While gathering flowers in a meadow, Persephone, daughter of the agriculture goddess Demeter, was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld. Heartbroken, Demeter searched the earth, causing crops to wither and winter to fall upon the land. She eventually rested at Eleusis, where she taught the secret rites of agriculture.
Zeus finally ordered Hades to return Persephone. However, because she had eaten pomegranate seeds in the underworld, she was bound to return there for a portion of each year. When she is with Hades, Demeter mourns, bringing winter; when she returns, spring blossoms.
The Eleusinian Mysteries celebrated this cycle of death and rebirth.