Demeter & Persephone: Spring Held Hostage, A Greek Myth (Graphic Universe)

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graphic universe • minneapolis

DEMETER IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY. SHE IS THE GODDESS OF FARMING (ESPECIALLY CORN AND GRAINS) AND OF THE HARVEST. FOR THE ANCIENT GREEKS, THE STORY OF DEMETER’S SEARCH FOR HER KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER PERSEPHONE EXPLAINS THE CYCLE OF SEASONS. PERSEPHONE’S REUNION WITH HER MOTHER REPRESENTS THE BEGINNING OF

story by justine and ron fontes pencils by steve kurth inks by barbara schulz coloring and lettering by ray dillon of golden goat studios consultant: david mulroy, university of wisconsin-milwaukee

SPRINGTIME—THE RETURN OF WARM WEATHER AND BUDDING CROPS. FOR MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND YEARS,

Copyright © 2007 by Lerner Publications Company

FOLLOWERS OF DEMETER CELEBRATED THE HARVEST OF

Graphic UniverseTM is a trademark of Lerner Publications Company.

THOSE CROPS IN SECRET RITUALS AT THE GODDESS’S TEMPLE IN ELEUSIS, GREECE.

IN RETELLING DEMETER’S STORY, JUSTINE AND RON FONTES USED CLASSICAL AND MODERN SOURCES SUCH AS OVID’S METAMORPHOSES AND EDITH HAMILTON’S MYTHOLOGY. ARTIST STEVE KURTH USED CLASSICAL GREEK ART AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOURCES TO CREATE THE VISUAL DETAILS. AND DAVID MULROY OF THE UNIVERSITY

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Graphic Universe

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Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

OF WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE ENSURED HISTORICAL AND

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

VISUAL ACCURACY.

Fontes, Justine. Demeter and Persephone : spring held hostage / story by Justine and Ron Fontes ; pencils by Steve Kurth ; inks by Barbara Schulz. p. cm. — (Graphic myths and legends) Includes index. ISBN-13: 978–0–8225–5966–5 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0–8225–5966–8 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper) 1. Demeter (Greek deity)—Juvenile literature. 2. Persephone (Greek deity)—Juvenile literature. I. Fontes, Ron. II. Kurth, Steve. III. Schulz, Barbara Jo. IV. Title. V. Series. BL820.C5F66 2007 741.5’973—dc22 2006006769 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 – JR – 12 11 10 09 08 07

eISBN-13: 978-0-8225-8791-0

table of contents a winterless world . . . 6 the dark domain . . . 14 a worried mother . . . 25 the seeds of change . . . 34 the pomegranate problem . . . 38 glossary and pronunciation guide . . . 46 further reading and websites . . . 47 creating demeter & persephone . . . 47 index . . . 48 about the authors and the artist . . . 48

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glossary and pronunciation guide ambrosia (am-broh-zhuh): the food of the gods, made from divine substances. Humans sometimes made their own imitation ambrosia from honey, water, fruit, cheese, olive oil, and barley (a grain).

aphrodite (a-froh-dye-tee): the Greek goddess of love

ares (air-eez): the Greek god of war athena (uh-thee-nuh): the Greek goddess of wisdom

charon (kair-ahn): the boatman who guides souls across the river Styx into the underworld

demeter (dim-eh-tur): the Greek goddess of the harvest and of agriculture

Demophoon (deh-mah-foh-awn): the son of King Celeus and Queen Metaneira of Eleusis, taken care of as a child by Demeter

Eleusis (ih-loo-sis): a city in Greece northwest of Athens, center of the Eleusinian mysteries—sacred festivals dedicated to Demeter

elysian Fields (ih-lee-zhun): a beautiful part of the underworld where heroes and poets are sent after death

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furies: the three female spirits, Tisiphone, Megara, and Allecto, of justice and vengeance. Also known as the Erinyes, their job is to pursue wrongdoers.

hades (hay-deez): the Greek god of the underworld

hera (hehr-uh): the Greek goddess of marriage and childbirth, married to Zeus

hermes (hur-meez): the messenger of the gods on Mount Olympus

mount olympus: the home of the Greek gods and goddesses

persephone (per-sef-uh-nee): Demeter’s daughter, kidnapped by Hades

shades: the spirits of dead people who inhabit the underworld

styx (stiks): the river that encircles the underworld. Once shades are ferried across the Styx by Charon, they cannot return to the world above.

underworld: the kingdom of the dead, ruled by Hades

zeus (zoos): the main Greek god, the ruler of Mount Olympus

further reading and websites Bolton, Lesley. The Everything Classical Mythology Book: Greek and Roman Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters from Ares to Zeus. Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation, 2002. This who’s who guide introduces young readers to Greek and Roman mythology. Day, Nancy. Your Travel Guide to Ancient Greece. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2001. Day prepares readers for a trip back to ancient Greece, including which cities to visit, how to get around, what to wear, and how to fit in with the locals. Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1942. Hamilton’s classic book focuses on the stories of Greek gods and heroes, but it also covers Roman and Norse myths. Macdonald, Fiona. Gods and Goddesses in the Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks. New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 2001. Macdonald provides an introduction to the traditions and religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks, with photographs, illustrations, and detailed diagrams. MythWeb. http://www.mythweb.com/index.html. This site, with a searchable

encyclopedia, provides students with information on gods, goddesses, and places in Greek myth.

creating demeter & persephone In retelling this ancient story for modern readers, Justine and Ron Fontes drew upon classical and modern sources such as Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid (43 B.C.–ca. A.D. 17), Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, and the New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. Artist Steve Kurth used classical Greek art, such as painted vases and stone carvings, and anthropological sources to create the story’s visual details. David Mulroy of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee ensured historical and visual accuracy.

original pencil sketch from page 30

index Aphrodite, 32 Apollo, 33 Ares, 9, 32 Artemis, 33 Athena, 9, 32

Hades: given the underworld by Zeus, 8; judging souls, 16–22; kidnapping Persephone, 12–14 Hera, 8, 27, 32, 33 Hermes, 33, 34, 36, 37

Bacchus, 9, 33

Mount Olympus, 8, 9, 10, 27, 29, 32, 34

Cerberus, 14, 15, 36, 42 Charon, 15, 16, 36

Persephone: kidnapping of, 12–14; marriage to Hades, 34, 40; return to Earth, 35, 37, 43 Poseidon, 8, 9, 32

Demeter: at Eleusis, 28–30, 44; giving gift of agriculture, 44–45; and harvest celebrations, 6–7, 8, 40, 41; reunion with Persephone, 37; searching for Persephone, 24–26 Demophoon, 29, 44, 45 Elysian Fields, 16, 17, 22–23, 34

Rhea, 39 Styx, 15, 16 Zeus: dividing the world, 8; as part of Persephone’s kidnapping, 10, 11, 34; as ruler of Mount Olympus, 8, 27, 32

Furies, 18–19

about the authors and the artist justine and ron fontes met at a publishing house in New York City, where

Ron worked in the comic book department and Justine was an editorial assistant in children’s books. Together they have written nearly 500 children’s books, in every format from board books to historical novels. From their home in Maine, they also launched Sonic Comics with their first graphic novel Tales of the Terminal Diner. Other published projects include The Trojan Horse: The Fall of Troy, Atalanta: The Race against Destiny, and The Wooden Sword. Lifelong library lovers, the Fonteses long to write 1,001 books before retiring to read.

steve kurth was born and raised in west central Wisconsin. He graduated

with a BFA in illustration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Steve’s art has appeared in Hercules: The Twelve Labors and in numerous comic books, including G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Ghostbusters, Dragonlance, and Cracked magazine.

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