Dis Pater

The earth opened beneath Proserpina as she bent to pick a beautiful flower. Dis Pater drove from the depths in his horses and chariot, seized her, and carried her into the Underworld. Demeter heard her daughter’s cry and searched across the land and sea. She fasted, carried flaming torches, and wandered in grief and anger.

Hecate learned that Proserpina had been taken, but she did not know by whom. Demeter brought Hecate to Helius, who saw everything. He told them that Dis Pater had carried Proserpina away with Jupiter’s knowledge. Demeter grew furious. She stayed away from Olympus and stopped the trees from bearing fruit and the herbs from growing. The earth became barren, and the human race faced extinction.

Jupiter sent Iris to Demeter, but she ignored the message. He sent the Olympian gods with gifts and pleas for peace, but Demeter refused to return or restore the land until her daughter came back. Jupiter sent Hermes to command Dis Pater to release Proserpina. Dis Pater reluctantly agreed. As Proserpina prepared to leave, he offered her a pomegranate from his orchard as a token of his love and esteem. Proserpina broke her fast and ate seven seeds.

Ascalaphus saw her eat and told Hermes that she had tasted the food of the dead. Dis Pater had him ride on Hermes’s chariot as they returned to Eleusis. Demeter embraced Proserpina, then learned about the pomegranate and again refused to restore the earth. Jupiter persuaded Rhea to plead with her, and a compromise followed. Proserpina spent three months each year with Dis Pater in the Underworld as Persephone, Queen of Tartarus, and the remaining nine months with Demeter. Hecate watched over the arrangement, and Demeter consented to return home.