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The song “Seasons” opens this tale of Demeter and her daughter Persephone leaving the rock pile of Mount Olympus to live in the lush countryside where “You can Never have too Many Flowers.” But Persephone plucks a narcissus to give to her mother, an act that draws an enraged Hades from the underworld, declaring the narcissus his special flower and demanding Persephone in forfeit. A grieving Demeter wanders the world seeking her daughter, and, instead of nurturing growth, leaving a wintery trail of devastation.

In the underworld, Hades tries to tempt Persephone with tasty foods but she knows if she takes so much as a bite she will be bound there forever. Zeus sends his messenger Hermes to the underworld to secure Persephone’s freedom. But, wouldn’t you know it, Persephone has fallen in love with Hades. Both declare their love, in song, to their beloved horses in the stable. Persephone finally eats something—a pomegranate seed. Demeter swears revenge, an eternal blight across the land but Persephone manages to strike a bargain. She will stay with Hades in the underworld for half the year if she can spend the rest of the year above ground where her mother will bring summer growth back to the world. And so, with this lovers’ pledge, the seasons came to be—“A time for flowers and a time for snow.”