Doreen Ceres and Persephone

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Ceres and Persephone

Ceres, the goddess of the crops and harvest, and Zeus, the king of the gods, had a daughter,
Persephone. One day while Persephone was gathering wild flowers she was abducted by Hades, the god
of the underworld where the dead live.
Distraught when she could not find her daughter, Ceres wandered over the face of the earth trying
to find out what had happened to her. She came to Eleusis disguised as an old woman, and was taken in
by the king and queen to be the nurse for their son. Each night, while the palace slept, she placed the baby
prince in the fire. One night the queen peeked and saw what the goddess was doing. Not unnaturally she
snatched the baby out of the fire, and had hysterics. The goddess revealed who she really was and
informed the queen that if she had not interfered, the baby would have been made immortal, all the mortal
parts of him having been burned away.
Ceres met Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, who told her that she had heard Persephone calling
out one day, and suggested she ask Helios, the Sun, if he had seen what had happened in his daily course
across the sky. Helios told Ceres who had abducted her daughter, and Ceres went off to complain to Zeus,
who was not only Persephone's father but Ceres and Hades' brother. Zeus refused to intervene, so Ceres
withdrew from her role as goddess. Without her no crops could grow, and the resulting famine threatened
the extinction of the human race.

Eventually Zeus said that Hades would have to let Persephone go. When Persephone was reunited
with her mother, Ceres asked if she had eaten anything while she was in the underworld. Persephone
admitted she had eaten a pomegranate seed. Because of this, she now spends one-third of each year in the
underworld as the wife of Hades, and two-thirds of the year with her mother. While Persephone is in the
underworld, her mother mourns and refuses to allow crops to grow until she gets her daughter back again.

This myth obviously explains the yearly cycle of growth, harvest, and winter.
Name: Year & Sec.:

1. How does Persephone end up in the underworld?


a. Zeus introduces Hades and Persephone at a party, and the two instantly fal in love and move
in together.
b. Persephone asks Zephyrus, the god of the west wind, to fly her there.
c. Her mom, Ceres, sends her there.
d. Zeus tells Hades he can marry Persephone, and Hades kidnaps her one day.
2. What Ceres the goddess of?
a. Agriculture
b. The underworld
c. Motherhood
d. Marriage
3. How does Ceres figure out what has happen to her daughter?
a. Zeus spills the beans.
b. Her BFF, Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, tells her.
c. She aks Helios, the sun god, because he sees everything from his place in the sky.
d. Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, tells her.
4. How does Ceres react when she finds out what has happened to Persephone?
a. She throws a bridal shower for her daughter.
b. She vows not to let everything grow on the earth.
c. She makes all of earth’s crops grow healthier and more bountifully than they’ve ever grown
before.
d. She and Artemis storm the underworld.
5. How does Zeus try to save the world from a famine and starvation?
a. He makes Psyche the new goddess of harvest.
b. He sends Hermes down to the underworld to order Hades to let Persephone go.
c. He sends ambrosia and nectar to the mortals.
d. He asks Dionysus to throw a big party for the mortals with food and wine.
6. How does Hades trick Persephone into coming back to the underworld?
a. He tells her that the dead people miss her so muc that they are weeping.
b. He gives her a box of jewelries that makes her forget everything when she opens it.
c. Before he releases her (on Zeus’ orders), he gets her to eat some pomegranate seeds.
d. He has his dog Cerberus give her his best sad puppy-dog face.
7. What are the consequences of eating something in the underworld?
a. If you eat there, you can never leave the underworld.
b. You turn into a pomegranate tree.
c. You go blind, but gain wisdom.
d. You get amnesia, but become really happy.
8. What does this myth explain?
a. The origins of the underworld
b. The feud between Zeus and Hades
c. Why the earth has seasons
d. Why we have storms
9. Who is Hades?
a. The lord of the underworld and the god of the dead
b. The god of agriculture
c. The king of the gods
d. The dog that guards Mount Olympus
10. When Hades kidnaps Persephone, she is…
a. Singing
b. Playing a flute
c. Picking flowers and dancing
d. Sleeping
11. Which god is forced to intervene so that the famine won’t wipe out the population?
a. Zeus
b. Poseidon
c. Cupid
d. Hephaestus
12. Because she eats the pomegranate seeds, persephone must stay in the Underworld for how long?
a. Eternity
b. 6 days
c. 6 weeks
d. 1/3 year

Prepared by:

Doreen Grace de Leon


Answers:

1. D
2. A
3. C
4. B
5. B
6. C
7. A
8. C
9. A
10. C
11. A
12. D
Helios – god of the sun
Hades – god of underworld
Ceres – goddess of agriculture
Zeus – king of gods
Ze

Hecate – goddess of witchcraft


Persephone – daughter of Ceres

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