Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing wonderfully. The second season of Percy Jackson having been released on Disney, and being a hardcore fan of the books and the universe in general, that made me want to tell you a bit about the birth of the seasons in Greek mythology, so I hope you will find it interesting. Please bear in mind that for each god/goddess, I only provided one of their functions; as we all know, they have got so many, this article would never finish.

The myth starts with Hades (god of the Underworld) wanting to marry a young woman named Persephone. Knowing perfectly that her mother Demeter (goddess of the harvest), would never agree to that union, Hades decided one day to capture Persephone in his black chariot while she was collecting flowers in a meadow. Demeter searched everywhere in vain for her daughter until Hecate (goddess of magic) told her that she had been taken by someone. The two goddesses not knowing who took young Persephone went to Apollo (god of the sun) who had seen everything. Apollo then explained everything but Demeter, furious, refused to let Hades marry her daughter. Therefore, she did not return to Olympus and wandered aimlessly on earth forbidding the fruits to grow on trees and the earth to nurture grass, herbs, vegetables, etc. In the hope of getting Persephone back, Demeter threatened to render the earth barren, thus bringing an end to all humankind. Zeus recognized the gravity of the situation and sent Hermes (the messenger god) to the Underworld to request the release of Demeter’s daughter. Hades agreed to let her go but before she returned to the surface, he offered her four seeds of pomegranate. Hades’ so called “act of kindness” was in fact a ruse. Indeed, anyone who eats the food of the Underworld must remain there forever.
In the end, a compromise was made between Demeter and Hades: Persephone would stay with Hades for four months of the year and could return above ground with her mother for the rest of the year.
That is why when Persephone is with Hades in the Underworld, in autumn and in winter, Demeter is sad and miserable, and the land is cold and barren. And in spring and summer, when Persephone is with her mother, argiculture flourishes. This was the story of how the four seasons were born.

Jan 15, 2026