[Sca-cooks] Persephone and pomegranite seeds

[Stefan li Rous]

Chatty Maire replied to me with:
> Actually, it's one month per seed.
> Stefan, in the version of the Persephone myth that I first heard, she
> is the
> daughter of Ceres, the goddess responsible for fertility/growth/
> crops, etc.
> One day, when Persephone is out picking flowers, she's abducted by
> the god
> who's the lord of the underworld/lord of the dead.  She knew better
> than to
> eat or drink anything while she was done there,

Ummm. Interesting way of putting it. :-)

> but one day (distracted?
> hungry?), she ate 6 pomegranite seeds which she was offered.   
> Because of
> this, even after she was rescued by her mother, she was committed to
> spending 6 months out of every year down in the underworld.

So pomegranites were known in Italy and Greece in classical times? Or  
has the meaning of this name changed through the centuries and been  
applied to different fruits? I don't think I've even seen a  
pomegranite. The seeds are edible?

> The side effect of this is winter--when her mother grieves her
> daughter's absence, plants cease to grow and flourish.
> See? Actually even kinda food-related, especially when you catch the
> mother's name (Ceres-->source of the word "cereal").

Oh! Did "cereal" come from "Ceres"? Or the other way around? Or did  
they both just come from the same root word?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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