The Story of Proserpine and Ceres

The story illustrates the key dynamic between gods and mortals. Mortals continue to challenge the gods and the gods smite the mortals. The gods rule by power and strength, as what we are about to see in the story.

When Jupiter and his brothers had defeated the Titars and banished then to Tartarus. A new enemy rose up against the gods. Some of them had a hundred arms, others breathed out fire. Then they were finally subdued and buried alive under Mount AEtna, where they still sometimes struggle to get loose, and is what men call the eruption of the Volcano.

The Giants groaned, starred and shook the sea and the island of Sicily so much that the god of the underworld, Pluto, became frightened lest his kingdom be revealed to light of day; he left the kingdom of the dead to survey the situation. Venus designed for Pluto to fall in love with Ceres daughter, Proserpine, a virgin, because Venus disdains virginity at which point Venus ordered Cupid to strike him with love’s arrow, as he was the only creature immune to love’s passion and Pluto was struck by Cupid’s arrow. Meanwhile, Proserpine was playing with her companion gathering lilies and violets, and filling her basket, when Pluto saw her, loved her and carried her off. When he reached the River Cyane, Proserpine screamed for help but no one heard her, despite her struggle and attempt of a nearby nymph, Cyane, to stop him. Pluto opposed his passage, as he struck the river bank with his trident and the earth opened and gave him passage to Tartarus. He bore her aware weeping down to the underworld. Meantime, Ceres searched everywhere for the daughter. But no one would tell her the truth even the Gods and some message from the birds. After long searches, Ceres met Cyane, the river nymph and showed her prosephite ribbon which had dropped to her plight. Furious and despairing, Ceres took her anger out in the farmers of this land, ruining their harvest; another nymph informed Ceres that Proserpine had become the queen of the underworld. When Ceres heard that she turned the Throne of Jove. Ceres asked Jove to intervene and restore his daughter. Jove considered that Ceres` lack of consent annuls the marriage and agreed to release her if she has not eaten the Food of the dead, otherwise, fate forbids her to leave the underworld. But Proserpine had eaten sum seed of the pomegranate which Pluto offered her, an act witnessed by Ascalphus, and was forbidden from leaving, but Jove decreed that Proserpine spend half the year with her mother and the other half with his husband.