Adonis is said to be the God of many things, including rebirth, beauty, and desire. He was a mortal at birth, yet – being Aphrodite’s favourite – she requested that Zeus make him a God. He was born after Myrrha deceived her father. She later begged for forgiveness from the Gods, and they demonstrated their mercy through transforming her into a myrrh tree, from which Adonis was born. This is when Aphrodite first met him and was charmed by his beauty; this led her to look after and care for him. This responsibility led her to neglect her duties as a goddess, so she decided to place him within the care of Persephone – who had now become the queen of the Underworld, having been abducted by Hades. She was Zeus’ and Demeter’s daughter, and Demeter became overly protective of her from men. One man who was most interested in Persephone was Hades, the God of the Underworld.
Once Demeter had refused his request to marry her daughter, he abducted her. This was done as he opened the ground beneath her, causing her to descend into the Underworld. When Demeter realised where Persephone was, she abandoned her duties as a goddess, which caused famine and death. Zeus attempted to appease her to preserve humanity, by promising to return her daughter to her if it was proven that she remained in the Underworld unwillingly. Hades heard of this agreement and gave some pomegranate to Persephone, a fruit that would make someone long for life in the Underworld. This compelled Persephone to want to live in the Underworld, and a fight resulted in the agreement that she would spend half the year in the Underworld, and half on Olympus. The Ancient Greeks believed that this provided an explanation for the occurrence of different seasons, as in Autumn and Winter, land is infertile as Demeter was too upset to tend to her duties.
Both Persephone and Aphrodite fought over Adonis, as Persephone refused to give him up. Again, Zeus had to intervene and decided that Adonis must spend four months in a year with Persephone, four months with Aphrodite, and four months with neither in order to learn to care for himself. One time, when Adonis had grown up, Aphrodite left Adonis and warned him to be cautious whilst he hunted, and to keep his distance from creatures that did not flee. However, he had grown to be reckless due to his courage and ignored this warning. He came across a boar, which he was unsuccessful in scaring away, and inevitably it killed him. Some believe that this boar was Ares, who was one of Aphrodite’s lovers, and envied her affection for Adonis. When she heard his cries, she came to him immediately and cared for him in his dying moments, as he passed into the Underworld. His arrival caused delight to Persephone, whereas Aphrodite rushed to the Underworld to reclaim him. Again, Zeus was forced to intervene to prevent another fight on which goddess should rightfully care for Adonis. He decided that he should spend half the year with Persephone, and half with Aphrodite – much like the agreement concerning Persephone herself. Both myths present the Underworld in dually positive and negative lights. Whilst death was feared in Ancient Greece, both Adonis and Persephone remained there for half of their lives. Shivani
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