Story: Ancient Tales For Modern Times - Kore + Persephone

Storytime: Ancient tales for modern times | This is a modern re-telling of the Greek myth of how Cora (Kore in the Greek spelling) became Persephone. This wisdom tale is useful for considering instances of deception and justice, elements of fairness, the role of the divine feminine, seasons in nature and in our lives, and our roles as integral parts of the natural world. Adaptation written by Katy May Spencer | (Content Warning: As in the traditional tale, Cora is abducted by her Uncle Hades.)

Transcript

How Korah became Persephone and how we got our seasons,

A new telling of an ancient tale.

Long ago,

When the earth was held in eternal summer,

Flowers blossomed,

Bees,

Butterflies,

And hummingbirds filled the land with abundance,

And there was sunshine all the days of the year.

The goddess Demeter and her daughter Korah blessed the daily harvest of wheat and corn and fruits and nuts.

They danced with the animals migrating across the savannas and surfed on the waves with the ocean creatures frolicking in the sea currents.

Laughter,

Song,

And peace followed the goddesses as they spread their blessings.

One day,

Young Korah went walking and singing through a beautiful valley,

Picking the wild lilies and fragrant roses as she went.

Her mother Demeter had gone to the sea that day for a dalliance with a lover.

Without warning,

The land beneath Korah's feet was rent asunder.

A great crack appeared and from it emerged four thundering horses pulling a large black chariot.

From the chariot,

Korah saw her uncle Hades,

His long cape flowing behind him as his great arm reached out and snatched her from where she stood,

Teetering on the brink of the chasm.

Oh my,

Korah,

I have saved you,

You certainly would have died had you plunged into the depths.

Startled,

Korah could only look panicked at Hades and froze in the shock of wondering from where he had appeared.

She was feeling relief that he had caught her and that she was not currently falling into the huge hole beneath her and a mixture of other feelings swirled within her,

Fear along with the relief,

Shock and now a tickle of warning.

Why was he still holding on to her when she was safe now?

His arms pressed too tightly against her ribs and his hand was gripping her.

The chariot continued to race forward up into the sky,

Pulled by the four horses snorting and sweating,

Powerful muscles under their skin driving their hooves through the air.

She could feel flecks of their lather spraying across her cheeks.

Or were those tears?

She looked down briefly to see an entire herd of sheep tumble into the great crack and the earth below them.

Come,

I'll take you home.

You can have some food and drink and recover,

Dear.

Said Hades as he wheeled the team about and set Cora straight for the dark,

Yawning ma before them.

Oh no,

No,

No,

I'll be fine.

Please just put me back in the field.

My mother will be back soon and Cora gasped as they descended into the darkness.

Holding her breath,

She shut her eyes and desperately hoped that the scene she was in would all simply disappear.

That she was really asleep,

Dreaming a nightmare,

Praying that the next time she opened her eyes she would see the flowers and the creatures nearby,

Feel the sun on her skin and hear birdsong on the wind.

To no avail.

Cora was taken by Hades.

In all the ways of those words,

He forced himself on her,

Violated her,

Then held her captive and entreated her to love him,

To be his partner and his wife,

Reigning over the underworld at his side.

With the implicit blessing of his brother Zeus,

Hades saw Cora as a prize that he had seized rather than as a fully sovereign goddess in her own right.

She refused.

She refused him,

His efforts,

And he was never to touch her after that first initial violation.

When Demeter returned to the valley where she had last seen Cora,

She was distraught,

Panicking and with her deep sense that something was horribly wrong,

She enlisted the help of everyone she encountered.

Search parties combed hills,

Mountains,

And valleys.

Dolphins dove deep into the ocean singing for Cora's return.

Hawks circled high above,

Seeking any sign of Cora in the land below.

No trace was to be found.

Demeter refused food or drink,

Dedicating every aspect of her being to the search for her daughter.

On the seventh day she encountered Hecate,

The guardian of the crossroads,

Who said she had heard a scream.

A young woman had cried out for help,

And Hecate had run in the direction of the sound only to find nothing,

And no one there when she arrived.

And yet there had been the faint scent of roses and lilies in the air.

Strange when there was no breeze to carry it down the valley.

On the eighth day a pair of shepherds were brought to Demeter.

She fixed her dazed eyes,

Red-rimmed from tears and exhaustion on them.

They described an earthquake which split the valley in two.

Their sheep had gone tumbling into an abyss.

They'd heard terrifying sounds like horsehoes thundering,

A shriek,

And then were engulfed in a loud wailing dust storm.

Where moments before had been the peacefulness of their flock contentedly nibbling on grasses in the sunshine.

Now darkness came,

The dust fully blocked the sun,

And they cowered in terror.

After some time the dust had cleared and the valley appeared just as it was before,

With the exception of the disappearance of their entire flock.

And just around them a fine layer of ashy dust covering every leaf and every briliate of grass,

Coating each shepherd to the very eyelash.

Their sheep-dog ran back and forth,

Nose pressed to the ground,

Whining and puzzled at where her charges had gone.

Demeter's despair turned to rage,

Her voice caught in her throat as she realized the extent of what had happened.

Her daughter,

Cora,

Forcibly abducted by Demeter's own brother,

Hades.

Her entire body shook and as it did the leaves and grasses before her trembled and turned.

The flowers drooped and even the bees ceased their buzzing,

The silence and her anger terrified the shepherds.

They turned and fled.

Hecate,

However,

Remained.

Gazing deeply into Demeter's fury,

She stood in solidarity,

Witnessing the disbelief,

Shock,

Anger,

And fear course through Demeter's body.

When Demeter finally drew in a ragged breath and her body ceased its trembles,

Hecate caught her as she sagged to the ground.

The day had faded,

And so Hecate lit her torch.

Come,

Sister,

Let's visit our relative Helios.

If Hades took Cora during the heat of day,

Surely Helios the son will have witnessed the act.

Quickly hearing her words,

Demeter accepted Hecate's arm around her waist and allowed her head to fall onto Hecate's shoulder.

In this way they came to Helios,

Who sees all and shines on every being without judgment.

He confirmed the shepherd's tale.

Hades had moved against her,

Waiting until Demeter left Cora alone,

And then he had risen up from the underworld to snatch Cora against her will.

He held her even now,

In his palace deep below the earth's surface.

And worse yet,

His plan had been tacitly approved by their brother,

Zeus.

Neither of the gods,

Brother to both Demeter and Hades,

He had not cautioned nor forbidden Hades to cease when he had gotten wind of Hades' sinister plan.

Betrayal,

Heartbreak,

And grief consumed Demeter.

She could not descend to the underworld and lead a party to recover her daughter.

She was powerless to physically reclaim Cora.

But she was not completely powerless.

Demeter revoked her abundant blessings to the earth.

Bubbling springs ceased to flow.

Waters languished and became cesspools.

Flowers shriveled on the vine before bearing fruits.

Grass fields withered under the ceaseless sun and dust bowls stirred up with every footfall on the barren lands.

Holes of fish washed up on shore,

Having lost their bearings.

Birds wheeled in confusion overhead.

Bees returned to their hives,

Dancing bewilderment to each other,

And the butterflies dropped from exhaustion with no nectar to be found.

Horses pawed at the earth in search of tender morsels of grass,

And humans languished by their fires.

Zeus and his council begged Demeter to reconsider and bestow her blessings on the earth,

But she refused,

Swearing that the land and all the creatures would suffer as she now did until Cora was returned.

In council with Hera,

He convened a meeting of Hades,

Cora,

Demeter,

And Hecate.

Cora was overjoyed at the hope of returning to her mother,

And she prepared for the long journey to the above world.

The gathering was held at Eleusis,

And the reunion between Demeter and Cora was all that you might imagine.

Zeus and Hera held forth,

Acknowledging that Hades had wronged Cora.

He had violated her sovereignty,

That which holds her as an equal and individual being,

And his abduction and rape of her was deserving of punishment.

And yet when Hera asked Cora,

Dear niece,

I am so sorry for all that you have endured.

This did not occur through any fault of your own.

This was a violation that has nothing to do with how you live your life.

It was a cruel action on the part of your uncle.

And despite the fact that no amount of our magic can undo the cruelty and your suffering,

I would like for you to return to your rightful place with your mother,

And to find your way to feeling safe and at home in the world again.

There is one stipulation,

However.

According to the natural laws,

If you have eaten anything or drank anything from the underworld,

You are now tied to that world and must remain there.

Shaking with fright,

Cora shook her head until a gardener from the underworld stepped forward from behind Hades.

In a trembling voice,

He told of witnessing Cora pluck a pomegranate from the orchard of the underworld and taste a few of its seeds before tossing the rest of the fruit to the ground in despair.

Tears filled Cora's eyes and she bowed her head,

Hiding in her mother's arms.

Demeter wailed with grief,

Hades was flushed with both triumph and shame.

Here a sighed with regret,

And Zeus leaned back in his throne.

Was Cora now destined for a life below land?

Would Demeter ever restore her blessings,

Or was all now lost?

Rhea,

Mother of the gods and goddesses present,

Cleared her throat.

Leaning forward from the shadows where the elder goddess had heard all she spoke,

Perhaps it would not be just to doom young Cora to a life underground for the taste of a few seeds.

After all,

It was not by her own free will that she was there.

She was violated and then held against her wishes.

I imagine that she has quite a lot to heal from her experiences at Hades' hands.

And I can see even now that she is a changed being.

Her childhood has been stripped from her,

And she is no longer the young,

Blissful Cora that we all once knew.

And condemning her to the underworld would force her to spend eternity with her oppressor.

This does not have to be so.

I propose a different outcome.

There are very few of us,

Gods and goddesses,

And mortals alike,

With the experience of walking in both worlds,

The below and the above.

Let Cora now walk between these worlds.

She shall spend half the year with Demeter,

Blessing the lands and bestowing beauty,

Abundance,

And song to the beings in the above world.

And yet,

I know that she is no longer who she once was.

In honor of her time in the underworld,

Let her claim a new name,

Persephone,

Bringer of death.

And for half the year,

She shall be allowed to find a place between the underworld and the above world,

A cave to call her own.

She will not see anyone,

No,

Not even you may violate this arrangement,

Hades.

And she will have this time to go within,

To heal,

To transmute,

And to acknowledge the shift that occurs within when we have been wronged without.

Let her inhabit and guide all those through the liminal space.

With a deep sigh of resignation,

Demeter pulled her daughter from her breast,

Looked deeply into her eyes,

And saw the truth of Rhea's words.

Cora was no longer fully Cora.

Her innocence and her bliss had been dimmed in her time in the underworld.

Things could not simply go back to the way they once had been.

The council and all parties agreed to Cora's new role as keeper of the liminal space.

Rhea cleared her throat again.

With pain in her eyes,

She turned her gaze to Hades.

My son,

You have acted against another sovereign being.

Cora,

Being your niece and younger than you,

Is no less worthy of her sovereignty,

Her rights,

And her pursuit of life than you are.

You have violated that code.

For that,

You shall cease to be able to travel at will throughout the lands,

Gathering souls as master death.

You are now condemned to your place in the other underworld.

As you leave here,

Zeus,

As your complicit brother,

Will accompany you and close the door to the underworld behind you.

You shall ever be known as he who closes doors.

For that is what you have done here in this instance.

Hades bowed his head and with words of remorse asked for forgiveness from Demeter and Cora.

Hecate,

As the keeper of the crossroads,

Vows,

And agreements,

Was tasked with watching over Cora as she becomes the maiden each spring equinox,

Emerging from her cave of winter to reunite with her mother and bless the lands once again.

And each fall,

As she retreats from the outer world to descend once again,

This time,

Of her own doing and to the depths of her own soul deep in her cave,

Seeking the insights that are only born of contemplation.

And so it is that we have seasons upon the earth,

And we too can find the interplay between being out in the world rejoicing in the bounty of summer and the harvests of fall and the seasons of internal stillness when we may seek our own caves and the insights within.

Reviews

Incredible! Thanks shared wider

Thank you. Perfect.

Amazing. I so loved the story. So sad.

Beautiful

I’ll have to circle back to this one. I was sound asleep within minutes. Thank you!