In the midst of the harshness of winter, many can’t help but remember the original myth of Persephone and Hades. However, many romantic retellings villainize or dismiss Demeter’s grief as a mother.

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, the Goddess of the harvest, and lived with her mother on the Island of Sicily. A volcano on the island erupted and Hades emerged from his underworld kingdom.

To enter Hades’s realm, Heracles underwent initiation into the secretive Eleusinian Mysteries. With Hermes’s guidance, Heracles ventured through the Underworld. Along the way, he rescued a ...

We meet Demeter and her daughter Persephone. We learn that Demeter has to travel far from home, often leaving Persephone alone.