The Mythology of Virgo

Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture who presided over grains and the Mother Earth of Greece, had a beautiful only daughter Persephone who was the Goddess of Spring and everywhere she went would bloom with beautiful flowers.

One day, Persephone picked flowers with her companions on the grassland and she suddenly saw a silver narcissus which smelled fragrant. Persephone thought: ''it is more beautiful than any other flowers and it is dazzling!'' Therefore, she decided to leave secretly to pick the flower. When she was to touch the flower, the earth cracked suddenly and a carriage pulled by two black horses appeared. It turned out that Hades, the God of the Underworld, carried off her because he loved Persephone, the most beautiful Goddess of Spring.
 
Persephone's call for help echoed in the valley and ocean. Of course, her mother Demeter heard the call and she was so sad that she left the grains to be harvested and flied over the mountains to find her daughter.
 
Therefore, the seeds no longer sprouted and the fertile land no longer grew with grains; human beings were starving to death. Zeus saw this situation and he ordered the God of the Underworld to release Persephone; Hades had to obey the order but he played a trick and gave Persephone a fruit secretly. Persephone never knew that once she ate the fruit, she could not live in the mortal world but destined to return to the dark hell.
 
Zeus had no way and he said to Hades: ''You can stay with Persephone for a quarter of the time in every year.'' Since then, people knew Persephone had gone to the underworld when the earth was covered with frost and had no vegetation. Virgo is symbolized by Persephone, the Goddess of Spring, with a wheat ear in her hand. Even so, she is no longer that carefree girl playing on the grassland; although she will come to life and becomes bright every spring, the stench and terrible atmosphere of the underworld always follow her.