Persephone, aka Proserpina (by the Romans) and Kore ("maiden"), is the beautiful daughter of Demeter.

Zeus gets Gaia to produce a beautiful Narcissus, as a way to please his brother Hades.

When Persephone bends down to pick the flower, the earth opens up, and her uncle Hades comes up on his golden chariot and snatches her away, weeping.

Searches everywhere, can't find her. Hecate can't tell her who took Persephone, but Helios can because he saw everything.

Now, she retreats from the company of the gods and becomes aloof in her disconsolate grief.

While she wandered in grief, she came to the territory of king Celeus, called Eleusis.

Sits at the well and is approached by Celeus' daughters. She tells them that she is an old woman from Crete named Doso, and escaped from pirates.

Daughters go home and are sent back to hire "Doso" as a tutor for baby Demophoön.

Demeter nurses Demophoön and raises him to be like a god. She feeds him ambrosia, breathes sweetness on him,NAND hides him in the sacred fire at night.

However Metaneira sees this, and freaks out.

Demeter, really mad at this, reveals herself and harshly scolds Metaneira. She still allows Demophoön to flourish, though.

Before leaving, Demeter instructs the people of Eleusis to build her a magnificent temple and altar. There, she would teach them her rites and initiate them into her mysteries.

Zeus sends all the gods, one at a time, to try to get Demeter to relent but she persists.

Finally, he is forced to order hades to relent and send Persephone back.

Hades does agree to send Persephone back, but since he had cleverly gotten her to eat pomegranate seeds to eat.

Since she ingested the infernal fruit, the underworld is now part of her, and she must spend part of every year ruling below as wife and queen of Hades.