The original myth goes something like this:

Persephone, having stopped to smell the flowers, was abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld.

Her mother, Demeter, searched high and low for her.  For nine days and nine nights she scoured the earth, but to no avail.  Distraught, she left Olympus and hid among the mortals, disguised as an old woman.

With Demeter — goddess of the harvest — no longer smiling her blessing upon the earth, crops withered and died.  Humanity faced starvation.

Zeus pleaded with Demeter to return to Olympus, employing every tactic he could think of.  But there was only one thing that would appease her — the return of her daughter, Persephone.

Finally, Zeus relented, forcing his brother, Hades, to release her.

Hades was angered but not defeated.  Unbeknownst to all, once food from the underworld has been consumed, the person who ate it is committed to return.  In that vein, Hades made Persephone eat a pomegranate before setting her free.

Henceforth and ever after, Persephone spent one third of every year in the underworld.  And up to this day, crops seasonally wither and die in that block of time known as winter, when Demeter no longer smiles upon the earth.

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But what if Persephone was misunderstood?  What if Demeter had it wrong?

In The Dodona Prophecy, the Persephone, Demeter and Hades myth is twisted into the plot, offering a fresh new look at this legend.