Aristotle wrote that he read the old myths more and more as he grew older, for they were so true to human nature. That is why they were first told, to enlighten us to certain unchanging aspects of human behaviour; and surely that is why Freud raided their character list to name his complexes and ailments. Myths generally got it wrong when it came to explaining certain phenomena, though they are so poetic they can be forgiven, but they rarely got it wrong about people and their emotions in the long play of life: jealousy, romantic love, desire, mother love, despair, vanity, are all explained in stories that have lost none of their validity over the centuries.
The Greek myth explaining the cycles of the seasons in the terms of a mother's grief at the loss of her beautiful daughter to a cold and aloof husband is a story of maternal love and devotion above all. Whether you are in the southern hemisphere, where it is spring because Persephone has returned to her mother for a visit, or in the northern hemisphere, where it is autumn because Demeter is grieving that her daughter has gone away again, tell the children the story. Ask them to tell their own stories about something cyclical, whether the seasons or some other lesson about life's repetitions they may all ready have learned in their young lives. Let their poetic side express itself, for there is no need to adhere to scientific explanations when sharing myths. Send us your best stories and we will post them here.
For a simple version of the myth about Persephone, Demeter and Hades, here are some links:
Odds Bodkin's retelling of the story for the very young
And a Greek production for children in which you can hear the names pronounced correctly:
Demeter and Persephone. Theatre for children @ Yahoo! Video
©2009 Anne Morddel
Seasons South and North
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