Zeus and his sister Demeter, Goddess of nature, had a child named Persephone.
Demeter secretly raised Persephone alone in Sicily, however one day, Hades, Zeus' and Demeter's brother, the King of the underworld saw her and fell in love with her. Hades asked Zeus to help him taking Persephone down to the underworld, and together the two brothers trapped Persephone who was playing in a field. The ground opened under her feet and she slipped into the underworld. In some versions of the myth, Demeter was here but trapped when it happened.
Demeter searched for her daughter everywhere on earth, finally she met Hekate who advised her to ask Hellios, the sun God, who could see everything. After finding out where her daugther was, Demeter begged Hades to let her go, but he refused. Furious, the Goddess of nature stopped growing plants on earth. Zeus was then forced to find a compromise to save the earth, Hades agreed to let her go if she hadn't eaten any fruit from the underworld. Persephone swore she hadn't but Ascalaphos, one of Hades' garderners revealed he saw her eat some seeds from a pomegranate. Therefore, Persephone wasn't allowed to return to earth forever. However, aware of what would happen to the earth if Demeter didn't see her daughter, Zeus and Hades decided to let her go for six months, she had to spend the other six months of the year by her husband's side in the underworld.
The myth says that after a while, Persephone grew fond of her husband.
This myth also describes how winter started (no fruit, no plants, etc.)
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