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The Pomegranate

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The Pomegranate
The myth of Persephone tells of the kidnap of Persephone by the God of the Underworld, Hades, and her fate to spend one-third of the year in the Underworld as Hades’ bride because she ate pomegranate seeds. This myth, along with many others appear frequently in literature as metaphors. In both “The Pomegranate” by Eavan Boland and “The Bistro Styx” by Rita Dove, the myth of Persephone is used to symbolize the mother/daughter relationships that are presented.

In “The Pomegranate”, the speaker says, “she could have come home and been safe/ and ended the story and all/ our heartbroken searching but she reached/ out a hand and plucked a pomegranate…” This is a direct allusion to the myth, and shows the mother’s uncertainties about her daughter
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