成人快手

The story of Demeter, her daughter Persephone and how each year is divided into seasons.

The video

Demeter and Persephone

Synopsis

Demeter is the goddess of the harvest - she makes the plants grow and the crops ripen. One day she is out with her daughter, Persephone, when Hades appears from the underworld. He falls in love with Persephone and drags her back to his underworld kingdom. Demeter is heart-broken and no longer cares for her duties - so the plants wither and die.

Zeus argues with Hades for the return of Persephone, but knows that if she has eaten any food in the underworld she will not be able to return. Persephone has eaten just a few pomegranate seeds, so Zeus determines that she will be allowed to return to Demeter for six months of the year, but then must return to Hades for the other six months. And so this is how we have the seasons: Demeter's sorrow when she loses Persephone causes the plants to wither and die in winter鈥ut spring follows with Demeter's joy when Persephone returns again.

Teacher Notes

Taken from the complete Teacher Notes. See Resources.

Before watching the video

Show children an image of Dante Gabriel Rossetti鈥檚 鈥楶roserpine鈥 (an alternative name for Persephone). Have any of the children seen this painting before? Do they know what the lady is holding? Don鈥檛 give anything away at this stage as you will discuss this further after watching the video.

After watching the video

  • Pomegranate painting. Look again at Rossetti鈥檚 painting. Can children now identify the lady and the item in her hand? Pomegranates have often featured in literature and art. If possible, have some real pomegranates for children to study. If this is not possible, use images from the web. Cut one open and look at the insides. Invite children to produce a still life drawing or painting of the halved pomegranate for display.
  • Power of persuasion. Invite children to write a letter to Hades to persuade him to release Persephone. Remind them to use powerful and persuasive language; Hades is no pushover!
  • Demeter鈥檚 diary. We get a strong sense of Demeter鈥檚 emotions when Persephone leaves for the underworld and when she returns. Write two diary entries for Demeter: one following the day that Persephone leaves for the underworld and one for the day she returns.
  • The changing of the seasons. While Ancient Greeks believed that Demeter鈥檚 emotions led to the changing of the seasons, these days we know different! Children are to prepare a presentation for another class on why seasons change. This could be an oral presentation with props or, if you have access to animation software, it could take the form of a short film. They should use books, the internet and, of course, their prior knowledge to prepare the presentation. A prompt sheet is provided to help them identify what information they should include.
  • Young farmers. Charge children with designing their own small arable farm to provide crops for the local community. Using their understanding of the seasons they should design the farm, decide what they will plant, where and when. A template is provided for this.

Resources - Teacher Notes from Teachit

Comprehensive Teacher Notes covering episodes 6 to 10, including worksheets and activities.

Ancient Greek myths

Click to display the worksheet full-size or print it (taken from the Teacher Notes).

Comprehension questions

Click to display the worksheet full-size or print it (taken from the Teacher Notes).

Design an arable farm

The Teacher Notes for this series have been prepared in partnership with .

Other resources


成人快手 Teach: Tales from Ancient Greece - audio versions of more popular Ancient Greek myths