Allusions To The Myth Of Persephone

In two amazing poems, both poets make allusions to the myth of Persephone. The myth of Persephone tells of her kidnap by Hades, the God of the Underworld. She is then fated to spend one-third of the year in the underworld as Hades’ bride because she consumed pomegranate seeds. This myth appears frequently as a metaphor not only in “The Pomegranate” and “The Bistro Styx,” but in many others as well. In both poems, the myth of Persephone is used to symbolize the mother-daughter relationships. In “The Pomegranate,” right off the bat, the poet writes,”story of my daughter lost in hell.” Right there is where the poet refers to the myth and pokes at the fact that the speaker and her daughter have been in a way separated. The separation does not have to necessarily be physical, but emotional and mental. Line 30 to 34 is a direct allusion to the myth and it shows the mother’s fears about her daughter growing up. The mother hopes that her daughter will survive the hardships of the adult world, the real world. The cruel real world that holds many dangers, worse than Hades. The speaker also, literally, refers to herself as Ceres, Persephone’s mother. She identifies with the sorrow Ceres felt when winter was approaching and the inevitable was

While at lunch, fruit and cheese are brought to the table right after the daughter confesses she has to plea to eat. The daughter seemed to be so indulged with the food, especially the fruit, the forbidden fruit. Fruit is symbolic and for the daughter’s last words to be, “one really should try the fruit here,” is the last stroke of the drum at battle. This mother too, has felt Ceres’ sorrow and realizes her daughter has eaten the fruit of the underworld. The speaker has officially lost her daughter, not only to adulthood but to this man who dresses all in black and one may refer to him as Hades as well. She accepts her complete defeat and asks for the