the origin of the seasons - cairo modern...

198 Collection 6 / Our Literary Heritage: Greek Myths and World Folk TalesPart 1

LITERARY FOCUS: ORIGIN MYTHSPeople have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Think, for example,

of a typical two-year-old child: “Why is the sky blue?” “Who made the

ocean, and why is it so salty?” “Why is thunder so loud?”

In ancient times, curious people turned to mythmakers for answers to

their questions about the world and how it came to be. The ancients

believed that the mythmakers had a direct connection to the gods, the

source of all knowledge. Through the telling of origin myths, people

answered their questions about the natural world.

As you read “Origin of the Seasons,” look for details that explain how

the seasons came to be.

READING SKILLS: UNDERSTANDING CAUSE AND EFFECTOrigin myths explain how something came to be. Like most explana-

tions, origin myths present a series of causes and effects. Here’s an

example of a typical cause-and-effect sequence:

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The Origin of the Seasons retold by Olivia Coolidge

Literary SkillsUnderstand

origin myths.

Reading SkillsUnderstand

cause and effect.

A human

requests help

from a god.

The god agrees

to help.

The human

forgets to

thank the god.

The god reacts

angrily, causing

hardship for

humanity.

Cause➜ Effect➜ Cause➜ Effect

As you read “The Origin of the Seasons,” look for cause-and-effect

relationships.

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The Origin of the Seasons 199

retold by Olivia Coolidge

Demeter, the great earth mother, was goddess of the harvest.

Tall and majestic was her appearance, and her hair was the

color of ripe wheat. It was she who filled the ears with grain.

In her honor white-robed women brought golden garlands

of wheat as first fruits to the altar. Reaping, threshing,

winnowing,1 and the long tables set in the shade for the

harvesters’ refreshment—all these were hers. Songs and

feasting did her honor as the hard-working farmer gathered

his abundant fruit. All the laws which the farmer knew came

from her: the time for plowing, what land would best bear

crops, which was fit for grapes, and which to leave for

pasture. She was a goddess whom men called the great

mother because of her generosity in giving. Her own special

daughter in the family of the gods was named Persephone.

Persephone was the spring maiden, young and full of

joy. Sicily was her home, for it is a land where the spring is

long and lovely, and where spring flowers are abundant.

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1. reaping: cutting and gathering the grain; threshing and winnowing:two ways of separating the grain from the husks.

Many Greek names are pro-nounced in ways that aresurprising to English speak-ers. For example: Demeter(di·m≤t√¥r) and Persephone(p¥r·sef√¥·n≤).

Pause at line 14. Circle thenames of the goddesses you are introduced to in this passage. What is theirrelationship?

Re-read lines 1–14. Underlinethe details that tell you why Demeter is adored byhumans.

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From “The Origin of the Seasons” from GreekMyths by Olivia Coolidge. Copyright 1949 andrenewed © 1977 by Olivia E. Coolidge. Allrights reserved. Reproduced by permission ofHoughton Mifflin Company.

Here Persephone played with her maidens from day to day

till the rocks and valleys rang with the sound of laughter,

and gloomy Hades heard it as he sat on his throne in the

dark land of the dead. Even his heart of stone was touched

by her young beauty, so that he arose in his awful majesty

and came up to Olympus to ask Zeus if he might have

Persephone to wife. Zeus bowed his head in agreement, and

mighty Olympus thundered as he promised.

Thus it came about that as Persephone was gathering

flowers with her maidens in the vale of Enna, a marvelous

thing happened. Enna was a beautiful valley in whose

meadows all the most lovely flowers of the year grew at the

same season. There were wild roses, purple crocuses, sweet-

scented violets, tall iris, rich narcissus,2 and white lilies. All

these the girl was gathering, yet fair as they were,

Persephone herself was fairer far.

As the maidens went picking and calling to one anoth-

er across the blossoming meadow, it happened that

Persephone strayed apart from the rest. Then, as she looked

a little ahead in the meadow, she suddenly beheld the mar-

velous thing. It was a flower so beautiful that none like it

had ever been known. It seemed a kind of narcissus, purple

and white, but from a single root there sprang a hundred

blossoms, and at the sweet scent of it the very heavens and

earth appeared to smile for joy. Without calling to the oth-

ers, Persephone sprang forward to be the first to pick the

precious bloom. As she stretched out her hand, the earth

opened in front of her, and she found herself caught in a

stranger’s arms. Persephone shrieked aloud and struggled,

while the armful of flowers cascaded down to earth.

However, the dark-eyed Hades was far stronger than she.

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2. narcissus (när·sis√¥s): family of lilies including daffodils and jonquils.“Echo and Narcissus” (page 104) gives the ancient Greeks’ explanationof how this flower came to be.

Re-read the sentences in lines18–25. What does this myth-maker imply is the cause ofthunder?

Read the boxed passagesilently, and take note of thesequence of events. Then,read the passage aloud sev-eral times. Each time youread, strive to improve thesmoothness of your deliveryas well as your interpretationof the scene.

He swept her into his golden chariot, took the reins of his

coal-black horses, and was gone amid the rumbling sound

of the closing earth before the other girls in the valley could

even come in sight of the spot. When they did get there,

nobody was visible. Only the roses and lilies of Persephone

lay scattered in wild confusion over the grassy turf.

Bitter was the grief of Demeter when she heard the

news of her daughter’s mysterious fate. Veiling herself with

a dark cloud, she sped, swift as a wild bird, over land and

ocean for nine days, searching everywhere and asking all

she met if they had seen her daughter. Neither gods nor

men had seen her. Even the birds could give no tidings, and

Demeter in despair turned to Phoebus Apollo, who sees all

things from his chariot in the heavens.

“Yes, I have seen your daughter,” said the god at last.

“Hades has taken her with the consent of Zeus, that she

may dwell in the land of mist and gloom as his queen. The

girl struggled and was unwilling, but Hades is far stronger

than she.”

When she heard this, Demeter fell into deep despair,

for she knew she could never rescue Persephone if Zeus

and Hades had agreed. She did not care any more to enter

the palace of Olympus, where the gods live in joy and feast-

ing and where Apollo plays the lyre while the Muses sing.

She took on her the form of an old woman, worn but state-

ly, and wandered about the earth, where there is much sor-

row to be seen. At first she kept away from the homes of

people, since the sight of little children and happy mothers

gave her pain. One day, however, as she sat by the side of a

well to rest her weary feet, four girls came down to draw

water. They were kind hearted and charming as they talked

with her and concerned themselves about the fate of the

homeless stranger-woman who was sitting at their gates. To

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Retell the story ofPersephone’s disappearance(lines 34–54).

The disappearance of herbeloved daughter causedDemeter extreme grief. Readlines 68–77, and underlinedetails that explain theeffects that resulted from hersorrow and loss.

account for herself, Demeter told them that she was a

woman of good family from Crete, across the sea, who had

been captured by pirates and was to have been sold for a

slave. She had escaped as they landed once to cook a meal

on shore, and now she was wandering to find work.

The four girls listened to this story, much impressed by

the stately manner of the strange woman. At last they said

that their mother, Metaneira,3 was looking for a nurse for

their new-born brother, Demophoon.4 Perhaps the stranger

would come and talk with her. Demeter agreed, feeling a

great longing to hold a baby once more, even if it were not

her own. She went therefore to Metaneira, who was much

struck with the quiet dignity of the goddess and glad to

give her charge of her little son. For a while thereafter

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3. Metaneira (met≈¥·n≤√r¥).4. Demophoon (de·mäf√£·än≈).

Pause at line 86. Why do youthink Demeter lies about heridentity? Explain.

Pause at line 93. Why doesDemeter agree to becomenurse to Demophoon?

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La Primavera: Flora (detail) (1477) by Sandro Botticelli.

Demeter was nurse to Demophoon, and his smiles and

babble consoled her in some part for her own darling

daughter. She began to make plans for Demophoon: He

should be a great hero; he should become an immortal,

so that when he grew up she could keep him with her.

Presently the whole household was amazed at how

beautiful Demophoon was growing, the more so as they

never saw the nurse feed him anything. Secretly Demeter

would anoint him with ambrosia,5 like the gods, and from

her breath, as he lay in her lap, he would draw his nourish-

ment. When the night came, she would linger by the great

fireside in the hall, rocking the child in her arms while the

embers burned low and the people went off to sleep. Then,

when all was still, she would stoop quickly down and put

the baby into the fire itself. All night long the child would

sleep in the red-hot ashes, while his earthly flesh and blood

changed slowly into the substance of the immortals. In the

morning when people came, the ashes were cold and dead,

and by the hearth sat the stranger-woman, gently rocking

and singing to the child.

Presently Metaneira became suspicious of the strange-

ness of it all. What did she know of this nurse but the story

she had heard from her daughters? Perhaps the woman was

a witch of some sort who wished to steal or transform the

boy. In any case it was wise to be careful. One night, there-

fore, when she went up to her chamber, she set the door

ajar and stood there in the crack silently watching the nurse

at the fireside crooning over the child. The hall was very

dark, so that it was hard to see clearly, but in a little while

the mother beheld the dim figure bend forward. A log

broke in the fireplace, a little flame shot up, and there clear

in the light lay the baby on top of the fire.

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5. ambrosia (am·br£√¤¥): food of the gods.

An immortal (line 99) is abeing that has everlastinglife. The prefix im– means“not,” and the word mortalmeans “a being that musteventually die.”

Pause at line 100. Do youthink Demeter’s plan willcome to pass? Explain.

Re-read lines 101–115.Underline the details thatexplain what Demeter doesto transform Demophooninto an immortal.

Metaneira screamed loudly and lost no time in rushing

forward, but it was Demeter who snatched up the baby.

“Fool that you are,” she said indignantly to Metaneira, “I

would have made your son immortal, but that is now

impossible. He shall be a great hero, but in the end he will

have to die. I, the goddess Demeter, promise it.” With that

old age fell from her and she grew in stature. Golden hair

spread down over her shoulders so that the great hall was

filled with light. She turned and went out of the doorway,

leaving the baby on the ground and Metaneira too amazed

and frightened even to take him up.

All the while that Demeter had been wandering, she

had given no thought to her duties as the harvest goddess.

Instead she was almost glad that others should suffer

because she was suffering. In vain the oxen spent their

strength in dragging the heavy plowshare6 through the soil.

In vain did the sower with his bag of grain throw out the

even handfuls of white barley in a wide arc as he strode.

The greedy birds had a feast off the seed corn that season;

or if it started to sprout, sun baked it and rains washed it

away. Nothing would grow. As the gods looked down, they

saw threatening the earth a famine such as never had been

known. Even the offerings to the gods were neglected by

despairing men who could no longer spare anything from

their dwindling stores.

At last Zeus sent Iris, the rainbow, to seek out Demeter

and appeal to her to save mankind. Dazzling Iris swept

down from Olympus swift as a ray of light and found

Demeter sitting in her temple, the dark cloak still around

her and her head bowed on her hand. Though Iris urged

her with the messages of Zeus and offered beautiful gifts

or whatever powers among the gods she chose, Demeter

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6. plowshare: cutting blade of a plow.

Pause at line 138. What causes Metaneira to becomesuspicious of Demeter? Whatis the effect of Metaneira’s suspicion?

Re-read lines 139–152, andunderline the details thatexplain the effect ofDemeter’s neglect of herduties as harvest goddess.

The word vain is used twicein the second paragraph onthis page. Vain comes fromthe Latin vanus, meaning“empty.” Something done invain means that the effort isuseless or futile; it will cometo nothing.

would not lift her head or listen. All she said was that she

would neither set foot on Olympus nor let fruit grow on

the earth until Persephone was restored to her from the

kingdom of the dead.

At last Zeus saw that he must send Hermes of the

golden sandals to bring back Persephone to the light. The

messenger found dark-haired Hades sitting upon his

throne with Persephone, pale and sad, beside him. She had

neither eaten nor drunk since she had been in the land of

the dead. She sprang up with joy at the message of Hermes,

while the dark king looked gloomier than ever, for he really

loved his queen. Though he could not disobey the com-

mand of Zeus, he was crafty, and he pressed Persephone to

eat or drink with him as they parted. Now, with joy in her

heart, she should not refuse all food. Persephone was eager

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Pause at line 163. Underwhat conditions will Demeteragree to resume her dutiesas harvest goddess?

Re-read lines 167–171. HasPersephone come to accepther fate as wife of Hades?Explain.

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to be gone, but since the king entreated her, she took a

pomegranate7 from him to avoid argument and delay.

Giving in to his pleading, she ate seven of the seeds. Then

Hermes took her with him, and she came out into the

upper air.

When Demeter saw Hermes with her daughter, she

started up, and Persephone too rushed forward with a glad

cry and flung her arms about her mother’s neck. For a long

time the two caressed each other, but at last Demeter began

to question the girl. “Did you eat or drink anything with

Hades?” she asked her daughter anxiously, and the girl

replied:

“Nothing until Hermes released me. Then in my joy

I took a pomegranate and ate seven of its seeds.”

“Alas,” said the goddess in dismay, “my daughter, what

have you done? The Fates have said that if you ate anything

in the land of shadow, you must return to Hades and rule

with him as his queen. However, you ate not the whole

pomegranate, but only seven of the seeds. For seven

months of the year, therefore, you must dwell in the under-

world, and the remaining five you may live with me.”

Thus the Fates had decreed, and even Zeus could not

alter their law. For seven months of every year, Persephone is

lost to Demeter and rules pale and sad over the dead. At this

time Demeter mourns, trees shed their leaves, cold comes,

and the earth lies still and dead. But when, in the eighth

month, Persephone returns, her mother is glad and the earth

rejoices. The wheat springs up, bright, fresh, and green in the

plowland. Flowers unfold, birds sing, and young animals are

born. Everywhere the heavens smile for joy or weep sudden

showers of gladness upon the springing earth.

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7. pomegranate (päm√¥·gran≈it): round, red fruit containing many seedsthat can be eaten.

Pause at line 179. Why isHades so eager forPersephone to eat? Whatmight happen to her?

Pause at line 195. Whateffect did Persephone’s eat-ing seven pomegranate seedshave on the earth? Underlinethose details.

What natural occurrencedoes this origin mythexplain? Hint: Think aboutthe story’s title.


The Origin of the Seasons

Cause-and-Effect Chart Through a series of causes and effects, originmyths explain how things came to be in our world. Fill in the chart belowwith the major causes and effects from “The Origin of the Seasons.” Addmore boxes if you need them.

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Literary SkillsAnalyze anorigin myth.

Reading SkillsAnalyze causeand effect.

Effect Cause Effect

Cause Effect Cause

Origin Myths What aspect of the natural world does this myth explain?Do you find it a convincing explanation? Why or why not?

Skills ReviewSkills Review


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Reading SkillsUnderstand

cause and effect.

The Origin of the Seasons

COMPREHENSION

A. Reading Comprehension Check True or False in response to the

following statements about the story.

1. Demeter and Persephone are sisters.

True False

2. When Hades takes Persephone to be his wife, Zeus becomes very angry.

True False

3. The goddess Demeter becomes a nursemaid to a human boy.

True False

4. The crops on earth fail because of Demeter’s neglect.

True False

5. When Persephone defies Zeus, she is condemned to spend her life as Hades’ wife.

True False

B. Understanding Cause and Effect Describe the effect of each event.

1. Gloomy Hades falls in love with beautiful young Persephone.

Effect:

2. Unhappy about the loss of Persephone, Demeter gives no thought to her duties as the harvest goddess.

Effect:

3. While in the land of the dead, Persephone eats seven seeds from a pieceof fruit.

Effect:

22 The Holt Reader: Teacher’s Manual

Bats, page 191

Page 192IDENTIFYAnswers may vary. Possible words or syllables tostress: bat, born, Na–, blind, pale, moth–, pock–, tail,catch–, clings, long, fur, thumbs, toes, teeth.

IDENTIFYThe rhyming words in lines 9–20 are flies, cries,echoing, going, night, flight, and tight.

INTERPRETAnswers will vary. Students should have some gen-eral understanding that the speaker is describingecholocation, which the bat depends on to maneuverand to catch prey.

Page 193IDENTIFYInstances of repetition include the words they, them-selves, their, sharp, and and.

SUMMARIZESummaries will vary. Possible response: A bat is bornhelpless. It clings to its mother, who flies through thenight to catch bugs with her baby hanging underneath.The baby drinks its mother’s milk as she flies. At day-break, the mother hangs upside down from a rafter tosleep, wrapping herself and her baby in her wings.

■ Possible Answers to Skills Practice

Rhyme List (page 194)Possible responses:

Lines 5 and 8—teeth and underneath; lines 9 and10—flies and cries; lines 18, 20, and 22—flight,tight, and –light; lines 22, 27, and 30—mid-air,there, and air; lines 32 and 34—mild and child.

■ Possible Answers to Skills Review

Comprehension (page 195)1. The baby bat clings to its mother’s underside as

the mother hunts for food at night.2. The bat senses its surroundings by echolocation;

its sharp cries echo off objects and help it sensewhat is there.

3. Bats sleep hanging upside down from their toes.They sleep during the daytime.

4. The mother bat protects her baby by folding it in her wings.

5. The mother bat feeds and protects her baby.

The Origin of the Seasons, page 198

Page 199IDENTIFYThe goddesses are Demeter and her daughter,Persephone.

IDENTIFY CAUSE & EFFECTDemeter is adored by humans because of her “gen-erosity in giving.” She “filled the ears with grain.”“All the laws which the farmer knew came from her:the time for plowing, what land would best bearcrops, which was fit for grapes, and which to leavefor pasture.”

Page 200INFERThunder is caused by the volume of Zeus’s voice upon Olympus.

Page 201RETELLPossible retelling: Persephone wandered away fromthe maidens as they were picking flowers. Sheapproached an especially beautiful flower, and whenshe reached to pick it, the ground opened up. Hadesgrabbed her and took her away in his chariot beforethe other girls came to the spot where she disap-peared.

IDENTIFY CAUSE & EFFECTThe following details explain the effects of Demeter’ssorrow and loss: “She did not care any more to enterthe palace of Olympus,” “She took on her the formof an old woman . . . and wandered about the earth,”and “At first she kept away from the homes ofpeople, since the sight of little children and happymothers gave her pain.”

Page 202INFERPossible response: Demeter lies about her identitybecause she doesn’t want anyone to know she is agoddess. Perhaps she hopes that the girls will helpher find Persephone.

IDENTIFY CAUSE & EFFECTDemeter agrees to become nurse to Demophoonbecause she longs to hold a baby again, even if it’snot her own. C

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Answer Key 23

Page 203PREDICTPredictions will vary. Possible predictions: Her planwill work because she is a goddess and has powerover mortals; her plan won’t work becauseMetaneira, Demophoon’s mother, will not allow him to be taken away.

IDENTIFYTo transform Demophoon into an immortal,Demeter anoints him with ambrosia, nourishes himwith her breath, and places him in the red-hot ashesof the fireplace to sleep.

Page 204IDENTIFY CAUSE & EFFECTMetaneira becomes suspicious because of Demeter’sstrange behavior. The effect is that one night,Metaneira leaves open Demeter’s door and watchesas Demeter places the baby in the hot ashes.

IDENTIFY CAUSE & EFFECTThe following details explain the effect of Demeter’sneglect of her duties as harvest goddess: “The greedybirds had a feast off the seed corn that season; or if itstarted to sprout, sun baked it and rains washed itaway. Nothing would grow”; “As the gods lookeddown, they saw threatening the earth a famine”;“Even the offerings to the gods were neglected bydespairing men who could no longer spare anythingfrom their dwindling stores.”

Page 205CLARIFYDemeter will resume her duties as harvest goddessonly if Persephone is restored to her from the king-dom of the dead.

INFERPossible response: Persephone has not come toaccept her fate. She is pale and sad, and she hasn’ttaken anything to eat or drink since coming to theland of the dead.

Page 206PREDICTPredictions will vary. Possible responses: Hades maybe trying to poison Persephone; Hades may be cast-ing a love spell on Persephone so that she won’t wantto leave him.

IDENTIFY CAUSE & EFFECTBecause Persephone ate seven pomegranate seeds,for seven months of the year the trees shed theirleaves, cold comes, and the earth lies still and dead.

IDENTIFYThis origin myth explains the causes of the earth’sseasons.

■ Possible Answers to Skills Practice

Cause-and-Effect Chart (page 207)Cause: Zeus agrees to let Hades take Persephone as

his wife. Effect: Demeter wanders the earth inmourning for Persephone.

Cause: Demeter neglects her duties as harvest god-dess. Effect: Nothing grows on earth.

Cause: Persephone eats seven pomegranate seeds.Effect: Persephone has to live with Hades forseven months of every year.

Answers will vary. Possible response: This mythexplains what causes the seasons on earth. It is not aconvincing explanation because we know that theseasons are caused by the earth’s position as itrevolves around the sun.

■ Possible Answers to Skills Review

Comprehension (page 208)A. 1. False

2. False3. True4. True5. False

B. Understanding Cause and Effect1. Hades gets Zeus to allow him to take

Persephone as his wife. Persephone isabducted by Hades while she picks flowerswith the maidens.

2. Nothing grows on earth.3. For seven months of each year, Persephone

must live with Hades. She can live withDemeter the other five months.

Oni and the Great Bird, page 209

Page 211IDENTIFYOni differs from the other boys because he was bornwearing a pair of boots that grew with him. He laterdiscovered that he couldn’t be killed. Arrows piercedhis body during battle, but they had no effect onhim.

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