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Persephone and the Seasons: a book club kit
Where it comes from. Poets in Greece sang this in the Hymn to Demeter about 2,600 years ago, and Ovid, a poet in Rome, told it again 2,000 years ago.
In short (for the leader; it gives the ending away). Demeter, goddess of the harvest, loves her daughter Persephone. Hades takes Persephone to the underworld to be his queen, and Demeter's grief makes the world cold and bare. Zeus sends Hermes to bring Persephone home, but she has eaten six pomegranate seeds, so she must return each year. When she is with her mother it is spring and summer.
Reading plan, by the story's parts. Meeting 1: Part One, “The Meadow” and Part Two, “The King Below”, pages 1–6 (about 5 minutes aloud); Meeting 2: Part Three, “The Long Search” and Part Four, “Six Red Seeds” and Part Five, “Why the World Has Seasons”, pages 7–15 (about 7 minutes aloud). Each stop's own questions, which never give away what comes next: Persephone and the Seasons by chapter.
Questions to talk about
- How does the myth of Persephone explain the seasons?
The story's answer: When Persephone is in the underworld, her mother Demeter is sad and nothing grows, which is winter. When she returns, spring and summer come. - Why does Persephone have to go back to the underworld?
The story's answer: She ate six pomegranate seeds there, so she must return for part of every year. - Who are Demeter and Persephone?
The story's answer: Demeter is the Greek goddess of the harvest, and Persephone is her daughter. Persephone loves flowers and becomes queen of the underworld. - Where does the myth of Persephone come from?
The story's answer: It comes from ancient Greece. Poets sang it in the Hymn to Demeter about 2,600 years ago, and Ovid told it again in Rome 2,000 years ago. - What does this myth explain, or try to explain?
Listen for: Many myths explain how something came to be: a season, an animal, a name. - Was the main character right or wrong? Was the ending fair?
Listen for: Myths are often hard on people; let the group disagree.
Did you know?
- Poets in Greece sang it in the Hymn to Demeter about 2,600 years ago, and Ovid retold it in Rome.
- It is also called Demeter and Persephone.
- Hades is the god of the underworld.
Activity: Make a new myth
Each reader explains something they see every day (why cats purr, why puddles dry up) with a short made-up myth of their own, told round the circle in three sentences.
More to talk about
More facts for the leader
- The myth explains why we have seasons: winter comes when Persephone is away.
Words to teach before you start
- harvest: crops gathered
- pomegranate: red seedy fruit
- underworld: land below
- messenger: message carrier
- barren: nothing growing
Questions leaders ask
How long does a Persephone and the Seasons book club meeting take?
Reading it aloud takes about 11 minutes in all, so plan 2 meetings of about 30 to 45 minutes each, with time left for the questions. The reading plan on the sheet says where to stop.
What age is Persephone and the Seasons for?
It is written at Peabody level 11, a grade 6 reading level, so most children at that level can read it alone. Younger children can listen to it read aloud.
Do the children need to read it before the meeting?
No. Each child can read it free on Peabody, before the meeting or together at it, and the questions work either way. The sheet's short version gives the ending away, so keep it for the leader.
How do I use the questions?
Start with the story's own questions, which have answers in the leader's notes, then move to the open ones and listen for reasons. There is no wrong answer to an open question. Stop when the group runs out of things to say.
Club kits for stories like this
- Arachne the Weaver (level 11)
- The Twelve Labors of Hercules (level 11)
- Thor and the Stolen Hammer (level 11)
- Atalanta and the Golden Apples (level 10)
- Baucis and Philemon (level 10)
- How Thor Got His Hammer (level 10)
How this kit is made
The short version, the facts and the first questions with their answers are the story's own, written for its page in Peabody's library and checked against the sources named there. The open questions, the activity and the plan are Peabody's, written for this kind of story. No part of it is written by a computer model.
Running the meeting: the meeting plans (30, 45 and 60 minutes) and the sign-up sheet.