The Abduction of Persephone 🎥

Lisa Raye Garlock, USA

Persephone, daughter of the harvest goddess, Demeter, was kidnapped by Hades, god of the underworld. When Demeter realized that Persephone was missing, she scoured the earth looking for her. Her anguish caused the earth to dry up; people starved and the earth became a desert. Finally, Hades was ordered to let Persephone go, which he did after feeding Persephone pomegranate seeds. This bound Persephone to Hades for six months of the year, while she was on Earth during the spring and summer.

This ancient Greek myth represents the abduction of women and was made in reaction to the kidnapping of Nigerian school girls by Boko Haram in 2012. According to United Nations’ Ban Ki Moon, “Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence – yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned.”