She cursed Jupiter for allowing this to happen. She returned to earth disguised as an old woman, and wandered from town to town.
One day as she rested by a well, Ceres watched four princesses gathering water. They reminded her of Proserpina and she began to weep.
"Where are you from, old woman?" one princess asked.
"I was kidnapped by pirates, and I escaped," said Ceres. "Now I know not where I am."
Feeling pity for her, the princesses brought Ceres home to their palace. At the palace, their mother, the queen, noticed how good Ceres was with her own baby son, the prince. The queen asked Ceres to be his nurse, and the goddess gladly consented.
Ceres grew deeply fond of the child. She could not bear the thought that he would someday grow old and die.
So she decided to change him from a mortal to a god. Every night, while everyone slept, Ceres poured a magic liquid on the baby prince and held him near the fire. Soon, he began to look like a god. His beauty and strength held everyone in awe.
The queen soon grew suspicious, and one night she caught Ceres holding the prince near the fire and she screamed for help.
"Stupid woman!" shouted Ceres, "I was going to make your son a god! Now he'll be a mortal and die like the rest of you!"
The king and queen suddenly realized the nurse was Ceres and they were terrified.
"I will only forgive you if you build a great temple in my honor. Then I will teach you the secret rites to help the corn grow."
At dawn, the king ordered his men to build a great temple in honor of Ceres. But after the temple was completed, Ceres did not reveal the secrets. Instead she sat by herself all day, grieving for her kidnapped daughter. She was in such mourning that every thing on earth stopped growing. There was no food, and the people and animals began to starve.
Ceres grew deeply fond of the child. She could not bear the thought that he would someday grow old and die.
So she decided to change him from a mortal to a god. Every night, while everyone slept, Ceres poured a magic liquid on the baby prince and held him near the fire. Soon, he began to look like a god. His beauty and strength held everyone in awe.
The queen soon grew suspicious, and one night she caught Ceres holding the prince near the fire and she screamed for help.
"Stupid woman!" shouted Ceres, "I was going to make your son a god! Now he'll be a mortal and die like the rest of you!"
The king and queen suddenly realized the nurse was Ceres and they were terrified.
"I will only forgive you if you build a great temple in my honor. Then I will teach you the secret rites to help the corn grow."
At dawn, the king ordered his men to build a great temple in honor of Ceres. But after the temple was completed, Ceres did not reveal the secrets. Instead she sat by herself all day, grieving for her kidnapped daughter. She was in such mourning that every thing on earth stopped growing. There was no food, and the people and animals began to starve.
Jupiter grew worried--if Ceres caused the people on earth to die, there would be no more offerings to him. Finally he sent gods from Mount Olympus to speak to her.
The gods came to Ceres and offered her gifts and pleaded with her to make the earth fertile again.
"I never will," she said, "not unless my daughter is returned safely to me."
Jupiter had no choice but to bid his son, Mercury, the messenger god, to return Proserpina to her mother.
Wandering the underworld, Mercury passed terribly dark caverns filled with ghosts and phantoms. Finally he came to the misty throne of Pluto and Proserpina. Though the maiden was still frightened, she had grown accustomed to her life in the underworld.
"Your brother, Jupiter, has ordered you to return Proserpina to her mother," Mercury told Pluto. "Otherwise, Ceres will destroy the earth."
Pluto knew he could not disobey Jupiter, but he didn't want his wife to leave forever, so he said, "She can go. But first, we must be alone."
When Mercury left, Pluto spoke softly to Proserpina, "If you stay, you'll be queen of the underworld, and the dead will give you great honors."
As Proserpina stared into the eyes of the king of the dead, she dimly remembered the joy of her mother's love. She remembered the wildflowers she would pick with her mother in the sunlit meadows. "I would rather return," she whispered.
Pluto sighed, "All right, go. But before you leave, eat this small seed of the pomegranate fruit. It is the food of the underworld, it will bring you good luck."
Proserpina ate the tiny seed. Then Pluto's black chariot carried her and Mercury away. The two stallions burst through the dry ground of earth, then galloped over the barren countryside to the temple where Ceres mourned for her daughter.
When Ceres saw her daughter coming, she ran down the hillside, and Proserpina sprang from the chariot into her mother's arms. All day the two talked excitedly of what had happened during their separation. When Proserpina told her mother about eating the pomegranate seed, the goddess hid her face and moaned in anguish.
"What have I done?" cried Proserpina.
"You have eaten the sacred food of the underworld," said Ceres. "Now you must return for half of every year to live with Pluto, your husband."
And this is how the seasons began--for when fall and winter come, the earth grows cold and barren because Proserpina lives in the underworld with Pluto, and her mother mourns. But when her daughter comes back to her, Ceres, the goddess of grain, turns the world to spring and summer: The corn grows, and everything flowers again.
A Greek Myth
One day Proserpina, the young maiden of spring, was picking wildflowers with her mother, Ceres, the goddess of grain. Entering the cool, morning woods, Proserpina filled her basket with lilies and violets. But when she spied the white petals of the narcissus flower, she strayed far from her mother.
Just as Proserpina picked a beautiful narcissus, the earth began to rumble. Suddenly the ground cracked open, splitting fern beds and ripping flowers and trees from their roots. Then out of the dark depths sprang Pluto, god of the underworld.
Standing up in his black chariot, Pluto ferociously drove his stallions toward Proserpina. The maiden screamed for her mother, but Ceres was far away and could not save her daughter.
Pluto grabbed Proserpina and drove his chariot back into the earth. Then the ground closed up again, leaving not even a seam.
When the mountains echoed with Proserpina's screams, her mother rushed into the woods, but it was too late. Her daughter had disappeared.
Ceres grieved. She searched every land for a sign of her daughter. For nine days the goddess did not rest, but carried two torches through the cold nights, searching for Proserpina.
On the tenth day, Hecate, goddess of the dark of the moon, came to Ceres. Holding up a lantern, she said, "I also heard Proserpina's screams, but I didn't see her. Let us fly to Helios, the sun god, and ask him what happened."
Ceres and Hecate flew to Helios; and weeping, Ceres asked Helios if he'd seen her daughter as he shined down on the land.
"I pity you, Ceres," said Helios, "for I know what it is to lose a child. I did see what happened to Proserpina. Pluto wanted her for his wife and Jupiter gave permission to kidnap her. She now reigns over the land of the dead with Pluto."
Ceres screamed in rage and thrust her fist toward Mount Olympus, where the gods resided. She cursed Jupiter for allowing this to happen. She returned to earth disguised as an old woman, and wandered from town to town.
One day as she rested by a well, Ceres watched four princesses gathering water. They reminded her of Proserpina and she began to weep.
"Where are you from, old woman?" one princess asked.
"I was kidnapped by pirates, and I escaped," said Ceres. "Now I know not where I am."
Feeling pity for her, the princesses brought Ceres home to their palace. At the palace, their mother, the queen, noticed how good Ceres was with her own baby son, the prince. The queen asked Ceres to be his nurse, and the goddess gladly consented.
Ceres grew deeply fond of the child. She could not bear the thought that he would someday grow old and die.
So she decided to change him from a mortal to a god. Every night, while everyone slept, Ceres poured a magic liquid on the baby prince and held him near the fire. Soon, he began to look like a god. His beauty and strength held everyone in awe.
The queen soon grew suspicious, and one night she caught Ceres holding the prince near the fire and she screamed for help.
"Stupid woman!" shouted Ceres, "I was going to make your son a god! Now he'll be a mortal and die like the rest of you!"
The king and queen suddenly realized the nurse was Ceres and they were terrified.
"I will only forgive you if you build a great temple in my honor. Then I will teach you the secret rites to help the corn grow."
At dawn, the king ordered his men to build a great temple in honor of Ceres. But after the temple was completed, Ceres did not reveal the secrets. Instead she sat by herself all day, grieving for her kidnapped daughter. She was in such mourning that every thing on earth stopped growing. There was no food, and the people and animals began to starve.
Ceres grew deeply fond of the child. She could not bear the thought that he would someday grow old and die.
So she decided to change him from a mortal to a god. Every night, while everyone slept, Ceres poured a magic liquid on the baby prince and held him near the fire. Soon, he began to look like a god. His beauty and strength held everyone in awe.
The queen soon grew suspicious, and one night she caught Ceres holding the prince near the fire and she screamed for help.
"Stupid woman!" shouted Ceres, "I was going to make your son a god! Now he'll be a mortal and die like the rest of you!"
The king and queen suddenly realized the nurse was Ceres and they were terrified.
"I will only forgive you if you build a great temple in my honor. Then I will teach you the secret rites to help the corn grow."
At dawn, the king ordered his men to build a great temple in honor of Ceres. But after the temple was completed, Ceres did not reveal the secrets. Instead she sat by herself all day, grieving for her kidnapped daughter. She was in such mourning that every thing on earth stopped growing. There was no food, and the people and animals began to starve.
Jupiter grew worried--if Ceres caused the people on earth to die, there would be no more offerings to him. Finally he sent gods from Mount Olympus to speak to her.
The gods came to Ceres and offered her gifts and pleaded with her to make the earth fertile again.
"I never will," she said, "not unless my daughter is returned safely to me."
Jupiter had no choice but to bid his son, Mercury, the messenger god, to return Proserpina to her mother.
Wandering the underworld, Mercury passed terribly dark caverns filled with ghosts and phantoms. Finally he came to the misty throne of Pluto and Proserpina. Though the maiden was still frightened, she had grown accustomed to her life in the underworld.
"Your brother, Jupiter, has ordered you to return Proserpina to her mother," Mercury told Pluto. "Otherwise, Ceres will destroy the earth."
Pluto knew he could not disobey Jupiter, but he didn't want his wife to leave forever, so he said, "She can go. But first, we must be alone."
When Mercury left, Pluto spoke softly to Proserpina, "If you stay, you'll be queen of the underworld, and the dead will give you great honors."
As Proserpina stared into the eyes of the king of the dead, she dimly remembered the joy of her mother's love. She remembered the wildflowers she would pick with her mother in the sunlit meadows. "I would rather return," she whispered.
Pluto sighed, "All right, go. But before you leave, eat this small seed of the pomegranate fruit. It is the food of the underworld, it will bring you good luck."
Proserpina ate the tiny seed. Then Pluto's black chariot carried her and Mercury away. The two stallions burst through the dry ground of earth, then galloped over the barren countryside to the temple where Ceres mourned for her daughter.
When Ceres saw her daughter coming, she ran down the hillside, and Proserpina sprang from the chariot into her mother's arms. All day the two talked excitedly of what had happened during their separation. When Proserpina told her mother about eating the pomegranate seed, the goddess hid her face and moaned in anguish.
"What have I done?" cried Proserpina.
"You have eaten the sacred food of the underworld," said Ceres. "Now you must return for half of every year to live with Pluto, your husband."
And this is how the seasons began--for when fall and winter come, the earth grows cold and barren because Proserpina lives in the underworld with Pluto, and her mother mourns. But when her daughter comes back to her, Ceres, the goddess of grain, turns the world to spring and summer: The corn grows, and everything flowers again.