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The abduction of Persephone is an etiological myth providing an explanation for the changing of the seasons. Since Persephone had consumed pomegranate seeds in the underworld, she was forced to spend four months, or in other versions six months for six seeds, with Hades.
A votive plaque known as the Ninnion Tablet depicting elements of the Eleusinian Mysteries, discovered in the sanctuary at Eleusis (mid-4th century BC). The Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek: Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια, romanized: Eleusínia Mystḗria) were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece.
Persephone, Greek Goddess of Spring. Her festival or the day she returns to her mother Demeter from the Underworld is on 3rd of April. Many fertility deities are also associated with spring; In Roman mythology, Flora was a Sabine-derived goddess of flowers [1] and of the season of spring [2]
Thus, Demeter, in her sadness, neglects to nourish the earth for the months that Persephone is gone, only doing so when she returns, until the process repeats again. These episodic periods became the winter and spring seasons, with the "death" and "rebirth" of Persephone being allegorical for the cycle of life and the experience of all beings. [9]
The Thesmophoria (Ancient Greek: Θεσμοφόρια) was an ancient Greek religious festival, held in honor of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone.It was held annually, mostly around the time that seeds were sown in late autumn – though in some places it was associated with the harvest instead – and celebrated human and agricultural fertility.
After Hades abducted Persephone and kept her in the Underworld, Persephone consumed some pomegranate seeds without anyone's notice. Ascalaphus, a resident of the Underworld, witnessed that, and informed the other gods, forcing Persephone to spend a portion of the year in the Underworld. For this Persephone turned Ascalaphus into a short-eared owl.
In Classical Greek and Roman myth, various goddesses represented the Earth, seasons, crops and fertility, including Demeter and Persephone; Ceres; the Horae (goddesses of the seasons), and Proserpina; and Hades who ruled the souls of dead in the Underworld. In ancient Greek medicine, each of the four humours became associated with an element.
The Thesmophoria was a festival held in Greek cities, in honour of the goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The name derives from thesmoi, or laws by which men must work the land. [6] The Thesmophoria were the most widespread festivals and the main expression of the cult of Demeter, aside from the Eleusinian Mysteries.