Abduction of Persephone by Yitzhak Marmelstein

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Hades seized his golden chariot and sped towards Persephone. She didn't get far when a gaping hole suddenly materialized in the ground, and then Hades emerged. He swiftly grasped Persephone, thrust her into his chariot, and rode back to his home. Demeter frantically searched for her daughter, determinedly destroying anything that obstructed her path. After nine days of searching, she consulted Helios, the all-seeing sun god. He revealed to her that he had witnessed Hades abducting Persephone. As a result, all the plants began to wither and die. To make matters worse for mortals on earth, Demeter blanketed the world in snow. Zeus, fearing catastrophic consequences on earth, ordered Hades to return Persephone. By this time, Persephone was ravenously hungry, so she devoured 6 pomegranate seeds from the platter that Hades offered her. When Zeus and Demeter arrived to reclaim their daughter, Hades declared that she couldn't leave because she had consumed food from the underworld. Zeus brokered a compromise: Persephone would spend six months with Hades in the underworld and six months on earth. This arrangement is responsible for the changing seasons.