The Curse of Winter

N1: In ancient Greece, gods and goddesses rule the world. 

N2: Zeus is king of heaven and Earth. 

N3: Poseidon rules the seas and oceans. 

N1: Hades is lord of the dead. 

N2: But mankind depends on their sister Demeter.

Greek Chorus: The goddess of the harvest! 

N3: Demeter looks after the trees and fields.

N1: She makes sure everything grows.

N2: Why, then, do trees go bare in winter?  

N3: Why do plants die? 

Greek Chorus: Listen, and we will tell you.

The Greek Countryside

N1: Farmers are working in their fields. 

N2: They see two figures in the sky. 

Farmer 1: Demeter and Persephone are coming down from Mount Olympus!

N3: Demeter descends in her golden robe. Her grown daughter, Persephone, follows. 

N1: The two are never apart.

N2: The farmers kneel as Demeter looks at their corn. 

Demeter: These plants are strong and healthy.

Persephone: You clearly love the land as much as we do! 

N3: Demeter takes some golden grains from her pocket. She blows them gently. 

N1: As they spread out over the field, the corn grows taller. 

Farmers 1 and 2: Thank you!

N2: Demeter and Persephone walk to the next farm.

N3: Persephone runs through the grass. Wherever she steps, flowers spring up. 

N1: Her laughter fills the air. 

Demeter: Persephone, don’t stray too far!

A Nearby Field

N2: Hades has come to Earth from the Underworld, the land of the dead.

N3: He walks through the countryside and hears Persephone’s laughter. 

Hades: What is that sound? Is it . . . happiness?

N1: Hades sees Persephone dancing, holding flowers.  

Hades: This is what my kingdom is missing. It needs color, warmth, and laughter!

N2: Hades thinks about how he can convince Persephone to come to the Underworld. 

Hades: She will never come on her own. I must trick her. 

N3: Hades creates a beautiful purple flower and plants it in the field. 

N1: Its sweet scent draws Persephone to it. 

Persephone: What an unusual flower! 

N2: As she bends down to smell it, the ground suddenly splits open. 

N3: Out come four black horses pulling Hades’ black chariot. 

N1: Hades grabs Persephone and pulls her in. 

Persephone: Put me down!

Hades: Don’t worry. You’ll love the Underworld. 

Persephone (yelling): You won’t get away with this! Motherrrr!

N2: Demeter hears a strange noise in the distance. 

Demeter: Persephone! Where are you?

N3: The chariot dives down into the darkness. The ground closes behind it.

The Underworld

N1: Hades brings Persephone to his dark, dreary palace. 

N2: He seats her on a black throne and gives her a crown with black diamonds. 

Persephone: I don’t want your jewels. 

Hades: What then? You can have anything.   

Persephone: I want sunshine and flowers! I want my mother! Take me back!

Hades: No. The land of the dead needs your laughter. 

Persephone: You won’t hear me laugh again. I will never be happy here!

Hades: So you’re not happy—but you must be hungry. 

N3: He grabs a pomegranate and tears it open. 

N1: He holds out the fruit. 

N2: It’s a trick. If she eats anything from the Underworld, she must stay there forever.

Hades: Here, have a bite. 

Persephone: I am a bit hungry . . . 

N3: Then she sees the devious look in his eyes and changes her mind.  

Persephone: No! I will never eat your food!

The Greek Countryside

N1: Weeks pass, then months. 

N2: Demeter is so sad that she stops caring for nature.

N3: The earth turns brown. Plants die. 

N1: Demeter roams the countryside, searching for her daughter. 

Farmer 1: Goddess, can you help us? We are running out of food. 

Demeter (sadly): Nothing will grow without Persephone.

N2: Demeter shuffles off. 

Farmer 2: We can’t survive much longer. We must help find Persephone. 

Farmer 1: Let us ask Helios, the sun god. He sees everything from the sky.

N3: The farmers call out to him. 

Farmer 2: Oh Helios! We need you!

Helios: Sorry, I’m busy.

Farmer 1: But Persephone is missing!

Helios: Not my problem. 

Farmer 2: It is everyone’s problem. Nature is dying!

Helios: I can’t tell you where she is. Hades will kill me. 

Farmer 1: Hades? Did he take her?

Helios: You didn’t hear that from me. 

N1: The farmers run to find Demeter.

Mount Olympus

N2: Demeter storms up to Zeus’ throne. 

Demeter: Hades took my daughter! 

Zeus: Yes. But the Underworld deserves a bit of happiness too, don’t you think? 

Demeter: If she is not returned to me, nothing will grow. The world will starve!

Zeus (sighs): All right. I’ll send Hermes to bring her back. But there is a rule I cannot change. She can return only if no food or drink has passed her lips.

The Underworld

N3: Hades sits on his throne with Persephone beside him. 

N1: Her skin is pale. The light has gone out of her eyes.

N2: Hermes arrives and looks at poor Persephone’s miserable face. 

Hermes: Hades, Zeus has sent me to bring Persephone back. 

Persephone: I can leave?

N3: Hades smiles a little too sweetly. 

Hades: Sure . . . 

N1: Persephone feels joy for the first time in ages. 

Hades: Here. Take some seeds before you go. 

N2: In her happiness, Persephone takes three pomegranate seeds and eats them. 

Hades: Have a safe journey. Until we meet again. 

Persephone: Oh, we will not meet again.   

Hades: Don’t be so sure . . .

Mount Olympus

N3: Persephone rushes into her mother’s arms.

Demeter: I thought I’d never see you again!

N1: As they hug, trees begin to grow leaves. 

N2: Flowers bloom and grass turns green. 

Demeter: Tell me, did you eat anything while you were down there? 

Persephone: Um . . . just a few pomegranate seeds. 

Demeter: No! That means you must go back!

N3: Hades appears. 

Persephone: You tricked me!

Hades: I only fed you.

N1: Demeter turns to Zeus.

Demeter: You must settle this.

Zeus: Since Persephone ate the food of the dead, she should return to the Underworld. 

Persephone: Don’t make me go back! 

Zeus: But while she was gone, the earth suffered greatly. 

Demeter (angrily): And will suffer again if she returns to the Underworld. 

Zeus: Therefore, Persephone shall spend part of each year in the land of the dead. One month for every seed she swallowed. 

Persephone: Three months! That’s too long!

Zeus: That is my final answer.

N2: So every year, Persephone must leave her mother and return to the Underworld. 

N3: That’s when the weather turns cold, like Demeter’s sad heart. 

N1: The ground freezes, the trees go bare, nothing grows. 

Greek Chorus: This is winter. 

N2: But when Persephone returns, the world turns green. Ice melts. Flowers bloom. 

N3: Mother and daughter are together once more.  

Greek Chorus: Spring has come at last!