\b0 When\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht11 Demeter\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 heard, with a sharp pang in her heart, the cry o
f her daughter\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht11617 Persephone\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 as she was torn from the world of the living by the burning\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht1009 love of Hades\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 , she flew like a bird over lands and sea in search of her, wanderi
ng for nine days and nights with two flaming torches in her hands. She refused to touch either nectar or ambrosia, which are the food of the gods.\par
Enraged with the whole of Olympus, Demeter's anger turned to fury when, on the tenth day of her search
,\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht5 Poseidon\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 dared to\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht1007 rape her\b0 \cf7 \ATXht0 . She then decided never to mount into Heaven again and to abdicate her divine function. This resulted in a world-wide drought and the lack of
new harvests. \b \cf4 \ATXht8 Zeus\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 was forced to send\cf0 \b \cf4 \ATXht12 Hermes\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 to the world of the dead and bring Persephone back to her mother. However, as she had eaten food while in the kingdom of\cf0
\b \cf4 \ATXht1 Hades\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 \cf7 (a pomegranate seed that her husband had given her on purpose), Persephone was obliged to spend a third of the year in the Underworld, remaining on earth with her mother for the other two thirds.
